Editor’s note: The Penn Station redevelopment gets its own movie

The summer movie season is in full swing and one film may end up a sleeper hit with those following the drama of the Penn Station redevelopment. Documentary producer Claire Read debuts her “Penn F-ing Station” at Green-Wood Cemetery on Friday as part of Rooftop Films’ New York Nonfiction screening series. Read tells the story of the 1963 demolition of the original station to make way for Madison Square Garden and discusses the present plan to replace the dark and claustrophobic underground transit hub that serves commuters under the Midtown sports arena. Read captures the public outcry when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that several buildings in the surrounding area will be razed for the construction of 10 skyscrapers that would help fund the station’s rebuild. Read also tracks Community Board 5 member Layla Law-Gisiko’s failed primary run, losing to Assembly Member Tony  Simone, hoping she could fight the plan more effectively as an elected official. Her loss is a heartbreaking one that packs emotion into a story of New Yorkers pushing back against powerful developers and government.

Read doesn’t leave out commuters expressing colorful comments about the wretchedness of Penn Station. She told me in a telephone interview that she tried to make “something that was big picture, that was getting at the spirit and soul of the place and the surrounding neighborhood, and all the different people who were clamoring with different opinions, from the residents to the governor, to the day-to-day commuters.” In just 30 minutes, Read manages to put a human face on the drama of rebuilding a New York icon. It’s worth watching.