Penn Station closure for stairway to LIRR tracks begins Friday

Commuters walk in the tunnel-like main hallway at Penn Station,... — Commuters walk in the tunnel-like main hallway at Penn Station, the main LIRR passenger area outside the waiting room on June 27, 2012. Credit: Craig Ruttle

By Joan Grallajoan.gralla@newsday.com JoanGrallaMay 19, 2016

Starting Friday at 5 a.m., Penn Station in Manhattan will close the West End Concourse stairway, near Eighth Avenue and serving Tracks 20 and 21, until 3 p.m. next Thursday.

The closures are needed for construction.

The work should not seriously impede Long Island Rail Road commuters because the West End Concourse is not as busy as the East End Concourse on the Seventh Avenue side of the station.

And the stairway will reopen just as passengers are rushing to catch afternoon trains. On Friday, the LIRR plans to add getaway trains ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

By Joan Gralla and Ted Phillips

joan.gralla@newsday.com JoanGralla

Joan Gralla is a general assignment reporter who also covers parks, flood control and Holocaust restitution. She's a former Reuters correspondent who covered politics, economics and markets.

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