[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2019/06/13/penn-s...nesses-inside/

Penn Station construction to close over 10 retail businesses inside


By Lisa Fickenscher
June 13, 2019

Progress is galloping ahead at Penn Station — and it’s trampling more than 10 retail businesses that have been there for years.

Construction is slated to begin next week on a new entrance for the gritty commuter hub at Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street, whose plans were unveiled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month.

The futuristic-looking, glass-and-steel crop of elevator banks, called the East End Gateway, is meant to ease pedestrian congestion from the street level to the concourse.

The problem: Work on the project will begin Monday — a fact that some shops that will soon be forced to close learned only last week.

Among them is Tracks Raw Bar & Grill, the so-called “Oyster Bar of Penn Station” that’s been a mainstay for commuters for the past 17 years. It and nine other shops in the corridor, including a Jamba Juice, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ donuts, will be forced to shutter on Aug. 31.

“I’m losing my entire livelihood,” co-owner Bruce Caulfield, who owns a wine store in the station that also will have to close, told The Post.

Tracks is a casualty of renovations that will result in a new, sun-filled entryway at Seventh Avenue and a wider Long Island Rail Road corridor with higher ceilings.

For the past two years, Tracks and other retail outlets located by the LIRR ticket windows have been operating on temporary leases that were renewed three months at a time by their landlord, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“On May 1, they said, ‘No more extensions,’ ” Caulfield said.

The bar owner, who has continuously operated retail businesses in the station for 32 years, had wagered that Tracks was far enough removed from the construction zone.

“We held out hope,” Caulfield said. “They never said to me, ‘Don’t waste your time,’ and that’s why we didn’t look for another spot.”

He and his partners were waiting for the MTA to finalize its plans for the renovations, expecting to be given a new, long-term lease for their popular bar.

A source said the MTA is delivering the vacant spaces to Vornado, which will determine if any of the businesses will be offered a chance to return once the work is concluded.