Today Senator Schumer announced a plan to jump start the Moynihan Station project, by using some federal stimulus money to build a train station in the Farley Post Office that would be used by Amtrak. MAS President Vin Cipolla commented on the Senator's plans.

"The Municipal Art Society wholeheartedly supports Senator Schumer’s plan to achieve a new Moynihan Station. By dedicating federal stimulus funds to this project we can create near-term jobs while enhancing our mass transit system for the long term. Federal funding also enables us to protect the public’s interest in this project, creating a grand work of civic architecture that that stands as an inspiring gateway to New York City. This project has a real functional purpose; it will increase capacity and improve the experience for the nearly 500,000 people who move through Penn Station every day.

President Obama has made improving our nation’s public transportation infrastructure a high priority. In that light, Moynihan Station should be seen as a first step in enhancing rail lines and service on the Northeast Corridor."

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Charles Bagli reports in the Times that Senator Schumer has a plan to jump start the Moynihan Station project, by using some federal stimulus money to build a train station in the Farley Post Office that would be used by Amtrak.

Bagli wrote: "Senator Charles E. Schumer is calling for the injection of $100 million in federal stimulus funds to convert the post office building, expand the city’s transportation infrastructure and employ thousands of workers. Mr. Schumer also renewed his call for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to take charge of the project and asked them to invest $1 billion."

The $100 million would not be from the State and City’s stimulus money ( read here for more information ), but rather from the $8 billion set aside for high-speed rail service and $1.3 billion set aside for Amtrak. Schumer called for Amtrak to be more actively involved in the project and suggested they should be the tenant in the new station. They could offset operating costs through revenue from new retail in the station (may we suggest that Grand Central be the model ).

In addition to the Port Authority taking over the project, Schumer called on them to contribute at least $1 billion to the project. PA Executive Director Chris Ward responded:

"The senator’s effort to get Moynihan started is consistent with the port’s goal of developing a financially viable project,” said Christopher O. Ward, executive director of the authority. “The key is to work with Amtrak on an important transportation project for the entire region. Finding the necessary funding is our No. 1 priority.”

Schumer injected a note of urgency in getting started. “This is just what was envisioned by the stimulus: shovel-ready projects that generate a lot of jobs,” Mr. Schumer said.

We couldn’t agree more.

Read “Schumer Seeks Federal Stimulus Funds to Jump-Start Moynihan Transit Project,” by Charles Bagli in The New York Times

Recently, we were asked the following question on our Facebook page "With all the talk about President Obama's Economic Stimulus Package and its billions of dollars for public works projects, what's happening with the Moynihan Station project?"

MAS remains a strong supporter of Moynihan Station. The project will increase capacity at the over-crowded (and miserable) Penn Station, which is the nation’s busiest transportation hub, with nearly half a million people passing through it every day. We don’t know whether the project will receive money from President Obama’s stimulus package, but it certainly seems to be eligible.

Plans for Moynihan Station have been in the works for more than a decade. Senator Moynihan’s original conception was to convert the Farley General Post office, which sits over the same tracks as Penn Station, into a new train hall that would expand the capacity of Penn Station and create a great civic train station and dignified entry into New York. Several years ago the scope of the plans expanded dramatically, to build a new Madison Square Garden in the west end of the Post Office, demolish the current Garden and construct a retail complex with an upgraded Penn Station underneath. Last winter, Madison Square Garden announced it was pulling out of the project and instead renovating their arena.

Nicolai Ouroussoff, The New York Times architecture critic, wrote a rambunctious article about the handful of New York City the should face the wrecking ball. It's no surprise that Madison Square Garden topped the list.

Ouroussoff wrote:

No site in New York has a darker past than this one. The demolition of the old Pennsylvania Station, the monumental McKim, Mead & White Beaux-Arts gem that stood on this site until 1964, remains one of the greatest crimes in American architectural history.

What replaced it is one of the city’s most dehumanizing spaces: a warren of cramped corridors and waiting areas buried under the monstrous drum of the Garden.

Over the years the city has entertained dozens of proposals to improve the station, but none have amounted to much of anything, thanks to New York’s byzantine development politics.

I propose we demolish the Garden. As arenas go, it is cramped and decrepit. And with it gone we could begin to imagine what a contemporary version of the old Penn Station: a monumental gateway to the 21st-century metropolis.

Well said!

See that blue "WAMU Theater" sign in the photo? It won't be there for long. According to the Times, since the Feds seized WAMU, the theater is going to have to change its name.

Read Name Change Is Likely for WaMu Theater by Richard Sandomir in The New York Times.

Read New York City, Tear Down These Walls by Nicolai Ouroussoff in The New York Times.

Photo: by R. Conrad/The New York Times

Streetsblog provides a great wrap up of Monday's first hearing of the Ravitch Commission , a 13-member body, headed by former MTA Chair Richard Ravitch, that is charged with recommending strategies to fund MTA capital projects and operating needs over the next ten years, a period when the Authority will be under unprecedented financial pressure as it expands its system and rebuilds its infrastructure.

