A key state oversight body approved the financing plan to redevelop Penn Station and its surrounding neighborhood Wednesday, greenlighting one of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s loftiest projects, which is estimated to cost a total of $22 billion. — Gothamist
Yesterday the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), a state entity behind granting financial approval for proposals from statewide public authorities, approved how the multibillion-dollar Penn Station Redevelopment Plan will be funded. A day before the vote, a document was released detailing where the money for the project would come from. Half of the expenses would be covered by federal funds, with New York and New Jersey splitting the rest. Additionally, a part of the financing plan includes charging the developers of the 10 skyscrapers planned for the site a fee instead of collecting city real estate taxes.
As noted by Gothamist, Wednesday’s vote is the first of many for the project as each of the eight project sites within the redevelopment will need PACB approval. Critics of the approval highlight the PACB not having an exact figure for how much in fees developers would pay, noting that these groups could receive major tax breaks. Other opponents believe the redevelopment is too focused on the proposed office towers instead of revamping Penn Station itself. The next phase of the project entails securing the sites. New York Governor Hochul is also expected to select a design for the new Penn Station train hall in the coming months.
3 Comments
The Hudson Yards debacle was a turning point for NYC. While better plans were left on the table, design culture stagnated as real estate completely dismissed architecture. Meanwhile the NYT arch critic got paid off by the Ford Foundation and magically disappeared--still using social justice jargon as a shield (as do many). As the bureaucrats keep making bad decisions, there's no design culture to offer a critique.
Because no lessons were learned, the Bloomberg Technocrats continue to do McUrban renewal, instead of sitting down and figuring out how to fix the larger New York to New Jersey transit as a whole -- from bus to train to light rail. So we end up with a little cute tent with more glass skyscraper junk from Shanghai.
https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/10/05/new-york-times-tightens-ties-with-foundation-known-for-anti-israel-grants/
Wait, anti-israel? That's not the same as anti-semitic. These pro-zionist a holes are really quite a thing. Screw the apartheid state of Israel.
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