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[NYguy]

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[Randomguy34]

wat


Historic blunder?! State moves to protect Penn Station and MSG, jeopardizing redevelopment

Penn Station, Madison Square Garden and 2 Penn Plaza should be added to the National Register of Historic Places, a state agency said, a move that could delay or even kill efforts to rebuild the dismal and dangerous rail hub.

In a twist of irony, the destruction of the original 1910 Beaux-Arts Penn Station paved the way for the historic-preservation laws that the state is invoking to suggest protection is warranted for its much-despised successor.

A spokesman for the New York state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which made the recommendation, said the designation simply requires the agency "be consulted throughout the project planning process and have the opportunity to make recommendations... but does not mean that the project would be delayed or halted in any way."
....
The rail hub’s historic status is expected to be discussed Wednesday at a public hearing by the Empire State Development Corp. The Hochul administration has proposed the state’s share of rebuilding Penn Station be paid for by developing 10 new office towers in the vicinity.

A request for comment from the governor’s office was not immediately returned.

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transporta...n-and-madison-square-garden-jeopardizing

[C.]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

In a twist of irony, the destruction of the original 1910 Beaux-Arts Penn Station paved the way for the historic-preservation laws that the state is invoking to suggest protection is warranted for its much-despised successor.

You can't make this stuff up! I don't have an issue with MSG per se, but the underground Penn Station is horrific. It chokes the economic vitality of the region. No more makeup on a pig. Penn Station needs a complete rebuild, and I don't see how that happens with MSG on top.

I'm guessing it's physically impossible to move operations over to the Moynihan Train Hall?

[Busy Bee]

...the designation simply requires the agency "be consulted throughout the project planning process and have the opportunity to make recommendations... but does not mean that the project would be delayed or halted in any way."

End of story. Do we really need to add three thread pages of hysterical speculation?

[NYguy]

https://www.amny.com/transit/penn-station-redevelopment-public-hearing/

Hochul’s Penn Station real estate redevelopment draws heat at lengthy public hearing


Kevin Duggin
December 8, 2021

…..The Zoom feedback session drew more than 200 speakers, many of whom doubted the state’s claims that the proposed 10-tower office and apartment development around the station was needed to finance upgrades to the beleaguered transit hub, and accused officials of putting the cart before the horse.

“The greatest cause of concern is that the process is inverted and that we started by looking at how many development rights could be sold to support transit needs,” said Paul Devlin, a co-chairperson of the land use committee on local Manhattan Community Board 4. “Instead, the transit needs should be determined first, then figure out how to move people through the network and public space, then determine funding sources.”

Hochul revived Cuomo’s plan on Nov. 3 in a slightly pared back form, cutting about 1.4 million square foot of space, while maintaining 1,800 apartments, including 540 income-restricted units.

The state’s development arm Empire State Development is leading the effort, which promises to add 8 acres of public space and proposes a more pedestrian and bike-friendly streetscape in the area.

The scheme, now called the Penn Station Area Redevelopment Project, covers an area bounded by Sixth and Ninth Avenues, and W. 30th and W. 34th Streets, and is still dominated by commercial office space, including a large campus of glass towers to the north of the station to be built by developer Vornado.

In November, Hochul said she wanted to get moving on the expansion of Penn Station, with plans to open up the first underground level and turn it into an airy train hall, along with a new underground corridor connecting to the Herald Square subway station.

However, the Wednesday public hearing was solely about the development deal, as the state has separated out the transit upgrade into a different project to be fleshed out with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

One resident who lives on the block of W. 30th Street under threat of demolition accused the state of not being honest about its plans.

“If this plan were good, I would bite the bullet and step aside for the purpose of allowing an improvement to my neighborhood,” said T. Lawrence Wheatman. “This is not an improvement to the neighborhood. This is a — I’m sorry, I’m gonna say the word — a blatant lie.”

Some speakers applauded the state’s move, including one Long Island Rail Road commuter who said it was long overdue that the commuter hub get a facelift.

