In a statement released yesterday and reported by the New York Times today, Sen. Charles Schumer, the Senate's Number 3 Democrat, requested that $100 million of the funds secured as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act be used to jump-start the Moynihan Station project. He also called for the Port Authority to become the lead agency in the project's planning and construction process, an idea first mentioned by Gov. David Paterson last fall.

Specifically, Sen. Schumer called for the $100 million to be spent out of one two pots: either the $1.3 billion allocated to Amtrak, or the $8 billion allocated to the Federal Railroad Administration for high-speed rail projects across the country. (It could also come out of the $21 billion allocated to New York State, though Schumer stayed away from that statement, for obvious conflict of interest reasons.)

Amtrak's system is in dire need of repairs and basic upgrades, and it is not clear whether the agency was planning on spending any of its allocation on Moynihan Station.

In the New York Times article, Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward hinted at the fact that the costs of building Moynihan Station -- even just the Farley Post Office component of the project -- had increased in recent months, and that the Port Authority may not have the necessary funding to move forward without additional sources of revenue.