‘Summer of hell’ in New York City as transit repairs get under way

NEW YORK — A massive two-month repair project will begin Monday at the country’s busiest train station, temporarily exacerbating the daily commuting struggle during what New York’s governor has predicted will be a “summer of hell.”

At Penn Station, crowds of commuters fuming at frequent afternoon delays already wedge into narrow stairways down to the tracks, all for the privilege of standing in the aisles of packed trains for a 45-minute ride home.

With an aging subway system subject to a recent state-of-emergency order by Cuomo, and a 67-year-old bus terminal called “appalling” and “functionally obsolete” by officials of the agency that runs it, the New York area’s transportation systems embody America’s inability, or unwillingness, to address its aging infrastructure.

[...] the Republican’s budget proposes a change that could jeopardize federal funding for a key project to build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, seen as critical to the region’s economic vitality.

Penn Station is a destination in itself, but it is also a hub for transfers, greeting about 600,000 passengers a day with low ceilings and dim lighting in what is essentially the basement of Madison Square Garden.

Rail commuters will suffer this summer’s overcrowding and reduced service with the knowledge that the repairs won’t add train capacity or eliminate problems like overhead wire failures in the tunnel that cause regular delays.