(Reuters circulated the following article on September 20.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York City’s plans to move Pennsylvania Station one block west to the historic Farley Post Office were delayed for the second time in a row by a state agency after the Assembly said it needed more information.
Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, in a statement said he strongly favored the project, which aims to honor New York’s former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but added: “Both the Assembly and Comptroller Alan Hevesi have identified serious questions and information voids regarding the project proposal as has been presented by the Empire State Development Corporation.”
Hevesi, a Democrat, in a letter released on Wednesday outlined a number of concerns about the nearly $1 billion plan. They included whether the state was selling valuable development rights too cheaply and whether the plan should not be approved until designs, loan agreements, reduced tax benefits, and operating costs are finalized.
Silver, who delayed the plan last month, said he hoped to get the answers he wants in the coming weeks. This was a slower timetable than the one suggested by the governor’s representative, who said the Pataki administration hoped to hold another meeting to consider the plan as soon as possible.
The Moynihan project must be approved by the Public Authorities Control Board, which is run by the speaker, Gov. George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who both are Republicans.
Todd Scheuermann, who represented Pataki’s budget director at Wednesday’s PACB meeting, in a statement said he hoped the project would be approved as soon as possible.
The speaker has said he does not want to approve the plan if it later will be redrafted to include a second phase.
An even more ambitious plan, also being discussed, includes moving the nearby Madison Square Garden sports complex to the same site. Silver says the entire project should be reviewed at the same time.
Madison Square Garden is owned by Cablevision Systems Corp