On the heels of Tuesday's announcement that the Moynihan Station project was awarded the necessary funding to begin construction of Phase 1, Gov. David Paterson announced that the State of New York had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amtrak. (A broad term sheet was signed last September.) It is not clear at this time what terms of agreement the MOU includes. More detailed contracts will be signed in months to come.

Gov. Paterson has also officially charged the Empire State Development Corporation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to see the project through. This involves coordinating the multiple agencies involved, negotiating a final agreement with Amtrak, and applying for federal funding. The Port Authority's board must now vote to approve taking on the project.

The Moynihan Station project has just been awarded an $83.3 million federal grant that will allow the first phase of the project to move forward. This first phase includes:

- building two new entrances to Penn Station's platforms from West of Eighth Avenue through the corners of the Farley Building,
- doubling the length and width of the West End Concourse,
- providing 13 new "vertical access points" (escalators, elevators and stairs) to the platforms,
- doubling the width of the 33^rd Street Connector between Penn Station and the West End Concourse, as well as
- other critical infrastructure improvements including platform ventilation and catenary work.
 
Now that funding has been lined up and design plans are in the final stages, construction should begin before the end of the year. The press statement from the Friends can be found here.

The best way for New York City to recover from the current economic slump? Build Moynihan Station!

In this New York Post op-ed, Julia Vitullo-Martin, director of the Center for Urban Innovation at Regional Plan Association, argues that City and State must join forces to see through a number of stalled development projects that will help the City get out of the current recession. The most important of these projects is Moynihan Station.

To access the story, click here (and scroll down). Full text on the jump.

Continue reading "Political trends for 2010: Build Moynihan Station" »

The Moynihan Station Development Corporation submitted yesterday an application for a TIGER federal stimulus grant, in the amount of $98 million. (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants are intended to help pay for projects that will reduce carbon emissions and bolster environmental sustainability.)

The grant would help pay for the first phase of the Moynihan Station project, which includes:
- Doubling the width and length of the West End Concourse;
- Stairs and escalators from the West End Concourse to the 31st St and 33rd St corners of the Farley Building. In other words, there will be two street-level entrances into Penn Station from the Farley building, a major improvement over the current Eighth Avenue entrances, which are through the ACE subway station;
- Additional stairs and escalators from the West End Concourse to the platforms;
- Widening of the 33rd Street Concourse, including making it ADA compliant;
- Ventilation and catenary work.

Later phases of the project will include a new train hall in Farley for Amtrak and related development. Cost estimates have not been revised lately. As of last spring, they ranged anywhere from $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion.

A major hurdle in the development of Moynihan Station was cleared over the weekend, when Amtrak announced its intention to relocate its operations to a new train hall in the Farley Building. Specifically, Gov. David Paterson, Senator Charles Schumer and Amtrak President Joe Boardman announced a general agreement on the basic terms and conditions for the redevelopment of the Farley Building into a new train station. The terms of the agreement will be finalized in the coming weeks and memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding.

This is all around good news. By moving to the historic Farley Post Office, Amtrak will gain a world-class flagship building for its busiest and most important station. All three transit agencies (NJ TRANSIT, MTA-LIRR and Amtrak) will benefit from a more efficient and spacious Moynihan Station complex, east and west of Eighth Avenue, with Amtrak relocated to Farley. Finally, the fact that Amtrak and the State of New York are working in partnership helps to clear the way for federal stimulus funding, which is necessary to see the project through.

The latest cost estimates are between $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion. Though the Port Authority, New York State, New York City and others have committed significant funding to the project, there remains a several hundred million dollar shortfall.

Amtrak Deal May Revive Moynihan Station, New York Times 9.13.09
Manhattan's Moynihan Amtrak Gets Go-Ahead, Newsday 9.13.09
Manhattan's all aboard Moynihan Station move, New York Post 9.14.09
Moynihan Station back on track, Daily News 9.13.09
Moynihan Station Pact Reached, Bloomberg News 9.13.09

The image above is Skidmore Owings and Merrill's 2006 rendering of the new train hall in Farley.