Yeah I was here the other day and I absolutely hate it. Soulless space that has dozens of security guards walking around yelling at people for sitting on the floor. I was waiting for a LIRR train (the only waiting hall is for ticketed Amtrak customers), and because there are 0 benches or seated areas in the entire building besides that Amtrak waiting area, I decided to sit on the floor (like I've done dozens of times before at Penn). Within seconds three security guards came over and said "you can't sit on the floor here." Ridiculous. The city is so determined to keep the homeless out that they've degraded service for everybody. Infuriating.
Plus it feels more like an empty airport hall than a train station. The glass is really nice, but the sleek white, lack of all shops and seating areas, etc makes it depressing. Do not recommend.
I've been meaning to go and take a look at the train hall, but the way you describe it it sounds a lot like the Oculus down by the WTC. Went there around the time it opened and the outer structure is impressive, but once you've walked around in the inside is just a big empty space with a bunch of shops in the periphery. An over designed mall pretty much.
Yeah I was here the other day and I absolutely hate it. Soulless space that has dozens of security guards walking around yelling at people for sitting on the floor. I was waiting for a LIRR train (the only waiting hall is for ticketed Amtrak customers), and because there are 0 benches or seated areas in the entire building besides that Amtrak waiting area, I decided to sit on the floor (like I've done dozens of times before at Penn). Within seconds three security guards came over and said "you can't sit on the floor here." Ridiculous. The city is so determined to keep the homeless out that they've degraded service for everybody. Infuriating.
Plus it feels more like an empty airport hall than a train station. The glass is really nice, but the sleek white, lack of all shops and seating areas, etc makes it depressing. Do not recommend.
I've been meaning to go and take a look at the train hall, but the way you describe it it sounds a lot like the Oculus down by the WTC. Went there around the time it opened and the outer structure is impressive, but once you've walked around in the inside is just a big empty space with a bunch of shops in the periphery. An over designed mall pretty much.
It's exactly the same as the Oculus but even worse, because at least the Oculus has shops that are open.