Streetsblog summed up the main themes that surfaced throughout the day's testimony to the commission:

• Responsibility for adequately funding the MTA should fall on those who benefit from its services.
• The MTA needs more consistent and reliable revenue streams.
• The city and state have been derelict in their contributions to the MTA, and debt financing has gone too far.
• It is reasonable, even desirable, to institute regular and predictable fare increases, but straphangers are currently shouldering too much of the burden.
• The MTA must become more efficient and financially transparent.

Read Ravitch Commission Faces Difficult Task of Shoring Up MTA’s Future by Ben Fried on Streetsblog.

Eliot Brown writes about Paterson's new direction for Moynihan Station in today'sNew York Observer.

Consistent with the project’s history, the pledge represents another turn in the project’s direction under new leadership. In prior permutations, the focus has been on revenue for the Post Office; an expansion of the train hall; a medium-size real estate transaction; and a mega-land-swap and an economic development project of gigantic proportions. The most recent plan, which was pushed by the Spitzer administration and which unraveled in March, involved moving Madison Square Garden to the Farley building and thereby unleashing $14 billion in public and private development.

Now, the Paterson administration seems to be focusing on rail capacity; the platforms and tracks under Penn Station have room for no more trains at peak hours, given the way they are currently used, and the prior plans involved a much-needed expansion of pedestrian and waiting space, but did not address this issue.

Read Paterson Takes His Turn on Moynihan by Eliot Brown of the New York Observer.

Read David Paterson: Port Authority should get ticket for new Penn Station by Douglas Feiden of the Daily News.

Read Paterson Wants Port Authority to Pick Up Moynihan Project by William Neuman of the New York Times.

Today Governor David Paterson made a bold statement in support of the construction of Moynihan Station when he announced conditions related to the future of Moynihan Station at New York Building Congress forum. He emphasized the critical importance for the project to emphasize infrastructure improvements and to that end announced that the Port Authority of New York would be taking over the project.

The Governor said that while New York City and State are in a difficult economic climate, fiscal responsibility is not just about reducing spending; it’s about making wise investments. Throughout New York State’s history, the government has moved ahead with infrastructure projects during times of financial insolvency. For example, the state was facing a deficit for seven of the ten years it took to construct the Erie Canal and the Lincoln Tunnel, George Washington Bridge and the Independent Subway System (IND) were all constructed during the Depression.

New York City was in the midst of a fiscal crisis during the construction of the historic Penn Station. “By any measure the 20th century was the New York Century. We entered it as a burgeoning metropolis and we left it as the greatest and most powerful city in the world. We can make the 21st century the New York Century as well, but only if we invest wisely in our infrastructure.”

Paterson said the Federal government must put together a plan for the nation’s infrastructure so we may reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and avoid catastrophic disasters like last year’s bridge collapse in Minneapolis. He also decried the Federal government's “starving” of Amtrak and reduction of slots at the city’s airports. The Governor said that we must bolster the rail options between Washington DC, Boston and other cities within 300 miles of New York City. Rail is the most fuel-efficient way to move people,, and it is critical that we lighten the loads of our airlines and on our highways. In the absence of a Federal transportation plan, Paterson said the State must develop its own plan.

“It is fitting that 100 years after the building of the first Penn Station, we assess our infrastructure priorities and establish clear conditions for the future of transportation in our State,” said Governor Paterson. “If we are to realize our full potential for growth in the 21st century, then we must look to increase our rail capacity. That is why today I have outlined the conditions that I believe must be met if we are to move forward with the Moynihan Station project. Moynihan must be more than a beautiful station; it must move more people more efficiently.”

The Governor’s specific conditions for Moynihan Station development include:

1. Ensuring that the Moynihan Station project increases transportation capacity by physically expanding the number of tracks and platforms and instituting operational changes by Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak.

Paterson announced that he was asking the leadership of the three railroads to report to himself and Governor Corzine on how they planned to work together.

2. Coordinating the development of Moynihan Station in tandem with other major development projects including New Jersey’s Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) which is the first crossing under the Hudson in 50 years;

The Governor made it clear that it would be a formidable challenge to ensure that the project will be coordinated with major infrastructure projects like ARC and unifying the three transit systems of Amtrak, Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit. “This is why we want the Port Authority to take over the leadership in terms of constructing Moynihan Station, and what we are really saying is that with such major development occurring, there has to be coordination,” the governor said.

3. Taking necessary steps to ensure that the project also helps to revitalize the surrounding community.

While the Governor acknowledged the importance of making Moynihan Station a Gateway to New York city and catalyst for development on the Far West Side, he said first and foremost this is a transportation project.

“Increasing our transportation capacity is an important step, but it is only a one step. We must ensure that we carefully coordinate the improved capacity with other major development and infrastructure projects, which is why today, I called on my Deputy Secretary for Economic Development, and Infrastructure to convene all of the project’s partners from both the public and private sectors to discuss the challenges they face,” Governor Paterson continued. “Deputy Secretary Gilchrist will report back to me with an assessment of these challenges and potential solutions.” “By any measure the 20th century was the New York Century. We entered it as a burgeoning metropolis and we left it as the greatest and most powerful city in the world. We can make the 21st century the New York Century as well, but only if we invest wisely in our infrastructure,” added Governor Paterson.

