Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) Downstate Chairman Patrick Foye detailed the Spitzer administration’s commitment to infrastructure investment and outlined his goals for a new Moynihan Station district, during a September Construction Industry Forum co-sponsored by the New York Building Congress and New York Construction.

“The Governor and I share a deep belief that improved infrastructure, especially transportation, is an essential ingredient in ensuring the City and the State’s economic future,” Mr. Foye said. “Under his guidance, the State has invested $1.2 billion in transportation infrastructure and has broken the gridlock on key projects like the Second Avenue Subway.”

Mr. Foye said that his agency is fully engaged in the effort, first proposed 15 years ago by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, to create a new transit hub in the Penn Station district that would better serve the 550,000 commuters who travel through Penn Station daily on Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and Long Island Rail Road.

The current plan, which ESDC is spearheading, calls for the relocation of Madison Square Garden (MSG) in the back half of the Farley Post Office. As was originally envisioned, the front half of Farley would be transformed as a grand train hall. Lifting MSG from its current perch above Penn Station, would provide an opportunity to completely recreate that train station as well.

The plan, Mr. Foye added, would also entail the creation of a dynamic office, retail and
residential district in and around the two train concourses.“There is an emerging consensus that the 4.5 million square feet in air rights (created by moving MSG) should be sprinkled throughout the surrounding neighborhood using a new zoning area. This dispersion concept has many plusses. It will mean less disruption to commuters, less financial risks,
and it will tie the development around Moynihan Station to the demands of the market,”
Mr. Foye told the assembled members of the design, construction and real estate industry.
He concluded by saying, “We have moved at an expeditious but deliberate pace, but the
complexities here are real. We believe we have a responsibility to complete a project that
leaves a lasting impression on the public consciousness for years to come.”

The State issued a full scoping document on the project in late October and held its first public hearing on the plan in early December. The Building Congress has voiced its strong support for the proposal to create a grand new rail gateway befitting Midtown Manhattan and serving as a catalyst for the redevelopment of Hudson Yards.

In a recent press release issued by the Friends of Moynihan Station, Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson commented, “The Moynihan Station project offers the potential to create two majestic public train halls serving more than half a million passengers each day, replace Madison Square Garden with a modern sports and entertainment venue in the heart of Manhattan, restore architectural distinction to the neighborhood, unlock tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue, stimulate the development of Hudson Yards, and seamlessly integrate into the current regional transportation network.

With the stakes so high and the benefits so great, it is incumbent upon everyone involved to expeditiously address the complex details in a spirit of collaboration,
compromise and shared intent.”