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On October 23rd, 2007 the ESDC released their draft scope document for Moynihan Station. A scope document is a technical document that identifies the issues to be addressed in a draft Environmental Impact Statement. It is generally released with conceptual plans or images of the proposal, which, unfortunately for the public, is not the case for Moynihan Station. The information below is, for the most part, from the scope document. Click on the pictures to enlarge.


The plan for Moynihan Station includes:
IN THE HISTORIC FARLEY POST OFFICE BUILDING

  • The creation of Moynihan Station West: inside the Farley Post Office Building there will be a new train hall, transit-related retail, and vertical circulation points (to the platforms below the building), but not the intermodal hall that was once planned.
  • A New Madison Square Garden – Madison Square Garden will be moved from its current location (above Penn Station) to the rear of the Farley building (the Western Annex).
  • Moving all Post Office functions out of Farley – The scope will study moving all of the post office functions out of the building. MAS believes the beautiful lobby of New York’s premier post office should continue to be used as a post office.

AT THE EXISTING PENN STATION/MADISON SQUARE GARDEN BLOCK

  • Moynihan Station East – Demolition of Madison Square Garden and construction of Moynihan Station East, above Penn Stations existing rails and platforms.
  • Construction of 7.5 million square feet of new commercial or mixed-use development – While some of the development rights (anywhere from 125,000-1 million square feet) would be used across the street from the station at Penn West and Penn East, 4.5 million square feet of development rights would be transferred throughout the area. A Moynihan Station Subdistrict would be created, which would allow up to approximately 4.3 million zoning square feet of mixed-use development to be built on multiple receiving sites in a zoning Subdistrict (click on map to see detail).
  • The Penn East and West Sites. These two sites are located on the east and west ends of the One Penn Plaza block. One Penn Plaza would remain and two new structures are proposed for the block. As currently proposed, a commercial building of up to approximately 2 million square-feet would be developed on the eastern end of the block (fronting Seventh Avenue), and a 1 million square foot building on the West.

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Proposed Zoning changes:

  • Create a new zoning subdistrict, The Moynihan Station Subdistrict (see above).
  • Rezone certain manufacturing and commercial districts in the vicinity of Penn Station According to the scope document, the rezoning “may result in additional development in the area including new development on underutilized properties.”

The Penn Station Service Building. Amtrak and possibly New Jersey Transit (NJT) would have their back-of-house operations in the building located at 236-248 West 31st Street. An appropriately functional connection between the Service Building and Moynihan Station East will be analyzed.

Expansion of the USPS Morgan Annex. The Morgan Annex would be enlarged to accommodate most of the postal operations relocated from the Farley Complex.

Other details, from Charles V. Bagli, the New York Times, July 4, 2007 ["New Grandeur for Penn Station in Latest Plan,"]

  • The cost is $14 billion, double that of the original plan.
  • The entire plan, involving buildings on six adjacent blocks, would create 10 million square feet of new office space off West 33rd Street, as much as in the old World Trade Center.
  • "The new plan would try to recapture the imposing aura of the original station inside the James A. Farley Post Office across the street, with a vast, street-level waiting room under a glass canopy that would spill sunlight onto the concourse two levels below."
  • "If the plan reaches fruition, Vornado, which already owns about 7 million square feet in the neighborhood, will dominate one district like no other landlord in the city."

Players in the Moynihan Station Development


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