Less than one week before the state’s deadline to adopt its budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed the “New York Pennsylvania Station Area Redevelopment Project,” a state-controlled development area around Penn Station. In the constant one-upmanship between Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, this would give Cuomo control over one of Manhattan’s top name-brand landmarks, according to a draft proposal acquired by Politico.
Cuomo proposes two agencies, the Empire State Development (a state agency) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), to redevelop and control the proposed area between 30th and 34th Streets and Sixth and Eighth Avenues. Although the Governor’s original proposal sought to free those two agencies from zoning, environmental, and land-use laws when they sought to “condemn, acquire or transfer property,” that stipulation was quickly withdrawn.
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