Conquering Gotham: Building Penn Station and Its Tunnels

by Jill Jonnes

“Superb. [A] first-rate narrative” (The Wall Street Journal) about the controversial construction of New York’s beloved original Penn Station and its tunnels, from the author of Eiffel's Tower and Urban Forests As bestselling books like Ron Chernow's Titan and David McCullough's The Great Bridge affirm, readers are fascinated with the grand personalities and schemes that populated New York at the close of the nineteenth century. Conquering Gotham re- creates the riveting struggle waged by the great Pennsylvania Railroad to build Penn Station and the monumental system of tunnels that would connect water-bound Manhattan to the rest of the continent by rail. Historian Jill Jonnes tells a ravishing tale of snarling plutocrats, engineering feats, and backroom politicking packed with the most colorful figures of Gilded Age New York. Conquering Gotham will be featured in an upcoming episdoe of PBS's American Experience.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, New York, Architecture, American History, Engineering, Politics

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[BookishStitcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill Jonnes just has this amazing ability to bring a certain time in history to life. Every detail from the people's lives to the engineering aspects of the project is just so rich and expertly researched. I will read anything that she writes.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conquering Gotham tells the history of the building of Penn Station and the building of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). The story is fraught with ego, engineering feats and sacrifice of the common worker like most Gilded Age histories. The struggle of the conquering the east river and the tunnels being built is the primary story in the book with little actually devoted to Penn Station other than being a building out of place and time. The book also covers the typical Tammany Hall corruption and the Pennsylvania railroad's fall from grace under Cassatt. Overall the book had a tendency to ramble and did not really live up to what I was expecting. I would have liked to hear more about the actual station (at least equal in coverage to the tunnels) and a greater focus on the politics of the time instead of the roundabout way it was approached. If you are a true gilded age aficionado it is still worth the time to take a look at but for a casual reader or someone interested in urban history you should probably pass.

[Dan Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book two things stand out in my mind:

1) This book is much more a book about the unprecedented engineering of the river tunnels than it is about Charles McKim's lamented travertine and granite pile, and that is fine with me. To truly appreciate the architecture of any era one must also appreciate the engineering that made such architecture possible.

2) The hour that PBS devoted to this fascinating story of muscle, mud machinery and architectural majesty did not do its story justice - showing the statue of Samuel Rea but not explaining his part in seeing the great undertaking through to completion or that his statue was originally located in the soaring main waiting room of the demolished station.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexper...

Now, on to re-reading the bookend story to Penn Station..."The Pan Am Building" by Meredith Clausen. This time, the OTHER glorious monument to NYC rail survives the post-war destructive tendencies of that era's "leaders."
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/pan-am-...

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overall interesting read— there was so much more to Penn Station and its tunnels than I had realized. However, I was not a fan of Jonnes’s approach to storytelling. Various concerns about the construction were raised, only to be barely mentioned later as an afterthought. Why did we get no insight into the laying of the rail, the expulsion of water from the tunnels, or (most notably) the decision not to use screw piles in the tunnels? I found myself frequently annoyed by this chaotic narrative. Jonnes is clearly a talented writer though, and I certainly appreciated her style at the paragraph level.

[Emma Corbett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and interesting dive into the personalities and companies that characterized the beginning of the 20th century. Can’t look at Penn station the same way now! Great read for transit/infrastructure nerds.

[Zach Forstot · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to imagine that building train tunnels under the Hudson were seen as maybe impossible and too expensive. Nowadays it’s no big deal, yet way more expensive! We’ve seemingly lost the gumption to build big things even though we certainly know how.

[Molly Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wonderful. Despite being about a difficult engineering project it was an easy read. It was nostalgic for a different time. It was suspenseful, exciting, and sad. I loved it.

[Ardys · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Book returned to library in Dec w 3 chapters left to read. Got back in line and here we are.) Good account of building the train tunnels and Penn Station. This book will be on my mind on every trip to Manhattan. It’s amazing how well the tunnels have held up.

[David Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the first time I descended into the NYC subway on hot humid August day in 1977 I've been fascinated with the underground labyrinth hidden below the great city. I often would try to ride in the front car where I could look out the glass door and get a glimpse of the tunnels. I was excited to read this book when I came across it the New York Transit Museum.

