Moynihan Station

Paterson announces MOU with Amtrak; charges ESDC and PA with the project

2010-02-18T14:34:00Z

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.

Big News! Moynihan Station Receives Federal Funding Necessary to Start Construction

2010-02-16T15:15:01Z

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.

Political trends for 2010: Build Moynihan Station

2010-01-04T16:30:28Z

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.

]]> POLITICAL TRENDS FOR 2010

DEVELOPMENT BACK ON TRACK?

Some parts of New York feel like they're in a deep, post-apocalyptic funk -- vacant storefronts, pot-holed streets, broken sidewalks, stalled construction sites, garbage-strewn blocks, untended graffiti. Our boom-and-bust city has pulled out of worse before and surely can do so again. But we need government to push hard on its end -- supplying infrastructure in now-fallow neighborhoods and moving forward important projects that have been mired in bureaucracy and strife.

Of these the most important to the city's future is Moynihan Station, the ambitious attempt to convert the old Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue, across from Madison Square Garden, into a glorious new Penn Station. Seemingly moribund since the winter of 2008, Moynihan is back on track now, in part because Amtrak's new chief, former state transportation commissioner Joseph Boardman, agreed to relocate his agency to the new train hall so long as Amtrak could share in future retail revenues. That deal was just struck in December, so that Amtrak is now at last onboard.

In a neighboring but unrelated move, the City Council approved the West Side rail yards rezoning, which will allow the mixed-use development of 13 yards, directly south of Moynihan Station, with commercial and apartment buildings. The redevelopment of the long-fallow, rail-yard-dominated West Side will start in 2010.

Across the East River in Long Island City, Queens, the Economic Development Corporation will begin on-site infrastructure for the Hunters Point South development, which will build 5,000 housing units on 30 acres of prime waterfront. The site is magnificent, but like most of the city's old industrial sites, is bereft of the basics -- sewage, roads, parks. To judge just how quickly and effectively good parks can transform an area, New Yorkers can look to the Brooklyn Bridge Park that, after much contention, will open in 2010.

- Julia Vitullo-Martin, director of the Center for Urban Innovation at the Regional Plan Association

New York State applies for stimulus funding for first phase of Moynihan Station

2009-09-16T15:09:48Z

(A design for the future entrances to Moynihan Station has not been specified;
this rough sketch was drawn up by Regional Plan Association for visualization purposes.)

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.

Amtrak Agrees to Move Operations to Farley

2009-09-14T12:55:23Z

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.

NYT Editorial Sees Renewed Hope for Moynihan Station

2009-03-09T13:08:13Z

Thanks to available federal stimulus dollars and renewed attention to the project from Senator Charles Schumer, the Times editorial board expresses hope that the Farley Post Office can finally be converted into a new train hall as Senator Moynihan envisioned 15 years ago.

With a significant financial contribution from the Port Authority, $100 million (or more) from the federal stimulus bill, and the funding pledged by New York City, New York State and the federal government years ago, the first stage of the project -- a new train hall in Farley -- could finally move forward.

Full copy of the editorial on the jump.

]]> New York Times Editorial

The Senators' Railway Station

Published: March 8, 2009

After years of starts and stalls, replacing New York City's gloomy, subterranean Pennsylvania Station with an elegant transit hub suddenly looks possible again. Veterans of this project and its many iterations see a glimmer of hope that the grand old Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue can still be converted into a splendid new railroad hall named for the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

That renewed hope is there for two main reasons. First, Washington is handing out money. Second, Senator Charles Schumer, New York's high-energy force on Capitol Hill, has moved the Moynihan project up on his priority list.

In a speech last week to business leaders, Senator Schumer laid out a cogent plan for making the new station come to life. Amtrak's new leadership would have to play a major role and agree to make Moynihan the point of departure and arrival for its Northeast Corridor trains.

