Now two episodes into its third season, Mad Men continues to be superb, but this week’s show featured a particularly sharp new subplot involving the demolition of Penn Station. In TV time this is 1963 and the developers behind Madison Square Garden are looking for some help turning public opinion their way so they can put the wrecking ball to old Penn (a poll cited on the show had something like 85 percent of New Yorkers opposed to the plan). They turn to Sterling Coo, the show’s fictional ad shop.
There’s an extended scene in which one of the younger associates at the firm–Paul Kinsey, who cultivates something of a beatnik air–meets with the developers and tells them straight up that it’s criminal to tear down that building. [We'll track down or, or create, a transcript of his remarks and add it to this post ASAP. It's quite good. -Ed.] After the developers storm out and call Paul a “Communist,” the jackass new office overseer from the firm’s British parent company decides to have Don Draper–the firm’s creative director and the show’s lead character–try to salvage the account. Over lunch, and harking back to his rather strange jaunt out to the west coast in season 2, Don tells the developers:
“I was in California. Everything’s new, and it’s clean. The people are full of hope. New York City is in decay. Madison Square Garden is the beginning of a new city on a hill.”
What wonderful irony, of course, as this was just around the time San Bernadino-style sprawl was catching fire (no pun, etc.) in California. These days the word “decay” is far more synonymous with lean, new drive-till-you-qualify suburbs than, say, the west side of Manhattan. It’s difficult not to cringe when he says it, in part because it’s so plausible.
The Penn plot will play much of a role going forward though: after Don wooed back the developers, the jackass overseer informed Don that the firm didn’t want the account, after all. At very least, one expects it references to Penn will crop up intermittently and obliquely as then-news saga plays out.
One thing the plot does underscore is just how those kinds of epic mistakes can be defining for an entire era. Not that we face the same class of problem these days. Our challenge today is more an inability to create intelligent structures than a propensity to blindly demolish the built assets we inherited.
If you’re in the mood for some Penn Station nostalgia porn, click through the jump.
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Pics via
August 28th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
That grand old station was built by a private company. The current fugly basement terminal is the property of the government.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
They were both built by a private company. The government has substantially spruced it up since then, beginning with Acela service. The new NJTransit side is a world different.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
As much as it’s been mythologized, as far as I can tell from the pictures, old Penn was overly big and gaudy. Comparing Grand Central and Penn is like comparing Vitruvian Man to 1980s Ah-nold. That should not distract from the catastrophe that is new Penn though… oy, what a disaster.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
@Eric F:
If you’re trying to turn this into a gov’t-bad-private-sector-good debate, you will lose. Had the old station been *owned* by the gov’t, the 85% of people who disapproved would have been able to stop its destruction.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
symeon:
Penn Station was anything but gaudy. Actually, it was probably more understated than Grand Central, with its egoistic Vanderbilt crests and attention-grabbing ceiling. Sure it was huge, but it was also the busiest rail station in the largest city in the world during its time, so it was just a reflection of the city it served (while also not overpowering its surroundings as Penn Plaza tries to now).
These photos of the station are mostly from the 1950s and early 60s, when the station was well past its prime. The Pennsylvania Railroad hadn’t cleaned the place in decades, and installed a large, modern ticket office that blocked off the main hallway from the waiting room and looked like someone smashed JFK’s TWA Terminal into a Roman basilica.
August 28th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I kinda disagree that “Mad Men” continues to be superb into its third season. The last two eps have been clunkers. I’m hoping the old zing returns soon.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Yes, still superb, if not better than ever. Can’t wait till Sunday. Go Peggy!
And being a commuter traveling through today’s “Penn” station every day, don’t bother debating about what was. We need a solution to manage the future of American rail transit in the northeast. Demand a new station. Build Moynihan Station and stop the bitching. Let’s get it done!!
August 30th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Maybe some of you with knowlegde of the Penn Station / Madison Square Gardens event can fill us in more on the history and what the public sentiment was before and after and what is now.
I have to agree with you Catbus, I enjoyed seasons 1 & 2, but I’m a having trouble getting into season 3 — not much fire in the stories.
And it seems like the audience has to be more of a mind-reader this season. For instance Matthew Weiner says that when Draper touches the grass at the May Pole dance, it shows he’s looking for change. Oh really? I though he was just lusting for the young teacher.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Found good historical background information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_%28New_York_City%29#History
and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Plaza
August 31st, 2009 at 9:12 am
Anybody with even the remotest interest in Penn Station should read Jill Jonnes’ brilliant account of its creation, “Conquering Gotham”. What shines through is the reciprocity between enlightened self interest and public purpose, technical innovation, political courage, boldness of vision, and ultimately a transformative contribution to the infrastructure and culture of New York.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:18 am
“They were both built by a private company. The government has substantially spruced it up since then, beginning with Acela service. The new NJTransit side is a world different.”
Which private company built the new Penn?
The updates to the LIRR side have made that area better, but it’s still not so hot. The NJT side and Amtrak areas are not terrible. It is a dark underground space all around, however. Basically, the updates have improved matters but you wouldn’t favorably compare it to the Phili Amtrak station or Grand Central. The old terminal is probably idealized, but I’d imagine that if it was kept in one piece, it too would have been updated over the years.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:17 pm
The underground station was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1963-1968. The fact that the government owns the station now means nothing, really.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
For anyone who cares to see, I have re-create a version of Old Pennsylvania Station in 3D using Google SketchUp. I am pretty proud of the result, and it is my tribute to the building! it’s not an exact replica but a close interpretation. See it at the link:
http://sketchupisland.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-monopoly-masterpiece.html
October 16th, 2009 at 10:28 am
[...] morning dose of mainly architecture-related scoops, I was at once giddy and annoyed to find a great Infrastructurist post (watch video there) on Mad Men’s portrayal of the demolition of Old Penn Station, and [...]