“Penn Station is an absolute antiquated station that for a long time has been talked about being renovated and I am in complete support of this project,” said Matt Kamper. “I use Penn Station all the time, it is so congested, bottlenecked. The time is now for Penn Station to get its renovation.”

There will be another public hearing sometime next month, but the public comment period is set to end on Jan. 10, before the final plans come before the ESD board in the spring.

[NYguy]

https://www.rebny.com/content/rebny/en/n...nd_Use_Project_General_Project_Plan.html

The Real Estate Board of New York to The Empire State Development Regarding the Pennsylvania Station Civic and Land Use Project – General Project Plan


December 8, 2021

.....The Pennsylvania Station General Project Plan (GPP) is Governor Hochul’s revised vision for Penn Station and its adjacent environs. As currently contemplated, the GPP will provide a substantial increase in public space, improvements to access and egress to and from the station, increased train capacity, and opportunities for residential and commercial development. The GPP will institute design controls for facades along 33rd Street to maintain views to the iconic Empire State Building and proposes a community advisory group for transparency and governance on building design and public realm improvements.

REBNY applauds the robust public engagement process to date, which has included significant community input on the plan and the process. A GPP requires community engagement and consultation with the local planning authority, in this case, the City Planning Commission, pursuant to the provisions of the New York State Urban Development Corporation Act. Based on this requirement, and in response to calls for community engagement, the State convened a committee known as the Community Advisory Committee Working Group (CACWG). The CACWG was expanded over time to include more stakeholders and has included informative presentations and opportunities for questions directly with city, state and federal entities. REBNY was pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this group. In August, the CACWG shared advisory feedback, spearheaded by the community boards and elected officials, with ESD, MTA, Amtrak, and NJ Transit on the GPP.

Subsequently, following an announcement by Governor Hochul that the plan would undergo revisions, ESD reconvened the CACWG to share revisions to the GPP that were responsive to community concerns, such as reducing overall project density and commercial floor area, and increasing opportunities for residential development.

Consequently, as a result of this robust engagement, over six months have been spent on shaping the proposal with the community before the proposal has gone to a formal public hearing and prior to City Planning Commission review. In that spirit, there is a 60-day review period of the revised plan, from noticing to comment period closing, to facilitate complete community response. It is worth noting that this level of community engagement far exceeds what would occur under the City’s land use process.

Regarding the plan itself, the need for improvements to Penn Station is clear to anyone who has utilized its platforms. In recent years the streetscape has seen significant public space improvements by private property owners. However, no cohesive vision unites these blocks in the same manner one finds outside Grand Central, Bryant Park, Union Square and other major transit hubs. A key component of the financing for these improvements would be commercial development by the private sector. Floor area generated by the GPP for this purpose would be subject to a sale, with funds going toward transit improvements and the public realm. This development model has been utilized in other parts of the city to great effect and has proven to be a way to strengthen transit infrastructure and create good jobs that will play an important role in supporting New York City’s long-term economic recovery.

The GPP also contemplates up to four sites for residential use. This is a thoughtful provision to address the city’s housing crisis. To support current neighborhood residents, the plan also appropriately includes a right to return for residents temporarily displaced by the overall project plan. Additionally, those residents that are currently income eligible will receive affordable/income restricted rental apartments. A commitment has also already been made for on-site screening services for homeless individuals to ensure New Yorkers in need are taken care of as part of this process.

Residential units and density adjacent to transit is simply smart planning. To further amplify the opportunity for residential development around Penn Station, REBNY encourages further exploration of the CACWG recommendation to raise the floor area ratio (FAR) cap in the State’s Multiple Dwelling Law. Originally implemented in Albany in 1961, the cap mandates that a residential building cannot have 12 times more square footage than the lot on which it is built. This antiquated regulation greatly reduces the ability of the city and the State sponsored GPP to create more housing.

