Opponents of Controversial Penn Station Mega-Towers Deal Head to Albany, Rally Before PACB Vote

ALBANY, NY (07/27/2022) (readMedia)-- Trains Before Towers – a movement supported by community residents, housing and transit advocates, and local business owners – will travel to Albany on Wednesday to rally ahead of the Public Authorities Control Board's (PACB) vote on the plan to build 10 new massive towers around Penn Station. Despite serious, unanswered concerns raised by New York City's Independent Budget Office, the New York City Planning Commission and nearly every State Senator representing the five boroughs, ESD approved 18 million square feet of new skyscrapers last week. The PACB – which can use its limited authority to vote down the plan based on its lack of financial details – is the last stopgap before this plan is enacted. In a letter to the board, Comptroller DiNapoli urged the board to take more time to determine there are sufficient funds for the project before voting today.

VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE.

The plan, which usurps City land use authority, will enrich billionaire Steve Roth of Vornado without any guarantees the scheme would adequately fund transit improvements at Penn Station. Last month, federal, state and local elected officials called for the State to halt the plan, pointing out that many questions remain about the project's necessity and financing. Roth is also a major donor to Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign.

"There's no need for public subsidies for a billionaire to develop the most valuable land in Manhattan into luxury office towers -- particularly when there are a bunch of publicly-subsidized luxury office towers sitting half-empty a couple blocks away," said Michael Kink, Executive Director of the Strong Economy For All Coalition. "It has become clear in recent days that Kathy Hochul's numbers don't add up -- even under the post-Cuomo standards for the PACB, any member could and should vote 'no' on this deal because the funding just isn't there. What New York really needs is deeply affordable and supportive housing, not more government giveaways to billionaire campaign contributors."

"While the Department of Transportation and many others are trying to reverse many infrastructure and urban renewal mistakes from the '50s-which also picked on less influential neighborhoods-a similar failed strategy is now being proffered by New York's Governor and others in real time. The plan does not contain the beginnings of a bona fide financial plan. A transit plan is something, 'We will get to sometime.' And yet they want to eviscerate a vibrant neighborhood and leave us all holding the financial bag while Steve Roth delivers a 'promised land' to his shareholders. This is nothing short of obscene. Please vote no and then make them take the time to perform an objective review of their plan compared to many viable alternatives. Please help one of the world's greatest cities and its people-locally and regionally-avoid this terrible, conflicted and corrupt plan," said Sam Turvey, Chairperson, ReThinkNYC and Co-Coordinator, Empire Station Coalition.

"Lawmakers cannot support a plan that has nothing to do with revitalizing Penn Station but has everything to do with money over people. We don't need any more high rise, cold, characterless glass towers that obstruct our skyline, stay half empty, affect our environment and replace thousands of residents and businesses along with historical buildings. and landmarks We don't need to have us taxpayers foot the bill for something we never wanted and has no benefit for us or our city and which we'll be paying for for years to come. We don't need government officials who neglect our concerns over the financial gains they receive from wealthy developers. The plan must be rejected because it will set a precedent for this whole city. Today our neighborhood, tomorrow yours. It has to be rejected, period," said Penn South resident Luana Green.

Background

Earlier this year, the City's Independent Budget Office released a report, raising serious questions about the financial viability of the project and whether there were enough details to gauge the plan's impact. The IBO report also concluded that while the State would collect payments from Vornado, the City would lose out on property tax revenue that it would have earned in a standard rezoning process. A majority of the city's Senate delegation have voiced opposition to the plan. The Senators specifically voiced concerns about how much Vornado will receive in subsidies and other State-sponsored benefits as part of the plan and how much the City stands to lose in property taxes, urging ESD to halt the plan until there are "??explanations provided and agreements made associated with the cost, design, scope, bond liabilities, and other aspects of the project that remain unknown." Good government groups including Common Cause, Reinvent Albany, BetaNYC, League of Women Voters and NYPIRG have also voiced opposition to the plan.

About Trains Before Towers

TBT is a coalition of community organizations, transit advocacy groups, preservation organizations, affordable housing advocacy groups, and good government organizations dedicated to improving the transit infrastructure at Penn Station.