To the Editor:
“The Lost City Under Penn Station” [April 23] was a great trip down memory lane.
Until the early 1970’s, Long Island Rail Road riders exiting east at Penn Station had a direct underground passageway known as the Hilton Corridor. This provided an indoor connection to the Herald Square 34th Street IND and BMT subway, along with PATH station complex. Further, there was an underground passageway along Sixth Avenue that went as far north as 42nd Street. Both passageways were closed many decades ago by the New York City Transit and the LIRR due to security issues. If reopened today, commuters would have easy connections to the Broadway N, R, Q and W lines, and the Sixth Avenue B, D, F and V subway lines along with PATH, rather than walking outside on the street, exposed to both inclement weather and heavy vehicular traffic.
By using either the subway or walking (most New Yorkers can manage a five- or 10-block walk—and besides, we could all use some healthy exercise), riders would have dir ect access to both midtown and the East Side of Manhattan along either the Broadway, Sixth Avenue, 42nd, 53rd, 59th or 63rd street corridors served by numerous subway lines and stations.
How disappointing that the old Hilton corridor, which previously provided transit options for thousands of rush-hour commuters, continues to lay dormant after so many decades.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
