Posted Apr 27, 2010, 2:13 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 56,895
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704464704575208572663755594.html?mod=rss_newyork_main
Subway Station Gets Fresh Push
By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL
April 27, 2010
Quote:
Top New York real-estate executives and the City Council speaker will make an 11th-hour push Wednesday to persuade the White House to back federal funding for a second subway station as part of the extension of the No. 7 line in Manhattan.
Officials from the Real Estate Board of New York, a trade association, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will meet in Washington with Vice President Joe Biden's staff in hopes of securing hundreds of millions of dollars to build a station at 10th Avenue and 41st Street.
The city, which agreed to pay for the extension for the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is spending $2 billion to extend the No. 7 line from Times Square to 34th Street and 11th Avenue. A 41st Street station was originally in the plans, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg scrapped it when costs skyrocketed. The city estimates that the station would cost an extra $500 million.
Steve Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board, said a station at 41st Street would make the neighborhood a more desirable place to live and work, and failing to build it would be a "terrible, terrible mistake."
"I don't expect we will be leaving the White House with a check in our hands," he said. "But it would be nice if we can identify a structure to move forward that will, in effect, make sure this station actually gets built."
Mr. Spinola said a report commissioned by the board suggests supporters have roughly a year to secure funding before it's too late. But the city believes the time frame is closer to two weeks.
The administration plans to move forward with the next set of contracts on the project, and turning back to build a second station after these contracts are issued, would result in tens of millions of wasted dollars, an official said.
"We're open to talking about what happens if someone finds additional funding, but we're certainly not going to hold up the project hoping that happens," said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the mayor.
"A 10th Avenue station would be nice, but the MTA and state budget problems are well-known, and the city is in no position to step in to pay for that, too."
If federal funds can be secured, Mr. Spinola said, officials in the Bloomberg administration told him there's a "strong desire to find another $250 million" in city funds.
Mr. Brent said the city made no such assurance.
Ms. Quinn, a Manhattan Democrat who is seen as a potential 2013 candidate for mayor, is leading the delegation to Washington. "We're working to rebuild an entire neighborhood, and an important key to that is having a strong transportation system," she said.
Hal Fetner, chief executive of Durst Fetner Residential and a building owner in the neighborhood, said the area is underserved by public transit.
"The city, state and federal government recognize how complex the construction and financing of this subway station is, but if we don't do it now, we will never have another opportunity," he said.
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