June 22, 2006
Moynihan Station Has a Construction Timetable Set
But a schedule does not mean things will happen the right way. NY State officials and the private developers have agreed to project's schedule, which means construction will start this fall, in anticipation of a 2012 opening. However, not all the i's are dotted, as there still needs to be formal approval from Albany. And then there's that whole thing about whether or not Madison Square Garden will move in the Farley Post Office space as well. amNew York lists "who's paying what" for the project, and the breakdown is thus:
Developers: $313.76 million
Federal Government: $115.9 million
NY State Government: $85.8 million
New York City Government: $154 Million
MTA: $35 million
Port Authority: $145 million
Total: $849.46 million
Well, no wonder Charles Gargano is so hot for the project to start - at this point, the state is only giving up $85 mill! The plan to combine Madison Square Garden with Penn Station once again has been debated at length, but earlier this week, the Times had a feature on how rich the developers selling the plan will be if it goes through. Just because Gothamist hates the history of what happened to the original Penn Station, we liked this quote from the NY Landmarks Conservancy's Peg Breen, who said that moving MSG to the Farley Post office was like "Cinderella's step sisters trying to jam their feet into the glass slipper."
|
"Cinderella's step sisters trying to jam their feet into the glass slipper."
I couldn't agree more. In fact, I don't believe any tax payer money should ever go to building a sports stadium. The old line that it's good for the economy doesn't change the fact that the average, middle class citizen can't afford to go to these games. Big business benefits the most. Instead of looking for handouts from the tax payer they should go to the big wigs that will benefit the most as they wine and dine their customers. I'll never forget the line from Bloomberg when asked about the high price of admission to tne new Modern Art Museum. He said "if you can't afford it don't go". But what he didn't say was that tax payer’s money was used in part to re-model that building. If MSG wants to move in they should be made to hand over a huge chunk of change. And they should also be required to put a better basketball team together too. The Knicks are embarrassing. Makes me wonder if Isaiah holds some sort of grudge against NY and this is his way of getting back at us.
Thousands and thousands of square feet under glass, huh? It looks very impressive but it'll take one hell of an air-conditioner to keep it from being a greenhouse in summer...
Combine Madison Square Garden with Penn Station, didn't this fail once before?
Yes.
Isn't this the reason for the new Penn Station?
Yes.
Should Madison Square Garden be combined with Penn Station?
No.