The Regional Plan Association (RPA) made a clear and convincing argument that lifting the cap will unlock the potential to create more affordable housing by triggering Mandatory Inclusionary Housing. This is particularly the case in the area covered by the GPP where greater residential density offers the benefits of both addressing the city’s housing shortage while creating even more affordable income-restricted units.

This GPP will induce new economic activity and tax revenue, provide much needed homes, and help to improve the quality of life for New Yorkers, commuters and visitors alike. REBNY is committed to working with Governor Hochul and all stakeholders to advance these shared goals for smart planning and economic development in and around Penn Station and across the city.

Thank you for the consideration of these points.

[NYguy]

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governo...-metro-north-penn-station-access-project

Governor Hochul Announces MTA to Award Contract for the Metro-North Penn Station Access Project
Project Will Provide Direct Metro-North Service from the Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut to Penn Station and Manhattan’s West Side


December 15, 2021

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has approved a design-build contract for the Penn Station Access Project, which will provide direct Metro-North service from the Bronx, Westchester and Connecticut to Penn Station and Manhattan’s west side. Penn Station Access will drastically reduce travel times for people who live and work in the East Bronx, an area currently without any rail service. The contract will be awarded to Halmar International, LLC/RailWorks, J.V.

Governor Ned Lamont said, “Improved service on our rail system, with an eye on the future, means a transportation system that works for everyone when it comes to quality of life and economic development for residents and businesses in Connecticut and New York. It means more transit-oriented development, more people out and about, and more opportunities for tens of thousands of people to get to their jobs every day and earn a living. This is the latest joint venture between Connecticut and New York showing how important our relationship is for our residents and the success of the region.”

Janno Lieber, MTA Acting Chair and CEO said, “This is a great news for the Bronx and the region. With four new ADA-accessible stations in Co-Op City, Morris Park, Parkchester/Van Nest and Hunts Point, Penn Station Access will deliver access to jobs, education and opportunity for those underserved neighborhoods, cutting commutes to the Manhattan Central Business District, but also introducing reverse commuting opportunities.”

Jamie Torres-Springer, President of MTA Construction & Development said, “Projects like Penn Station Access are why the MTA created a new capital agency to use innovative approaches that will get projects built better, faster and cheaper. The single design-build contract makes one entity responsible for all elements of the project under our management, putting this project on the path of the MTA’s LIRR Expansion Project, which has kept to budget and to schedule using a similar approach.”

Catherine Rinaldi, President of MTA Metro-North Railroad said, “Access to Penn Station is completely transformative for Metro-North and we are excited to begin the service upon completion of the project. This will be the railroad’s largest expansion in history – four new stations is no small thing. This gives Metro-North’s busiest line a second route into Manhattan for the first time, redundancy that’s all the more important as the railroad looks to pursue major capital renewal projects on the route to Grand Central – namely the Park Avenue Viaduct and the Park Avenue Tunnel.”

Oh, and surprise, surprise….



https://nypost.com/2021/12/15/layla-law-gisiko-runs-for-pol-seat-to-fight-penn-station-plan/amp/

Layla Law-Gisiko — enemy of Penn Station project — to run for Assembly





By Dana Kennedy
December 15, 2021

A tenacious Parisian in Manhattan is refusing to bow down to Andrew Cuomo — or his successor — when it comes to fighting plans to transform the area around Madison Square Garden into a forest of skyscrapers.

The former governor’s controversial Penn Station project has spurred Layla Law-Gisiko, a Franco-Arab woman, to run for the Assembly seat soon to be vacated by longtime legislator Richard Gottfried.

Layla Law-Gisiko, who was born in Paris and is a 26-year resident of Manhattan, has been a Community Board 5 member for 16 years and is the current chair of its Land Use committee.

But is wasn’t until she went up against Gov. Cuomo’s powerful state agency, Empire Station Development Corp. (ESD) — and its “disastrous” multi-billion plan to build 10 skyscrapers at Penn Station as part of a leveraged deal to renovate the transit hub — that the 50-year-old decided she needed a bigger political platform.

