There's a really good article in the Observer about how the Moynihan Station may now be a new fight between the city, state, and some important real estate bigwigs. The developers in charge of the project want to move Madision Square Garden to the Ninth Avenue part of the Farley Post Office lot (Moynihan Station will take the Eighth Avenue side); the Dolans who own MSG will only move if they get tax breaks and if MSG can use the Eighth Avenue entrance; and Pataki's people just want the Moynihan project to start this year...but the city wants to wait and see what happens with moving MSG to the site. Two weeks ago, developers Related and Vornado "took some plastic and wooden models of the Penn Station area to show off in a series of meetings with City Hall, important business associations and the New York Times editorial board," in order to gain support for a combined project. But, for all the business leader support it does have (though there needs to be an extra $1 billion from God knows where to build it), it's questionable how quickly the project can get off the ground. The article closes with this:
“There is a reality that if you go this route, you would not go as quickly,” said Richard Anderson, the president of the New York Building Congress, which gave measured support for the arena swap at the public hearing. “It will certainly take longer to do. On the other hand, the straightforward Moynihan Station plan has not gotten off the ground.
“If you have the right project,” he said, “sometimes it will take less time than the wrong project, especially if there are powerful economic incentives on all sides. If this is the right project, everyone will rally behind it.”
That's so true - we've been wondering if the Moynihan Station plans are just a mirage. For once, we agree with NY State development people and hope the project gets started.
A 2005 rendering of the Moynihan Station, which means it's probably past its due date
