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Originally Posted by newyorker
If Cuomo is out and the new gal is in and doesn't want to support what he has, then it splitville for this project. not complicated or irrelevant.
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Actually, no that has nothing to do with anything. The Empire Station-area towers are primarily as-of-right per current city zoning, and the sites and air rights, excepting the Empire Station superblock, are already owned by Vornado and Related.
The ESD-PA rezoning is an attempt to integrate the development of the towers with the redevelopment of the station. Has nothing specifically to do with Cuomo. So, if by some bizarre reason, a NY or NJ governor opposed the Empire Station project, and oddly pushed the PA to stall things, it would still go forward, just totally uncoordinated, with no regional planning aspect and no required integration of towers with transit.
But that would never happen, because NY-NJ aren't gonna reject $20 billion in federal funds for the tunnel and Empire Station, and they aren't gonna leave the cleared superblock permanently empty, thus forcing taxpayers to pay for the project rather than developers. The expanded terminal is totally below ground, the cleared land above has the development rights.