RE: (rshsdepot) New York, NY (Penn Station)

["Paul Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>]

If they are moving madison Square Garden why don't they just rebuild the
original Pennsylvania Station?


> [Original Message]
> From: <I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com>
> To: <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
> Date: 7/4/2007 10:21:47 PM
> Subject: (rshsdepot) New York, NY (Penn Station)
>
> From today's New York Times.
>  
> Bernie Wagenblast
>  
>  
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  
> New Grandeur for Penn Station in Latest Plan  
> By _CHARLES V. BAGLI_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/charles_v_bagl
i/index.html?inline=nyt-per) 
>  
> It began as a proposal to restore the Beaux-Arts grandeur of the old  
> Pennsylvania Station. It grew into a sweeping plan to transform the area
around  the 
> station into a district of gleaming office towers. Now it is growing
again.  
> In the next three weeks, two of the city’s largest developers will
unveil new 
>  plans for rebuilding the station, moving Madison Square Garden,
replacing 
> the  Hotel Pennsylvania, and erecting a pair of skyscrapers, one of which
would 
> be  taller than the _Empire State Building_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/e/empire_state
_building/index.html?inline=nyt-class
> ifier) , over the site of the existing  station.  
> Though the new plan is broadly similar to a proposal offered a year ago,
it  
> is different in several important ways, starting with the cost: $14
billion,  
> double that of the original plan, a real estate executive who has seen
the 
> plan  said. It is also bigger than anticipated: the entire plan,
involving 
> buildings  on six adjacent blocks, would create 10 million square feet of
new office 
> space  off West 33rd Street, as much as in the old World Trade Center.  
> The developers, Stephen M. Ross and Steven Roth, have also burnished
their  
> vision for the station, which would be renamed after Senator _Daniel
Patrick 
> Moynihan_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/daniel_patrick
_moynihan/index.html?inline=nyt-per) , who championed the original  
> idea. Civic groups and the head of the _City Planning Commission_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/city_pl
anning_commission/i
> ndex.html?inline=nyt-org) , Amanda M. Burden, had  complained that last
year’
> s plan treated the underground station as an  afterthought, without a
grand 
> public space worthy of the country’s busiest  transit hub.  
> The new plan would try to recapture the imposing aura of the original
station 
>  inside the James A. Farley Post Office across the street, with a vast,  
> street-level waiting room under a glass canopy that would spill sunlight
onto  the 
> concourse two levels below.  
> In the next three weeks, the public will get its first, albeit sketchy,
look  
> at the new plan when the Spitzer administration takes the first step in
an  
> environmental review of the project’s potential impact on the
neighborhood. 
> “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I think the stars are
aligned to 
>  do this,” said Patrick J. Foye, co-chairman of the Empire State
Development  
> Corporation, the state authority overseeing the project.  
> It is far from a done deal. 
> Despite progress on the designs and numerous meetings with officials from

> Amtrak, the _Port Authority of New York and New Jersey_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/port_au
thority_of_new_york_and_new
> _jersey/index.html?inline=nyt-org) , _New Jersey Transit_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/new_jer
sey_transit/index.html
> ?inline=nyt-org) , the Long Island Rail Road and the  Metropolitan 
> Transportation Authority, the developers do not have a definitive 
agreement with the 
> various transportation agencies.  
> The developers also have yet to hammer out a final deal with the owners
of  
> Madison Square Garden, Cablevision and the Dolan family, to move the
Garden to  
> the western part of the Farley building, which would be the arena’s
fifth 
> home  in 132 years. The two sides have a nonbinding agreement. 
> More important, the estimated cost of renovating the station has also  
> doubled, to $2 billion, and no one knows who will pay. Compounding the
problem,  
> another state project, the expansion of the nearby Jacob K. Javits
Convention  
> Center, has also doubled in cost, to $4 billion. And state officials have
warned 
>  that the proposed renovations of the Farley building may not qualify for 
> $225  million in federal tax credits they want. 
> Proponents contend that the Moynihan Station project has an important
benefit 
>  that justifies using public dollars: a new transportation hub that would 
> form a  monumental gateway to the city. But civic groups have also argued
that 
> the  developers should shoulder a substantial portion of the cost of
renovating 
> the  station because it would make their property far more valuable. 
> Mr. Roth, the chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, and Mr. Ross, chief
executive 
>  of the Related Companies, would build 5.5 million square feet of office
and  
> retail space on the current site of Madison Square Garden, on Eighth
Avenue  
> between 31st and 33rd Streets. If it were approved, they would also build
a 
> two  million-square-foot tower at the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue
and 
> 34th  Street, using development rights from the post office building. 
> In addition, Mr. Roth’s company plans to demolish the Hotel
Pennsylvania,  
> across Seventh Avenue from Madison Square Garden, to make way for a 2.5  
> million-square-foot building. Real estate executives and urban planners
say that  if 
> the plan reaches fruition, Vornado, which already owns about seven
million  
> square feet in the neighborhood, will dominate one district like no other

