Opponents of Controversial Penn Station Mega-Towers Deal to Rally Ahead of Senate Hearing

NEW YORK, NY (06/24/2022) (readMedia)-- Trains Before Towers – a new initiative supported by community residents, housing and transit advocates, and local business owners – will rally on Friday to stop the plan to build 10 new massive towers around Penn Station. The rally will take place outside of a scheduled State Senate hearing at which Senators will question why the Empire State Development Corporation is rushing to approve the controversial real estate deal this summer without answering key questions about the project's necessity and financing.

The plan, which would usurp City land use authority, would enrich billionaire Steve Roth of Vornado without any guarantees the scheme would adequately fund transit improvements at Penn Station. Roth is also a major donor to Gov. Kathy Hochul's campaign.

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, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD) says it will vote on the plan in a matter of weeks.

Last month, 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.