As a grand open hall -- more a renovation with a new skylight than some of the dramatic and complicated schemes of the past -- Farley would then become the uplifting gateway to New York City. The overall scheme would also allow for major renovations to the existing Penn Station, now an intolerably confusing maze.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would also be asked to play a major role. The authority has many items on its to-do list, including rebuilding at ground zero and creating a new tunnel under the Hudson from New Jersey. But as Mr. Schumer and others argue, it makes sense for the authority to coordinate what is essentially a major Midtown transportation project.

Mr. Schumer suggests, rightly, that the authority could contribute at least $1 billion of the money it now has earmarked for city projects. That would be added to $250 million designated for Moynihan that's been sitting in the bank for years. Finally, Mr. Schumer and others want to move swiftly to get their hands on some of the money for high-speed rail and Amtrak included in the new stimulus package.

Mr. Schumer's point, and one that deserves repeating, is that in the Great Depression, New Yorkers went for the sky. They built the Empire State Building. Now it's time to reach again, to use the present economic crisis to fulfill Senator Moynihan's enduring dream of a great railway entrance into New York City.

The Friends Ask Gov. Paterson to Announce his Support for Moynihan Station

2009-03-04T20:59:05Z

In a letter to Governor David A. Paterson, the Friends of Moynihan Station endorsed Senator Charles Schumer's call to spend stimulus funds on Moynihan Station, and asked the Governor to publicly announce his support for the project and invite the Port Authority to act as a co-lead agency with the Empire State Development Corporation. If the $100 million that Senator Schumer requested from Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration is not spent on Moynihan, it will likely go to out-of-state projects.

A copy of the letter can be downloaded here.

Sen. Schumer Calls for $100 Million of Stimulus Funds to be Spent on Moynihan

2009-03-02T22:19:25Z

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.

NYTimes architecture critic calls for tearing down the Garden and Penn Station

2008-09-29T20:08:16Z

In this weekend's New York Times, Nicolai Ouroussoff inventories the list of New York City buildings that ought to be torn down for being ugly and having a "traumatic effect on the city."

Coming in at the top of his list? Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. Ouroussoff calls Penn Station "one of the city's most dehumanizing spaces: a warren of cramped corridors and waiting areas buried under the monstrous drum of the Garden." Ouch.

After describing Gov. Paterson's efforts to transform Penn Station despite the Garden's decision not to move, Ouroussoff calls for a much more aggressive plan to build a contemporary version of the old Penn Station, with light and airy spaces and cavernous entry halls. "Any other plan is just fiddling around." A difficult sell in these times of over-stretched budgets, but nonetheless an entertaining article.

Paterson makes a push for "Plan B"

2008-09-12T20:11:27Z

In a speech at the Building Congress today, Gov. David Paterson announced his full support for moving forward with "Plan B," i.e. a new Moynihan Station under Madison Square Garden's existing structure. The Governor described his vision for Moynihan as a transportation project first and foremost, instead of the real estate project that critics said it had become.

Paterson wants to increase the number of platforms and tracks at Moynihan, coordinate the planning of Moynihan and ARC, and improve overall transit service in the region.

Gov. Paterson called for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to take over the project. He also appointed his Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Infrastructure Tim Gilchrist to lead the project at the governor's office.

The Friends of Moynihan Station are delighted to hear that this critical infrastructure, architecture and civic project is coming back to life.

Read the Crains article.
Read the New York Times article.
Read the Daily News article.

69,240 people an hour at 32nd Street & Seventh Avenue entrance

2008-07-17T17:39:07Z

Tri-State Transportation Campaign reports that the 34th Street Partnership's annual pedestrian survey counted nearly 70,000 people entering and exiting Penn Station at 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue. That's 1,154 people a minute!

Anyone who has witnessed the flood of commuters pouring out of Penn Station knows how urgently pedestrian improvements are needed. Tri-State has proposed pedestrianizing 32nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues (and changing the light cycle at 32nd Street and Seventh, which currently allots cars one minute, and pedestrians only 20 seconds.) Borough President Scott Stringer has suggested widening the sidewalks and striping bike and bus lanes on 33rd Street. Both of these suggestions are easy and low-cost and should be implemented now.