It is a story about so much more than the subway and Penn Station. It covers in detail the challenges and methods of the construction but the politics of the era. The author digs deep into the mud of Tammany Hall politics before getting into the mud of the Hudson River. Tammany Hall had the power to kill the Pennsylvania Railroad’s (PRR) ambitious project to link its mainland rails by tunnels below the rivers to the island of Manhattan.

Alexander Cassatt, PRR president, had no intention of paying the customary bribes to make the project a reality. Aided by newly elected reform mayor Seth Low, the PRR forced the Board of Alderman’s approval without the customary graft. Despite the engineering and construction challenges, the team of engineers, robber baron financiers and most importantly the immigrant laborers, finally completed the project successfully in 1910. At the culmination of the 16-miles of tunnels, where Manhattan’s seedy Tenderloin District had formerly sprawled, stood Pennsylvania Station, the grandest public space in Gotham. Charles McKim’s magnificent Roman-style terminal survived just 53 years, approximating the life expectancy of a citizen born when the PRR’s first train made the cross-river transit. Sadly the original station was demolished in 1963. The photos of the original station an impressive structure. Some have called its demolition as one of the greatest urban planning travesties in NYC history.

In the tradition of David McCullough’s narratives of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal, Jonnes’s elegy to a mighty engineering feat is clearly written with fascinating descriptions of the cast characters, robber barons, heroic builders and a few crooks with handlebar mustaches.

[Ryan Holiday · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting but ultimately disappointing. The title and description do a magnificent job overselling the book as a cutaway look inside an urban landmark. Rather than a treasure trove of unknown details and secrets of a subway and train terminal that millions of people use on a daily basis, it is dry narrative of the men who constructed it.

For instance, it's more than 100 pages into the book that ground is finally broken on the tunnel and nearly halfway until Penn Station begins to take shape. The author is prone to superfic tangents on Tammany Hall, Vanderbilt, bridge construction, New York politics and the presidency. These digressions have the air of trying to fill space or had substance to a weak story. That is a strange feeling since the subject matter is so rich.

After filling so much space with unnecessary details, the book rushes to completion after Penn Station opens. The destruction of the General Waiting Room to make way for Madison Square Garden is by far the best written part of the book but it gets but one chapter.

For a reader after some urban anthropology, Conquering Gotham oversells and under delivers.

[Dave Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conquering Gotham presents itself as an inside examination of the incredible Penn Station. In reality it is the story of the politics, the tunnels, and the people that forged a path for the railroad to finally make its way in to the heart of Manhattan.

I have always been fascinated to learn of Penn Station, especially as someone who never had the privilege of seeing it first hand. I have always wondered at the reasoning and the politics that led to its demise. In this sense, for me, the best portions of this book were the last two chapters, where we finally see Penn Station completed. Unfortunately it rushes through these chapters, leaving us with merely a glimpse of this architectural wonder and the brief years in which it managed to survive.

Similar to the history of the Brooklyn Bridge, the weight of the story is found in the incredible effort that such an architectural feat (tunnels and infrastructure) demanded of the workers. There is a lot of overlap with the story of the Brooklyn Bridge (as a Guilded Age story) that sees the expansive and explosive growth of the railroad move across North America. It would be short sighted for us to forget about how dangerous it really was to pursue these societal advances and build these sorts of ground breaking monuments during this period.

One can also add that this was still the age where such buildings and bridges and tunnels and stations represented a whole lot more than simply a building. One could argue that modern architecture has lost of bit of this old soul.

For a historical biography of a particular piece of architecture, this book makes the mechanics and the details interesting and dramatic. There is something marvellous and breathtaking, for example, of having to wait years to see if a shot in the dark decision to abstain from drilling a couple of positioning posts might one day lead to the collapse of the tunnels and the death of civilians, or if this decision would end up actually saving the future state of the tunnels. This is the kind of risks that these projects demanded in the absence of tried and true theories and examples.

