Both the Observer and the NY Sun look at the slow development process for the Moynihan Station, a project long discussed but stuck in development hell. We think the Observer's sub-headline says it all: "Silver Stops Projects, And There’s Not Much Putzy Governor Can Do; Gargano in Full Gear; Snarled by Property Shuffle With Vornado and Related." To translate: Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver is delaying the project, and since Governor Pataki is a lame duck, he's pretty much toothless in this fight. Enter Charles Gargano, head of the Empire State Development Corporation, who has been trying to get organizations to lobby Silver to stop his delays.
There's also the thought that Silver is looking to work his way into probable future governor Eliot Spitzer's good graces by delaying the project. At the end of August, developers Vornado and Related isued a letter saying the project can work, even though they are doing some crazy swap to move Madison Square Garden over the new station, which has raised questions about the project overall.
The Sun tackles the problem of $130 million in federal funds that has been allocated to the building of Moynihan Station. Pataki has been trying to spur approval for the project by saying that the funds might disappear if there are further delays. When discussing the possibility of the $130 million being returned to Congress, Municipal Art Society president Ken Barwick tells the Sun, "It has been eight and half years and we are really worried. New York is a graveyard of big ambitions that never got off the ground."
Net net, things are getting complicated, different politicians have different motives, developers want to lump MSG with the station again, various groups are both for and against the project moving forward ("We need a new station now!" "Wait, should we see complete plans of MSG and a station together?"). Since Sheldon Silver is looking out for number 1 (himself, which means wanting funds for his Lower Manahttan district first, before allocating them to the Moynihan Station project) and was a killjoy for the West Side Stadium, we'd say you better get used to dingy Penn Station.
