Wise Move (For Once)

We've been hearing about the on again-off again plans to transform the Farley post office on 8th Ave. into a new Penn Station for as long as we can remember. Now that it seems like it'll actually happen, we couldn't be happier. For the first time in recent memory, the city didn't push to tear down a structure with character in order to build a giant featureless retail box or sports arena. Also for the first time in recent memory-thanks to the work of the Landmarks Commission-there seems to be an honest effort in the design of Moynihan Station to not only maintain, but even recapture a bit of NYC's glorious past.

We do have to wonder, though, if the sudden, even abrupt, announcement that the project's a done deal with work getting underway as soon as possible had anything to do with the July 7 bombings in London. It's pretty clear that in the event of a similar terrorist action, Penn Station-accurately described by Moynihan's widow as "that hole under a basketball court"-would be an absolute death trap.