Neither of these improvements, however, will be enough to accommodate the 60% increase in ridership that NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak predict in the next two decades. As part of the Moynihan Station project, the City and the State must pursue a comprehensive pedestrian plan that includes, among other things:

Dedicating two traffic lanes on 34th Street to Bus Rapid Transit (a project that is currently in the works at NYC DOT and NYCT);
Reopening the Gimbel's Corridor, an underground corridor on 33rd Street between Penn Station and Herald Square;
Widening sidewalks on Seventh Avenue from Penn Station to Times Square.

US House passes Amtrak bill, includes possible funding for Moynihan Station

2008-06-12T12:39:32Z

The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly yesterday to give new life to Amtrak by authorizing $14.4 billion toward the development of a high-speed train between New York City and Washington DC. The bill also includes a $2.5 billion grant program that could be used to fund local projects, such as Moynihan Station.

"With a combination of Republicans and Democrats looking to the future, we have been able to just keep Amtrak's nose above water over these intervening years," Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., said. "Today we change that model."

The $14.4 billion authorized is far more money than Congress has ever authorized before. Republicans agreed to that amount in exchange for reviewing proposals by private companies bidding on the construction of the high-speed line on the Northeast Corridor. Private companies would also allow private companies to take over some of Amtrak's less successful lines. The Senate passed its version of an Amtrak reauthorization last year, which would authorize $10 billion in spending, but did not include privatization language.

The White House is threatening to veto any Amtrak legislation that doesn't make the agency more accountable, but both the House and Senate bills have passed by veto-proof margins. Backers of the bill have argued that supporting the national passenger railroad is the best way to address soaring gas prices.

See full articles in the New York Sun and the Observer.

Senator Schumer calls for City and State to focus on Moynihan Station

2008-05-12T17:37:56Z

At a Crain's breakfast this morning, New York's senior Senator Charles Schumer called for the development of the West Side of Manhattan, and argued that Moynihan Station and Access to the Region's Core (NJ TRANSIT's new terminal station at 34th Street) are the first step to getting there.

The Friends have said for a long time that since commercial development proceeds incrementally, a thriving Penn Station area is the key to unlocking the Far West Side.

Municipal Art Society asks: "What needs to happen next at Moynihan Station?"

2008-05-08T13:07:23Z

One of the co-chairs of the Friends of Moynihan Station, Municipal Art Society, will be hosting a public forum on Tuesday May 13, about "What needs to happen next at Moynihan Station?".

Panelists will include: Kent Barwick, president, Municipal Art Society; Richard L. Brodsky, Assemblyman, New York State Assembly; Anna Hayes Levin, chair, Community Board 4; and Daniel A. Biederman, president, 34th Street Partnership. The discussion will be moderated by Charles Bagli, reporter, The New York Times.

Tuesday, May 13, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society.

$15, $12 MAS members. Reservations and prepayment required. Purchase tickets online or call 212 935 2075.

Port Authority to manage the Moynihan Station project with Chris Ward as its director

2008-05-02T18:36:22Z

The New York Observer reports that Governor Paterson is "fed up with the delays" at Moynihan Station and wants to put the project back on track by making the Port Authority the lead agency on the project, instead of the Empire State Development Corporation. In addition, the Governor is expected to announce this afternoon that Chris Ward, managing director of the General Contractors Association and a co-chair of the Friends of Moynihan Station, will be appointed Port Authority Director.

Overall this is good news for Moynihan Station. A move to the Port Authority, especially with Ward at its head, will infuse the project with new leadership and funding. (An ESDC Chair to replace Pat Foye, who resigned last month, still has not been announced.) There is legitimate concern, however, that the Port in the past has sometimes operated too secretively; the Friends will work with the agency and make sure it is held accountable.