“The best way to fight is by having a seat in Albany,” Law-Gisiko said. “It’s going to give me more power to take this on.”

She will formally announce her candidacy for the Assembly District seat 75 Thursday afternoon in front of the grand old Hotel Pennsylvania across from Madison Square Garden, one of the sites slated for demolition around Penn Station.

Law-Gisiko became a thorn in the side of the ESD (which declined to comment for this story) earlier this year when she became increasingly vocal about how state officials — and their partners at Vornado Realty — managed to bypass the city and move ahead with what she called a “disastrous” plan without any municipal oversight. Vornado chief Steve Roth was a major campaign donor to Gov. Cuomo.

There’s no reason to build all those skyscrapers right down the street from Hudson Yards which is already a white elephant,” she told The Post. “It’s a disastrous plan that will take all the sunlight out of the area and displace hundreds of residents and thousands of businesses.”

….. Law-Gisiko was further incensed last month Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to move forward with Cuomo’s project, while claiming to have adjusted the plan to satisfy community concerns. Eight blocks around Penn Station will still be bulldozed under Hochul’s plan.

“We were surprised and hugely disappointed the board was not consulted before she made her announcement,” Law-Gisiko said. “Gov. Hochul took ownership of what she called a scaled-down version but which is essentially Gov. Cuomo’s same project. It would have been so much better had she talked to us and gotten feedback before she went to the podium. Now that it’s public it’s harder to take back.”

Law-Gisiko said she was first made aware of how an unattractive building — in her case the notorious Tour Montparnasse, known as “Paris’ ugliest skyscraper” —can negatively impact a city aesthetically and economically.

“I still have PTSD from the Tour Montparnasse,” Law-Gisiko told The Post, adding that her Parisian education and culture inform both her persistence to fight for what she thinks is right, as well as her sense of taste and style.

I think my head is going to explode. Such a clown.

[Zapatan]

There are places for skyscrapers and there are places better off without them, Manhattan is for skyscrapers, obviously.

Question is, can she actually succeed in doing anything?

[Busy Bee]

I hate her already

[BK1985]

What a loser. I’m just gonna say it, go back to Paris.

[Busy Bee]

You know, like the old expression says... "What's right for Paris, is right for New York."

[Manitopiaaa]

Layla Law-Gisiko hates skyscrapers so much because of Montparnasse Tower, that she literally moved to the skyscraper capital of the world. She's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[MAC123]

Good to see Metro North - Penn connection moving forward. Transit interconnections are always nice to see.

Also lady, just stop. This isn't Paris, this isn't even Staten Island. This is Midtown Manhattan. There are only a few places elsewhere (such as Hong Kong) where skyscrapers are more suited to be.

[NYguy]

^ The MetroNorth piece is an important part of the project because it replaces some of the LIRR traffic that moves to the east side.

Originally Posted by Zapatan

There are places for skyscrapers and there are places better off without them, Manhattan is for skyscrapers, obviously.

Question is, can she actually succeed in doing anything?

She can succeed in being a pain in the ass. That’s about it. The media loves a good oppisition story.

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I hate her already

Originally Posted by BK1985

What a loser. I’m just gonna say it, go back to Paris.

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

You know, like the old expression says... "What's right for Paris, is right for New York."

Originally Posted by Manitopiaaa

Layla Law-Gisiko hates skyscrapers so much because of Montparnasse Tower, that she literally moved to the skyscraper capital of the world. She's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Yeah, she’s obviously trying to cash in on her opposition to the skyscrapers, as if the nation’s busiest transit center shouldn’t be a dense hub of office and commercial space. Much less, New York City - a skyscraper hub for more than a century now. Get her a ticket back! (She’ll probably win her election though)

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by NYguy

She can succeed in being a pain in the ass. That’s about it. The media loves a good oppisition story.

That's tolerable just as long as the skyscrapers get built eventually and she cries because of it.

[Busy Bee]

Nothing says "I know what's best for New York" like "I just moved here from Paris."

[UpwithOlives]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Nothing says "I know what's best for New York" like "I just moved here from Paris."