Read Governor Paterson's press release.
Read Paterson Invokes New Deal in Calling for Fresh Moynihan Plan by Eliot Brown in The New York Observer.
Read Paterson Gives Moynihan Another Shot by Matthew Schuerman of WNYC.
Read Paterson appoints aide to look into Moynihan by Theresa Agovino of Crain's New York.

Today Governor David Paterson announced conditions related to the future of Moynihan Station at New York Building Congress forum. Kent Barwick, President of Municipal Art Society, commented on the Governor's plans:

“The original Penn Station, while architecturally spectacular, was primarily a visual symbol of a great transportation system. The tunnels that lead into that station, which connected New York City to the mainland for the first time, were engineering marvels of the time. The Penn Station architecture was important and beloved, but the infrastructure it housed was a critical element of New York City’s rise to its position as the nation’s greatest city.

“Paterson reminds us that, at this time in our history, it’s time to revive the railroad, and we couldn’t agree more with his priorities. We must put transportation first. Penn Station was built in the beginning of 20th century, and we are confident that it is possible now, at the beginning of the 21st century, to accomplish the Governor’s transportation priorities while also creating the great entryway into New York City that Senator Moynihan envisioned.

“Paterson’s plan of investment in the economy and our rail system shows a comprehensive grasp of all of the issues that the station embodies, from infrastructure to architecture. When MAS conducted a poll last year, we learned that people were dismayed with the inefficient and sloppy management of Penn Station. We know it will be difficult to work through the management problems with the three railroads, but we are confident it is possible.

“We support the Governor’s approach and vision and we are pleased that the Port Authority has been given responsibility for this project -- they have the capacity, resources and management to bring this project to fruition. We look forward to deputy secretary Gilchrist’s plan of action.”

This morning Governor Patterson addressed the future of Moynihan Station, among other issues, at the Crain’s New York Business breakfast forum. Below is his response to the question "Will Major Infrastructure Projects – Like Moynihan Station - Be Completed In Your First Term"?

What is essential to Moynihan Station is that it be a viable transportation hub. That if it doesn’t include the transportation, its value diminishes considerably as far as I’m concerned,

We are still trying to get Amtrak and our local transit systems to agree on how we could reroute transit and turn this into what would really be, in a sense, a favorable investment of our resources.

I believe shortly Governor Corzine and I will probably go and meet with AMTRAK, because one of their plans, coincides with ours -- the ARC plan and we’d like to try to that get done.

Everyone understands that the economy is a problem but my project must go forward. I don’t see how they can all go forward. The resources aren’t there. The capital isn’t there. And everybody wants to come to the government to be part of the solution. And right now the government is floundering because we have these huge deficits that we have to ameliorate.

It sounds positive that Governors Paterson and Corzine are talking to Amtrak. Perhaps this means there's potential for the ARC/Penn Station connection. Let's hope they announce a plan to move forward soon.

Read "Paterson Argues for Spending Cuts" on Crain's site.

Read "Paterson Won’t Rule Out Tax Increases" by Nicholas Confessore in The New York Times.

Newpennstation was catching up with our reading this weekend, and came across the article "Winged Victories, The soaring ambition of Santiago Calatrava" from last week's New Yorker. The profile of Calatrava, written by Rebecca Mead, included this passage about what role train stations play in cities.

A station, Calatrava believes, should be a grand gateway to a city, like the Gothic stone gates of his native Valencia, built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to impress upon the rest of Europe the city’s status as a trading power. “If you conceive these buildings with a purely functionalistic point of view, they easily become obsolete,” he told me. “In Zurich, they made a kind of shopping mall in front of the main station. Nobody wants to shop there. The place that, twenty years ago, everyone thought was very beautiful, today everybody says is a place where they never want to go. People don’t even want to traverse through, and in the night it is insecure, because there is no grandeur. They just wanted to take advantage of the poor fellow whose train arrives in the city to go to his job—to sell him a piece of bread, or a tomato, or a juice, or a beer.” Calatrava has built more than ten stations so far in his career. “You go into Grand Central and you immediately understand that this has been done for you: it is a gift to everyone, it is a gift to the city,” he told me. “I understand the problem of the person who cannot eat because he has no money; I understand how tragic is the person who is homeless. Because of that, I like doing stations, because they are the home of everybody, and because you are providing a beautiful moment in the life of people who work so hard. I am not a food producer; I am not a doctor; I am an architect, and I use my work for a sense of philanthropy, and not for any glory. This is a Stoic concept: to stay in the middle, which permits you to be free from the ambitions of the high, and permits you, through your liberty, to deliver something to those who don’t have anything.”

We couldn't agree more about that a train station should serve as a "grand gateway" to a city, and that Grand Central is a "gift to everyone." Has anyone been to the train station in Zurich? What do people think about the "shopping mall" impact he describes?

Read
"Winged Victories, The soaring ambition of Santiago Calatrava" in the The New Yorker by Rebecca Mead.

Photo via flickr from Robbanz.