Water, Possibly Sewage, Seeps From Penn Station Ceiling During Morning Commute

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Penn Station commuters just can't catch a break. Today, New Jerseyans and Long Islanders on their way to work were treated to the lovely sight of what appears to be sewage water seeping, and later gushing, from a station ceiling.

The leak appeared to be concentrated near track 19, which serviced the Babylon line this morning, according to witnesses.

As one commuter put it: "That don't smell like rain water!"

The stream of mystery liquid appeared to intensify as the morning went on.

Patch has reached out to Amtrak — which owns and operates Penn Station — for more information.

Whether it be train derailments, constant rush hour delays or full-on stampedes, Penn Station has seen its fair share of troubles in recent months. To fix some of the station's problems, Amtrak will launch an "aggressive" infrastructure and safety improvement plan this summer, executives announced on a conference call last week.

The landlords of the oft-maligned transport hub — operate Penn Station with the MTA, New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road — plan on completing work that was expected to take years in a matter of months this summer, President and CEO of Amtrak Wick Moorman said on a conference call last week. While the majority of Penn Station tracks are used by other companies, Amtrak technically owns all the tracks.

"We have made the decision that it is the prudent thing to do is to get this done more quickly, but it will have a larger impact on the station," Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman said Thursday.

Track outages will occur during two main stretches, from July 7-25 and Aug. 4-28, according to a Politico report citing an Amtrak draft engineering plan. During each stretch commuters can expect "significant impacts to service," according to the report.

An Amtrak spokeswoman did not confirm the track outage dates with Patch.

Photo courtesy of @TerraIncognita/Twitter