> landlord in the city. 
> “Given the magnitude of the project and the wealth which could be
created for 
>  the developers,” Mr. Foye said, “we expect them to make a
significant  
> contribution to the cost of the train station.” 
> So far, the developers have said only that government should pay for the  
> station. 
> “The project,” said Vishaan Chakrabarti, a vice president of Related,
“will  
> unlock billions of dollars in tax revenues, remake the dismal area 
> surrounding  Pennsylvania Station” and catalyze development on the Far
West Side. 
> That is a sentiment shared by the Bloomberg administration as well as  
> business and civic groups like the Partnership for _New York City_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/classifieds/realestate/locations/newyork/newy
orkcity/manhattan/?i
> nline=nyt-geo)  and the _Regional Plan Association_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/regiona
l_plan_assn/index.html?inlin
> e=nyt-org) . But Kent L. Barwick,  president of the _Municipal Art
Society_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/m/municip
al_a
> rt_society/index.html?inline=nyt-org) , a civic group that has met with 
the 
> developers, said that it was “inappropriate” for the state to put the

> project on the fast track and begin an environmental review before “the
design,  the 
> financing and all the implications are on the table.” 
> Senator Moynihan first suggested in 1992 that the Farley post office,
which  
> stretches from Eighth to Ninth Avenue opposite the Garden, could be
turned 
> into  a grand train station to help alleviate congestion at Penn Station
in a 
> gesture  of civic redemption for the much-lamented demolition of the
original 
> station in  the 1960s. 
> The state ultimately agreed to buy the Beaux-Arts post office, though the

> Postal Service continues to operate the historic stamp windows behind the

> colonnade on Eighth Avenue. In 2005, the state selected Related and
Vornado to  
> develop the project. Since the tracks beneath Madison Square Garden
extend below  
> the post office, the original plan was to convert the landmark building
into 
> a  $900 million train station with a monumental train room and large
stores 
> like  Kmart. 
> But the developers always had bigger things in mind. They hoped to
persuade  
> Cablevision, which owns the Garden, to sell its development rights and
move to 
> a  new arena, which would allow for the renovation of Penn Station and
enable 
> them  to build a huge new office complex.  
> Last December, the plan hit a roadblock when the State Assembly, which is

> controlled by Democrats, refused to approve the Farley portion of the
project,  
> snubbing the outgoing Republican governor, _George E. Pataki_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/george_e_patak
i/index.html?inline
> =nyt-per) . 
> Since then, the Spitzer and the Bloomberg administrations have been
working  
> with the developers. The latest plan calls for a new, 20,000-seat arena
to be  
> built in the western two-thirds of the Farley building. The glass-covered 
> arena  would rise as much as 35 feet above the roof of the post office,
with a 
> 10-foot  setback. Signs advertising events at the Garden would be mounted
on 
> kiosks,  rather than plastered on the building as the Garden owners
originally  
> suggested. 
> One source of continuing dispute on the station has been the Garden’s  
> insistence that the colonnade on Eighth Avenue serve as the entrance to
the  arena, 
> with basketball and hockey fans buying tickets at the stamp windows, 
walking 
> around the interior, past a large train room, into the arena. Commuters 
using 
> New Jersey Transit or Long Island Rail Road would enter the building 
through 
> separate, street-level entrances. 
> The Garden’s owners are also proposing to replace interior brick walls
with  
> glass, allowing visitors to see the interior of the arena. But these
proposals 
>  have come under fire from preservationists who worry that the Garden
will  
> overwhelm the Farley building, much as the Garden replaced Penn Station
more  
> than 40 years ago. 
> “We’re looking for a well-designed, separate and distinct train
station,”  
> said Peg Breen, president of the _New York Landmarks Conservancy_ 
>
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/new_yor
k_landmarks_cons
> ervancy/index.html?inline=nyt-org) , a private preservation  group. “We
do 
> not want the Garden to swallow the station.” 
> Not to worry, state officials say. “This is, first and foremost, a  
> transportation project,” Mr. Foye said. “The goal is to create
something that is  
> consistent with Senator Moynihan’s vision of a public space that can
accommodate  
> 550,000 daily commuters and still have room for growth.” 
> After work is done on the Farley building, the developers would move east
to  
> demolish the old Garden and allow for the renovation of Penn Station,
with  
> separate waiting rooms for Amtrak and for Long Island Rail Road
passengers. New 
>  Jersey Transit would be the largest single transit tenant in the Farley  
> building. The street-level part of the station would include two
corridors  
> running from Seventh to Eighth Avenue, several levels of stores and
possibly a  
> major department store in a 10- to 12-story base. 
> The developers also plan to renovate Vornado’s tower at 2 Penn Plaza
and  
> erect two skyscrapers, with one rising up to 1,400 feet, the other about
1,100  
> feet, according to executives who have seen the plans. On the lower
levels, the 
>  towers, which would be completed in 2018, would have several 
> 80,000-square-foot  floors for a financial institution interested in a
trading complex. 
> The developers are also talking to city officials about an alternative
plan  
> that would permit them to transfer development rights to nearby
properties so  
> that the skyscrapers would not have to be so tall. Under this scheme, the

> developers would also be able to start construction of other office
buildings  
> before the new arena is  completed.
>
>
>
>
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