(rshsdepot) New York, NY (Penn Station)

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's New York Sun.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
State Finally To Make Move On Penn Station
By ELIOT BROWN

Special to the Sun
October 22, 2007
 

In a boost to the planned multibillion-dollar remake of Pennsylvania  
Station, the state is expected to release an environmental planning document  today, 
a required first step in a lengthy approval process for the far-reaching  
development plans.
 
The release of the draft scope for an environmental impact statement would  
be the Spitzer administration's first public display of forward progress on the 
 Moynihan Station project, which seeks to move Madison Square Garden into the 
 back of the neighboring Farley Post Office and spread new development 
throughout  the area.
 
Economic development officials for months have said the document's release  
was due in coming weeks, though people briefed on the project say the state  
seems to have had trouble sorting through a tangled web of stakeholders. Between 
 Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New Jersey Transit,  
developers Vornado Realty Trust and the Related Companies, Madison Square  Garden, 
the city, and the community, the state has slowly formed a more coherent  
vision for the project.
 
While two towering skyscrapers were initially planned for the site above  the 
Garden, the state moved toward a less costly option of spreading the 4.5  
million square feet of development rights in the surrounding neighborhood.
 
"It's a good step for the project," the executive director of the Regional  
Plan Association, Thomas Wright, said of the scoping document's release. "We're 
 pleased that they're looking for ways to spread the development density 
around  the district."
 
In briefing officials and community members, the state said and the Post  
Office may continue operations in some of the Farley building's stamp booths,  
and officials said the exterior signage on the building would be reasonable,  
sources briefed said.
 
The progress comes almost a year after the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon  
Silver, blocked the Pataki administration's efforts to advance a smaller scale 
 version of the project before the governor left office. Mr. Silver wanted to 
see  the Garden's move to the Farley building included in the project, along 
with the  renovation of the existing Pennsylvania Station, a vision that has 
taken the  state and developers months to craft.



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1620
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org