We had a great editorial in Newsday today. Take a read.



Get Moynihan Station back on track

February 29, 2008

Near the end of his life, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan doubted aloud that New York City could build big anymore. Ironically, it's his proposed namesake transportation hub, Moynihan Station, that's now raising the question.

Because of the down-trending economy and disagreement among principals, many of the city's ambitions seem to be crumbling: the Javits Convention Center expansion, Atlantic Yards, Hudson Yards. If there is one that deserves saving, it's Moynihan Station. State and city officials need to put their shoulders into this project and push.

Building Moynihan Station involves converting most of the historic Farley Post Office into a train station to ease the 550,000-person-a-day traffic across the street at Penn Station. The project would trigger further developments, including relocating Madison Square Garden and erecting offices west of Ninth Avenue.

This is a great deal for Long Islanders. First, commuters will be able to move off trains more quickly. Also, more jobs will be created in western Midtown, eliminating the need for many LIRR riders to backtrack east to Grand Central Station. An easier commute has to be good for Island home values.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and economic czar Pat Foye met Wednesday with the private interests - the Garden and developers Vornado and Related. All are hedging over how to fill a $1-billion funding gap.

Spitzer has also met with New York's delegation in Washington. But he needs to sell the project by painting a broader vision of how it can become a national economic development boon, rejuvenating rail travel from Boston to D.C. to Chicago. Only then will legislators from Ohio or Pennsylvania vote yes, and help prove Moynihan wrong.