Twenty six years ago. Just saying.

[jackster99]

I don't think she had them take enough obnoxious, unnecessary, self-serving photos of her just standing around for that article. Needed at least a few more

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Nothing says "I know what's best for New York" like "I just moved here from Paris."

Originally Posted by UpwithOlives

Twenty six years ago. Just saying.

Yeah, and her world view is based in that.

“I still have PTSD from the Tour Montparnasse,” Law-Gisiko told The Post, adding that her Parisian education and culture inform both her persistence to fight for what she thinks is right, as well as her sense of taste and style.

Please.

Originally Posted by jackster99

I don't think she had them take enough obnoxious, unnecessary, self-serving photos of her just standing around for that article. Needed at least a few more

Ecactly.

[NYguy]

http://www.westsidespirit.com/news/the-pit-at-penn-station-DF1896005

‘The Pit’ at Penn Station
While other commuters enjoy the spacious new Moynihan Hall, NJ Transit travelers endure cramped conditions of the rush-hour concourse





AGHA HAIDER RAZA
10 DEC 2021

Cramped for space inside the scrum during evening rush hour, scores of commuters wistfully stare at a screen, either at a television hanging on the walls or at a mobile phone in their hands. Despite wearing masks as a precaution against COVID, everyone is huddled together, standing shoulder to shoulder in what they call “the pit” – the concourse for New Jersey Transit passengers at Penn Station.

There is not speck of natural light or ventilation in the dingy pit, just the light from the fluorescent lamps hanging from rafters.

Anum Shah, a 27-year-old New Jersey Transit commuter, expresses her anger at the congestion in the concourse for NJ Transit passengers and hates being part of the scrum. “There’s only about two or three places you can stand for NJ Transit, and everyone is on top of each other,” she says. She is trying to get back to Princeton Junction from her job as an analytics manager in Times Square.

As a daily commuter, Shah is aware what happens when the track number flashes inside the scrum. “Waiting around for the track number to be called is not friendly,” she says.

Within a matter of seconds, the screens refresh. A flashing number ignites a stampede. The hypnotized folks break from their trance and bolt toward a door whose number just flashed on the screen.

As they rush a single-lane escalator that leads underground, a bottleneck quickly forms. COVID guidelines are all but forgotten as commuters inches away from each other attempt to get downstairs so they don’t have to stand all the way back home to Trenton.

“First of all, you don’t know if you’re getting a single-decker, or a double-decker train,” Shah says. “And even in peak rush hour, with a double-decker train, you’re not always going to get a seat.”

Busiest Rail Station

Located under Madison Square Garden from 31st to 33rd Streets between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, New York Penn Station is the busiest rail station in the Western Hemisphere. Penn Station was initially built for 200,000 daily riders. Today, the station serves more than 650,000 daily commuters.

A new station was inaugurated this year. Across the street from Penn Station between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets, Moynihan Train Hall is a glitzy $1.6 billion building with new concourses and larger waiting rooms converted from the city’s former main post office.

Serving only Amtrak commuters and some tracks for Long Island Rail Road passengers, Moynihan does little to alleviate the commuter pressure at Penn Station. A recent estimate shows with only 30,000 daily riders, Amtrak passengers account for less than 5% of the total daily commuter traffic.

While LIRR and Amtrak passengers have moved on to greener pastures in Moynihan Hall, NJ Transit commuters are still left to scrum in the pit.

Renovation Project

In February 2021, a Penn Station expansion proposal was released by former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The plan called “NJ Transit Central Concourse Extension” is part of a larger development project called the “Empire Station Complex.” Current Governor Kathy Hochul revised the plan and last month announced a $6.7 billion project to renovate Penn Station.

The proposal includes removal of an upper level to make room for higher ceilings and natural light as well as an expansion of current waiting halls and concourses by over 40%. The renovation would see the installation of an additional 18 escalators and 11 elevators for easier navigation to facilitate passengers embarking and disembarking trains.