In a side-by-side comparison video titled New York Penn Station: Past and Present, Columbia University student Myles Zhang highlights the start contrast between the architectural jewel that was the Old Penn Station and the dark, depressing iteration of Penn Station we have today which is considered one of the worst stations in the nation.

The old Penn Station, completed 1910, had 21 tracks on 11 platforms. The new Penn Station has 21 tracks on 11 platforms. In the demolition process, not one track or platform moved. This similarity enables us to situate parts of the old structure in relation to the new. The photos below compare this structure past and present.

Check out the project page to learn more about the station or the video.

Note: this video was made before current (2024) round of renovations to Penn Station

A group of Hasidic Jewish worshippers were arrested amid a dispute over a tunnel secretly dug into the side of a historic Brooklyn synagogue, setting off a brawl between police and those who tried to defend the makeshift passageway.

The discovery of the tunnel at the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Crown Heights prompted an emergency structural inspection from the city Tuesday.

The building at 770 Eastern Parkway was once home to the movement’s leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and draws thousands of visitors each year. Its Gothic Revival facade is immediately recognizable to adherents of the Chabad movement and replicas of the revered building have been constructed all over the world.

The #BestNYAccent challenge on Instagram brought out the sound of an unflappable city.

Check out the Viewing NYC archives to see more from our friend Nico Heller.