[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manha...kw3UaFaGpfUrUwrjiM?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=

But the ghostly "Gimbels passageway," a lengthy, long-forgotten underground link between Penn Station and Herald Square, may be coming back to life -- providing a free transfer point between two busy subway stations.

The 800-foot pedestrian concourse, which at some points is only a claustrophobic 9-feet wide, was walled up in the early 1980s as the city's crime rate skyrocketed and the site became a stalking ground for muggers and other criminals.

But one of the city's biggest developers, Vornado Realty Trust, wants permission to expand the narrowest section to 16 feet and fill the entire tunnel with retail shops and art.

It would accommodate 12,000 people each hour.

Straphangers would be able to transfer free between the 1, 2 and 3 lines at Seventh Avenue, and 34th Street and the N, R, W, F, B, D and V lines at Herald Square.

In exchange for the passageway and several other transit improvements, Vornado wants zoning laws changed so it can make its tower 2 million square feet, not 1.15 million square feet, as is currently allowed.

The board has only an advisory role. The city's Planning Commission will vote on the proposal in July, and then the City Council will conduct its own vote within 50 days.

This would be in effect, another expansion for Penn Station commuters, those swithing trains, even between subways. It's always an inconvenience catching the Herald Sq trains from Penn Station, and vice versa. There has been a few times when I've missed a train at Penn Station because the streets were too congested or because navigating the Herald Sq exits put me further away. Reopening this tunnel solves that problem.