Again, as with the story of the Brooklyn Bridge, politics and money play a big part in shaping the landscape of this period in New Yorks history (not to mention the greater American landscape). This is another part that I enjoyed immensely. I found it fascinating to read about the ebb and flow of economic growth in light of the age of the railroad. What is even more informing and interesting is to read of the individuals that sat at the helm of moving the American economy forward. It is a story of corruption and morality, and it is actually refreshing to see that even in the midst of the corruption some of the key individuals who shaped our current landscape were the ones who were interested in seeing the moral high ground survive. It is a reminder that while the railroad represented money, it really was about the people (as all great architecture and infrastructure is). Casatt (the visioneer of the Penn Station idea) was one of those people, and sadly he never lived to see his project to completion. It was also nice to see a bit inside the person of Roosevelt, who comes off as a wholly compelling individual.

Another part that I loved is, not surprisingly, found near the end. When you finally see Penn station complete, we are given a glimpse of some of the problems that lie underneath this incredible Roman-like construction. To read that its initial purpose did not for-see its actual function as a commuter station and a link to Long Island (and thus was not designed appropriately to compliment the people who would end up riding) is telling. The image of the station is as a link from (North America) in to Manhattan. In reality, Manhattan would attempt to claim the station exclusively for its own interests. This leads us to the examination of the relationship between Philadelphia and New York City. It is in this relationship that we find the real reason for its premature and unfortunate demise. According to Jones, NYC rejected the station as an architectural wonder because it represented Philly more than it did the character of NYC. It was low lying and expansive rather than a high rising and space saving design. As he puts it, it had its "soul" in Philadelphia, and it's physical presence in New York City. It is for this reason that Grand Central remains to this day as one of the great symbols of NYC, a true part of its own history that sits at the actual heart of the city. Penn Station would forever struggle (and fail) to live up to its promise as a game changing piece in the Manhattan landscape.

There are so many stories of the progress of NYC that follow this same trend of moving (through and under and over) neighborhoods in an effort to consistently and persistingly re-define the larger city in the face of more modern expressions and realities (the larger city in actuality functioning as a series of ever changing neighborhoods in which concerns, gentrification, politics, social dynamics are constantly evolving and shifting with it). This is why NYC is known as the unfinished city. It is constantly changing. It was no different with the story of Penn Station. The station was in the middle of one of its poorer neighborhoods, a fact that leads in to some decent commentary about the function of architecture and infrastructure in light of the people that a make up these neighborhoods. Often these developments came through with a force (guided by a vision and fueled by money and politics), Neighborhoods become forced to adapt and change (thus becoming temporarily displaced), and then at times moved and/or redeveloped in to another section of the city accordingly. This mentality has its shortcomings (short term disruption of the neighborhoods and the people involved, and the tendency to forget about the people who are affected. As well, there is a danger in failing to recognize the value of history and historic architecture). But in a city made up of multiple boroughs and with a unique diversification of character and immigration, it has a way of forcing the city to stay honest. It tends to keep the problems in view, and guards against complacency. It makes certain that conversation is happening as time moves forward. And it allows for the struggles of one area to find solutions in the experiences and perspectives of another. And ultimately, when a city is not afraid to revamp, reconfigure and reimagine how it does things on a consistent basis, this opens the door for the different and competing sections of the city to work together.

For Penn station this sort of revamping of a poorer neighborhood in order to create one of the more upscale, glamourous, artistic and lovely pieces of architecture in America (and one of the more ambitious transporting hubs of the era) forced these two characteristics to work together (upper and lower class). Unfortunately what it failed to do was for-see the middle/working class as the glue that would need to hold it together, a class that was ultimately glossed over in the design of the structure itself.

"Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and ultimately, deserves. Even when we had Penn Station, we couldn't afford to keep it clean. We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tin-horn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed." This was written for the New York Times during the 60's, a period of time that saw history come in to a full force collision with the nature of forward progress. The railroad was taking over, and with it New York was reaching for the sky in a fashion unlike it ever had before (along with the rest of America). Now, of course history will now tell us that this sentiment was not entirely accurate. The demolition of Penn Station would be the very thing that would lead to future legislation that would protect the rest of NYC's historic architecture. There has since been a lot of movement not only to save it, but to re-envision it and reinvent it at the same time. Any visit to NYC is a wonderful fusion of past and present, romantic and modern. But what this article does show is just how hard it is to respond to the ever changing world accordingly. Just as soon as the railroad exploded, car culture pushed itself in to its path (along with aviation). And with every change the landscape has to adjust. But Penn station looms over this truth as a tall example of what is lost when we neglect our architectural history, and a great example of what happens when we disassociate. our buildings from the people that use. them. It is a reminder that these kinds of buildings are not just made from the elements, but are a reflection of the people's soul and tells the story of a city in a way little else can. For Penn Station, that it had such an impact on the displacement of a neighborhood, and that it (in the end) neglected the actual needs of the people is a testimony of how much power lies in these kinds of developments. For every way that culture pushes us forward, we must continue to make efforts to remember these stories and to see the people behind the building. Cassatt saw this in the initial vision, and this is why his statue remains.

[Stanley Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent history of the nations largest railroad’s difficulties entering New York City. I have travelled these tunnels many times when I lived and worked for one of the successor railroads of PRR. I have read several general histories of the Pennsylvania Railroad but nothing this detailed. It is a shame the magnificent Pennsylvania Station in New York was torn down, then again the demise of the of the railroads during the late 1960’s and 70’s is a national disgrace. The subsidies to airport and roads and poor leadership on the railroad part led to the demise of the railroads. My father-in-law worked for the PRR and its successors for 45+ years, when he first started the train operators prided themselves on being on time, by the late 60’s, the operators could care less about being on time or even if the train was cancelled. Today, some of that same attitude is still displayed, I hated trying to catch the 5:40 pm train from Newark because 9 times out of 10 it would be running 20+ minutes late or cancelled. How could it be late? Newark was the first stop? Highly recommended for anyone interested in railroad history…SLT

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and Its Tunnels is on the construction of Penn Station and the tunnels crossing the East and North rivers into Penn Station. The work is divided into two parts.

The first part is background information on why the Pennsylvania Railroad decided to build Penn Station, why the company chose to construct tunnels instead of building a bridge, and past attempts and plans to connect Manhattan to the mainland. The author details the key players, like the Pennsylvania Railroad and Alexander Cassatt and then describes the political wrangling required to get the project approved by Tammany Hall.

The second part largely deals with the actual construction of Penn Station and the tunnels, a truly remarkable feat of engineering. The last chapter gives a quick history of Penn Station's failures leading to the building's demolition in 1963. There is also pretty good information on Tammany Hall, Charles McKim, Stanford White, and the Stanford White murder trials.

[Sujit Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book at a relaxing pace. The graphics in the book were well placed and related to the content I just read about. I prefer this approach rather than lumping a bunch of illustrations together at the end of a chapter/section. Another quality I particularly enjoyed was the author took the time to talk about world & national event and how it effected this mega project in Gotham.

In term of the level of detail this books goes into, I feel the author purposely didn't get too in the weeds about construction and planning issues because she feared many readers would get tired and stop reading. I personally would have like to read a bit more of the actual building of the tunnels and station itself, however, the omission of such detail made it a relaxing and easy read.

The one gripe I have is I felt like the death of the main characters who championed the project came all too suddenly and within a few pages we were meant to move on.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book hoping to learn about the engineering of old Penn Station and how it was built. But very early on, the author describes the problem facing the railroad in 1901 as "No bridge or tunnel of the magnitude needed to span the Hudson River had ever been built." That does sound impressive, but I have to note that the Gotthard Tunnel (not the Gotthard Base Tunnel that opened recently) that goes through the Swiss Alps opened in 1882, almost two decades prior, and is about nine miles long, three times the length of the North River Tunnels. Certainly the engineering challenges are different going under a river than through mountains, but it's hard to argue that the magnitude of the Gotthard Tunnel is not at least equal, if not substantially more. (I am also skeptical of this claim when it comes to bridges, but less inclined to search out that information.)

