Tracks, the Penn Station commuter bar, is pouring again in the rebuilt LIRR concourse
Forced out by the concourse overhaul in 2019, the raw bar is back in its old corner after a $3 million makeover, now serving sushi beside a wall of railroad memorabilia.
Tracks is back. The Penn Station raw bar was a commuter fixture for 16 years until the MTA’s concourse rebuild forced it out in 2019, and it has now returned to its old spot in the LIRR concourse. Owner Bruce Caulfield quietly reopened on Aug. 8. On Sept. 17, MTA chair Janno Lieber lifted a pint as a priest from St. Francis of Assisi gave the taps a blessing.
Where to find Tracks in Penn Station
Head toward Tracks 18 and 19 and look just past the escalator that rises to the Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street exit. The rebuilt LIRR corridor around the bar is now close to double its former width, and its ceilings are 18 feet high.
Before Tracks, Caulfield ran a station coffee shop for 13 years. He won the former McCann’s space at bid in 2002 and opened the bar there in January 2003. When the overhaul came, Tracks was one of 10 businesses that had to go, and it served its final beer on Aug. 31, 2019. Caulfield set up at street level across from Madison Square Garden, at 220 West 31st St., and kept promising a return. His original partners did not want the expense and bureaucracy of building a new space, so he lined up different backers. Those old partners, the O’Brien brothers, now run the 31st Street bar as O’Brien’s, a sports bar.
What’s on the menu at the new Tracks
The $3 million makeover shows the moment you walk in: handsome woodwork, real lighting, a bar a bit shorter than the old one and railroad memorabilia covering a full wall. “I’m a train geek,” Caulfield said.
Oysters now share the raw bar with sushi. Pete, the butcher who supplied the original bar, still grinds the burger meat in his small shop. Kobe sliders are there for lighter appetites, and French dips and steak frites take the place of the 2003 plates of steak with potatoes and vegetables. Caulfield says he has the city’s biggest Irish whiskey collection, and most of his staff was born in Ireland or is Irish American.
The week itself has shifted. Fridays are much slower, and Caulfield said he thinks the five-day work week is gone for good. Tourists were never the business. “It’s a commuter bar,” he said. It serves LIRR and NJ Transit riders, and construction crews who work six days a week are its core.
Quick answers
Where is Tracks bar in Penn Station?
In the LIRR concourse near Tracks 18 and 19, just past the escalator that rises to the Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street exit.
When did Tracks reopen?
It soft-opened on Aug. 8, and a priest blessed its taps on Sept. 17.
What happened to the Tracks location on West 31st Street?
Caulfield's former partners, the O'Brien brothers, now run it as a sports bar called O'Brien's.
