tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065946066745731728.post5917912224466277387..comments2024-03-17T00:08:48.923-04:00Comments on Beyond the Gilded Age: The Waldorf Astoria HotelZach L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04464823999255502522noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065946066745731728.post-60701475438571679992011-12-27T10:48:35.163-05:002011-12-27T10:48:35.163-05:00Patricia, the quote by Vincent Scully, a contempor...Patricia, the quote by Vincent Scully, a contemporary architect "One entered the city like a God, one scuttles in now like a rat" is so so so accurate that it truly hurts. As a current Penn Station commuter, it is sickening to know what was once there. To just see old photos of the great iron and glass train shed and the enormous waiting room and columned facade is heart breaking. Unfortunately for the original Waldorf, it's huge size made it easy for developers to acquire instead of having to go and negotiate with dozens of individual building owners to acquire a large site for the ESB. Plus, the current hotel is a gem from another design era so at least there was a bright side. With the new Penn Station, New York lost a landmark and was given a hideous cesspool.archibuffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065946066745731728.post-24940192873586912412011-12-26T19:01:10.447-05:002011-12-26T19:01:10.447-05:00If I had a time machine, this is a place I'd w...If I had a time machine, this is a place I'd want to go. To just sit in the lobby and watch the hustle and bustle of trunks and businessmen and hotel staff and families and servants all coming and going. A world of gracious efficiency. It doesn't take much to imagine it -- and also to be so close to the original Penn Station. I read somewhere on line a comment about the new Penn Station where someone remarked, "We used to arrive like kings, and now we scuttle in like rats." I thought that was such an apt description.Patricianoreply@blogger.com