Vornado Seeks Zoning Exceptions for New Penn Station Entrance

Vornado Realty Trust is moving to incorporate a 34th Street–Penn Station entryway into its planned mixed-use development at 484 8th Ave. Department of City Planning (DCP) records indicate that Vornado Development Director Morgan Mann filed the application on Aug. 18.

Obtaining approval to move the entryway itself isn’t Vornado’s obstacle. On the contrary, city zoning regulations require that developments adjacent to subway entrances – like the tower Vornado is constructing, which exceeds the 5,000 square-foot lot area threshold – relocate those entrances from the sidewalk onto the development’s property.

The real estate giant is proposing that the Chairperson of the City Planning Commission waive two standard requirements in reconstructing the entrance: landing length and the number of steps allowed between landings.

The application, found in the DCP’s application portal, proposes that passengers would enter directly from West 34th Street into an open, doorless entrance incorporated into Vornado’s planned 484 8th Ave. development. The old sidewalk entrance would be demolished and sealed.

The proposed entrance would include a 10-foot-wide stair with 10-by-10-foot landings at street and mezzanine levels. Its first flight would contain 17 steps before turning to connect with the existing station mezzanine. Existing rules dictate that there may be no more than 14 steps between landings in relocated entrances, and that landings must be at least eight feet wide and 15 feet long.

Vornado argues in their application materials that the shorter landings would avoid unnecessary walking and align with MTA guidelines. It says limiting the stair to 14 consecutive steps would require another landing and three-step flight, creating a tighter layout that could conflict with MTA headroom requirements.

Crain’s reported that Vornado’s proposal is in response to an MTA request to equip the entryway with a wider staircase that has fewer landings, attributed to a source familiar with the application. Application materials also indicate that Vornado and the MTA have been in contact.

“MTA has reviewed the Applicant’s proposal and has preliminarily approved its conceptual design,” the project’s statement of findings reads on page five, acknowledging how the proposal addresses the agency’s passenger-flow standards.

The application was first filed on Aug. 12, and then revised on Aug. 18, according to a DCP spokesperson.

“DCP will aim to review this application expeditiously in the near future,” they said.

The second submission includes a letter from real estate counsel Jeremy Kozin, addressed to Isaac Bravo at DCP.

“In response to comments from the Department of City Planning, the enclosed ‘Filed Land Use Application 2’ incorporates small edits to the Project Description and Statement of Findings,” the letter reads. “These edits include additional land use rationale for the proposed Certification.”

Currently, the lot next to the station entrance is vacant. Vornado demolished the mixed-use buildings that formerly stood in the lot nearly a decade ago; it also purchased the adjacent lot (490 Eighth Ave., currently occupied by a McDonald’s) in March 2026 to demolish as well in preparation for the new development at 484 8th Ave., according to Crain’s.

The proposed tower is a 38-story, mixed-use development, planned to hold 481 residential units as well as ground floor commercial and retail spaces, according to the project description found in the application portal. 121 residential units are set to be “affordable,” the threshold for which remains unclear.

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers pass through the area surrounding the stop – and its 16 entrances – every day. Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, and the Empire State Building are just a few of New York’s most popular destinations for workers and tourists alike, all close to and easily visible from the proposed development site.