Passenger Trains > NYC: Gov Coumo announces "new" Moynihan station

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo announces plans to complete the conversion of the Farley Post Office to the new Moynihan train station.  He's decided that the station is a national laughing stock, and needs to be fixed.  Like he's doing to the (Port Authority operated) LaGuardia airport.
Cuomo, speaking in Midtown Manhattan at an Association for a Better New York breakfast, said the changes are needed because Penn Station is a disaster.“It is dirty, it is dingy, it is dark and that is not what New York is all about. It’s the equivalent of the LaGuardia Airport, which has now become the national laughing stock,” said Cuomo, who is also revamping the airport.

Dingy station to go to NJ Transit

I think Farley is a waste and off the beaten path. It is also just a concourse, not a station.
With Gateway, there would be NYPS-SOUTH. That is enough.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 17:29 by joemvcnj.

More details:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/nyregion/penn-station-new-york-andrew-cuomo.html

> According to state officials, all of the necessary approvals are in place, as well as the funding. The developers would pay New York State about $600 million, which would include an upfront payment of $230 million and annual payments in lieu of taxes over 30 years, which the city has to approve. The developers would also provide the state an unspecified share of the retail revenues at the train hall and, possibly, advertising, officials said.Empire State Development, a state agency, would contribute $570 million toward the remaining cost, much of it coming from the probable sale of Farley’s air rights. Amtrak, which owns Penn Station; the Long Island Rail Road; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and the federal government would put in a combined $425 million. <


Looks good, sounds good.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/16 21:24 by darkcloud.

It is not going to touch the Amtrak portion of the current building. Only the LIRR portion. So it is just half a project as far as that goes. :)

The retail hall looks like it will be quite the thing. And, it's paying 9 figures in rental fees.  I hope it doesn't squeeze out the trains...

The transfer of air rights is a huge part of the deal, as well.  That's essentially a gift from the feds to get this part of the deal done.

Just what we need, another Washington Union Shopping Mall.

WNYC has an interesting follow up.

The radio company reports that the governor's decision to fund a substantial investment in Penn Station caught the MTA board of directors off guard.  Although they knew they were on the hook for the fifty million in subway upgrades, the 170 milion for the LIRR upgrade was news to them.  One director expressed surprise, but the chairman told her "the governor wants it, so we need to do it".  So much for board independence from political control.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is known for starting huge projects without a known source of funding,  The Governor Mario Cuomo bridge on the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway is a perfect example of this.

On the hook for more dough

WNYC continues to follow this story, and how the real estate developers are driving the process.  In NY, developers are never far from most transportation improvements. 

The interview with two distinguished architecture critics points out how the project could be so much better. And avoid the fate of the Fulton Center / PATH debacle downtown. Way over budget, and filled with retail.  Observers will note that several of the same Lower Manhattan Development Corp folks who worked on that mess are already attached to the Penn project.  (LMDC is an arm of the state which functions as a Cuomo proxy when a little distance is required.)

WNYC: What will it take to transform Penn Station?