[Ook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visiting NYC in August of 2025 I found myself curious, after taking the subway throughout Manhattan and over to Brooklyn, about Penn Station and the trains access via tunnels to Manhattan. this was one of the few books available, I live in Utah, and it did not disappoint. The book begins in the late 1800's when the only bridge access to Manhattan was the newly built Brooklyn bridge. At the time, government support for massive infrastructure projects was almost unheard of and it fell to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and it's visionary, Alexander Cassatt, to construct the tunnels under the Hudson and East Rivers. Amazing. My only complaint is the final chapters of the book were a little tedious although the ultimate demise of Penn Station is well worth pursuing and is probably deserving of a book all its own.

[Peter Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill does a great job telling the great tale of the construction of the miles of tunnels, the political drama, and of course, the late great Penn Station. These kinds of projects are what built the nation and you don't see this kind of stuff happen anymore. Tearing down the station remains one of the biggest crimes in civic, architectural, transportation, infrastructural, etc in history. But even though the station is gone, the tunnels still remain to this day and carry millions and millions every year.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. I admit that I was a little surprised. I thought this was going to be a book filled with more pictures and diagrams, but it was mostly text. But it read quite well and I found it quite interesting. A good picture of the times that the tunnels were built. Also had an interesting POV on the reasons for the station being torn down eventually. I'm reading "The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station" right now so I'll see how that compares. I know that one has more pictures but I'm sure it doesn't go into as much depth as this volume.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

One learns lots about the PRR, its leaders and the nearly decade-long effort to build the station in New York (to replace ferries over the Hudson River). One learns enough about the decline of the railroads in the 1950s and 60s, and the great vandalism the saw the destruction of Penn Station and its replacement by the vile underground rat-warren that is there today. I would have liked to know a little bit more about the life of the station in its heyday.

[M.J. Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Expansion of the PRR into Gotham!

This book was a joy for me to read. I learned a lot about the struggle of the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad System to build tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers to enter Manhattan. I read about the glorious design of Penn Station on 7th Avenue and how it became neglected. I also read about its destruction from 1963-66. This architectural jewel of NYC was destroyed only 53 years after its opening! This book made me happy.

[Meghan Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was interesting and unique and covered a wide spread of history. Like with most history books, it is tricky to fully dive into details without too many tangents so I found myself frequently looking up more info on certain people/events on my phone while reading along but I didn’t mind it and it kept the read from being too hard to keep up with. Overall I think this was a great background of the journey of Penn Station from the idea (almost) to the modern age.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Philadelphian who has traveled to NYC through (now grungy) Penn Station on a regular basis, it was fascinating to read about the vision and complexity of making those connections. We take for granted the ease of commuting between those cities now.
My mother worked at the PRR from 1942-1957, hired during the war. After the war, she and her friends traveled the country by rail, and as the worked at HQ, would regularly hop on a train for dinner and a show in NYC.

[Chip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book in a library book store. What a great find. A serendipitous side dish to the Power Broker, this chronicles amazing engineering feats connecting New York City, the growing capital of the world, to expansive and dominant rail system of the country during the early years of the Industrial Revolution.

The vision, tenacity and brilliance of one man changed the city of New York and how it was experienced by all.

[Hugh Heinsohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and in depth look at political life in New York, incredible engineering story, compelling account of some towering personalities, including Alexander Cassatt, Charles McKim, Stanford White, Charles Jacobs, and many others, and a terrific primer in the power of the railroads in Gilded Age America. Not too long - just right. Hughly recommended!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This history of Penn Station and the Pennsylvania Railroad is truly fascinating. The author peoples the story with bigger than life figures and paints a detailed picture of the dangerous but fabulous enterprise. Highly recommend for fans of Erik Larson and those interested in the history of New York architecture.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting feats of engineering and politics!
It’s not the most exciting account… it takes a while to get the land for the tunnels, build the tunnels etc. but you get an idea of the complexity of all the pieces that need to come together, and there are parts where it seems like the whole endeavor is impossible and the tunnels will never be built!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to know the story of an architectural marvel, I always love that. Not the best writing which may or may not have been carryover from an "off" reader of the audiobook - the multitude of strange pronunciations and enunciations were very distracting.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story of the glory years of railroads and the technology of the day to build underwater tunnels.

[Ab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting book about the personalities and challenges involved in building the train tunnels and Penn Station

[Erik Tanouye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this as a Christmas present in late 2020.