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It's the zombie project! The MTA announced that nearly half a billion in federal stimulus money will be used to help pay for the long awaited, thought-to-be-deceased Fulton Street Transit Center. MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander told state lawmakers, "People have been worried that we were going to leave a hole in the ground or construct a simple subway entrance instead of the iconic structure that the community was expecting. I am here to tell you that this is not the case."
The project previously caused a lot excitement for its linking of disparate subway lines (the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, J, M, Z, R and W) and its soaring glass dome. It is now expected to cost around $1.4 billion, which is, the NY Times reports, "nearly double what was estimated when it was conceived in the wake of the terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001." However, it's unclear whether the glass dome, the oculus, will be included. The oculus, which was initially proposed to soar 50 feet but most recently suggested to go just 20 feet, will cost an additional $40 million.
Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver is all for getting the work started (especially since it's in his district): "Hundreds of businesses have been put out of business, sites have been cleared, and it's ready to go. ll it needs is that funding," adding, "It does at this point appear to meet the criteria that Congress has put out, and from an economic stimulus standpoint, in terms of job creation, it certainly seems appropriate.
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This all looks well and good but did you also know the "stimulus bill" also includes a requirement that every American must submit their medical history to the federal government so it can be digitized, and it is mandatory, you cannot opt out. How's that for all you privacy buffs who went bonkers over the Patriot Act?
i hate to be a hater but is it just me or are the renderings just not that impressive?
I thought it was one of Saddam's palaces.
We don't need a glitzy Fulton Center, we need the money to go to the 2nd Avenue line and to maintain what we've got already.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Hey Saunder, why don't you take that $40 million and actually finish SAS and ESA rather than spending it on some gaudy looking huge ball that's just going to cost lots of additional unnecessary funds over the years to maintain?
The pic on the right looks like a suburban shopping mall. I'm thrilled.
All I can say is, "wow." That is such and incredible design.
I didn't realize oculusses cost $40 million, especially twenty foot versions. For a fifty foot version I could see the price, in fact I thought they cost $1 million a foot. But I guess those were in 2001 dollars.
The building looks like shit and should cost no more than $75 million.
chances that $500 million allows the MTA to accomplish its goals? 0%, maybe 2%?
1.4 BILLION?
this cost 1.2 billion to build in china:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/SWFC_Jul08.jpg
One of the key benefits of using slave labor. This new "transit center" would be done in 4 months for $2 million in China.
We don't need any new stations or "transit centers." We don't need a 7 extension or even a 2nd Ave Subway. We need to maintain and improve what we have and stop deluding ourselves into thinking the city is going to grow, because it's not. The Lexington Avenue line could be upgraded to computerized signals that would boost capacity significantly for a fraction of the $6 BILLION PER MILE the SAS will cost. The Fulton St area will soon be a desolate fringe of the financial district, which itself will be a pale shadow of its former self. There is no need to spur west side development with the 7 because there will be plenty of developed areas that struggle to fill capacity...there will be no building on the west side.
If this week taught us anything, it is that there is officially no capacity for strategic thought in City Hall, Albany or Washington. Everyone just wants to look good enough to get re-elected and/or collect some "campaign" loot.
Once again it's "Avery Fisher Hall" with a dome. (Shudder)...Philip Johnson and company rear their ugly heads.
So I thought "they'll never find tenants in this economy", but then I realized it won't be opened until 2029.
Nowadays all you need to do is write;
"Federal Money for ___________"
..and let us readers try to guess who's turn is up to suck off the Fed's Monopoly-money teat.
that money should be going to keep away the $105 monthly metro cards!!!
STOP WASTING MONEY ON THIS CRAP. who the fuck cares about this fancy schmancy transit center? it'll just be used by the hundreds of new homeless people who won't have a pot to piss in after bloomberg and wall street are done with NYC forever. we don't need this shit -- what we need is to keep away the MTA fare hike and the loss of more trains/lines. sweet christ on a cracker.
Save my W before you go spending truckloads of cash on this POS.
all those subway lines are within very easy walking distance in that area, and the only people who matter have 30-day passes.
People are "worried" the MTA would "construct a simple subway entrance instead of [an] iconic structure?" What about the sane people who are worried about paying for this luxury?
Three cheers for all the commenters above!