(rshsdepot) New York, NY [Penn Station]

["J. Henry Priebe Jr." <root_@_bluemoon.net>]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/03/27/2008-03-27_madison_square_garden_backs_out_of_penn_.html

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
www.bluemoon.net       Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net        Railfan Network Services

Madison Square Garden backs out of Penn Station redevelopment plan 
BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN 
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 

Updated Friday, March 28th 2008, 3:37 AM 

Madison Square Garden dealt a potential death blow to the faltering Moynihan
Station Thursday night by abandoning a plan to move across the street as the
centerpiece of the new rail hub.

The Garden's owners will instead renovate the 40-year-old arena. The stunning
decision could kill the plan to replace gloomy Penn Station with a handsome
new hub named for the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Keeping the storied sports arena in place on Eighth Ave. also undermines
another $11 billion in public-private plans to build 7 million square feet of
office and retail space in the drab neighborhood along 33rd St.

That's because shifting the Garden to the Ninth Ave. side of the Farley Post
Office would have freed up development rights for 4.5 million square feet of
new construction that cannot be tapped if the arena stays put.

Furor against the Garden's corporate parent - Cablevision, the Long
Island-based behemoth long reviled by New Yorkers for running both the arena
and the Knicks into the ground - was instant and emotional.

"The announcement demonstrates a callous disregard for both the future of the
Moynihan Station project and the future of New York City - as well as
disrespect for the legacy of Sen. Moynihan," City Council Speaker Christine
Quinn said.

Some officials close to the development labeled the Cablevision announcement a
"bargaining tactic" that would not scuttle the sparkling mini-city planned for
west midtown's core.

"We don't think it's in [the Garden's] best interest to stay there," one
official said. "They probably know that themselves, and probably will come
back to the table."

The Related Companies/Vornado Realty partnership, which hopes to build six
skyscrapers as part of the Moynihan Station initiative, remained optimistic.

The much-ballyhooed development was foundering before the Garden picked up its
marbles.

Funding commitments for the $3 billion Moynihan Station had fallen $1.2
billion short, and the state economic development official running the show
bailed after ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer quit in disgrace.

A ray of hope surfaced early Thursday when Sen. Chuck Schumer called for the
Port Authority to "immediately take over the design, management and
implementation of the project" to get it back on track.

Hours later, Garden spokesman Barry Watkins threw out a bombshell. In a press
release that clearly caught Albany and City Hall off guard, he said, "After
exploring several alternatives, it has become clear that the only viable
option is a renovation."

dfeiden_@_nydailynews.com

With Kirsten Danis


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1705
********************************

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org