The World Trade Center Transportation Hub’s a $4 billion boondoggle.
But love it or hate it, citizens are entitled to a Calatrasaurus that adds something to the life of the city. With 400,000 square feet of stores and an underground “Oculus” floor larger than a football field, the Hub can be more than a bloated link between PATH trains and subways.
But the tormented relationship between the Port Authority and retail leaseholder Westfield bodes ill.
Where are the stores?
And what sort of “events” does Westfield have in mind for the cathedral-scaled Oculus, to partly open Thursday, which was supposed to be a grand transit nexus?
Without shoppers to bring it to life, the Oculus is a sterile, empty void — no matter how many tourists take selfies under the 155-foot-high ceiling.
True, nuts-and-bolts work is finally under way at several Oculus stores, including Apple’s on the mezzanine level. And Westfield says most of the outlets will open in August. Up to 125 tenants include big names H&M, Michael Kors, Victoria’s Secret, Kate Spade and Daniel Boulud.
But consider: It’s been two years since the PA opened the WTC’s much smaller West Concourse, and that corridor’s windows — for a few small coffee bars and the like — remain covered up.
Dark stores are a casualty of a drawn-out sniping war. The PA says it “turned over the keys” more than a year ago. But a Westfield rep told The Post: “The path to Westfield’s opening is reliant on the Port Authority’s completion and delivery of the spaces in the conditions required by their agreement with Westfield in order for tenants to expeditiously and without interruption build out their stores.”
Sources say Westfield has accepted only about half of the space from the PA so far. Yet, the rep said, Westfield “plans to open the stores as a collection in August.”
New Yorkers familiar with interminable buildouts for even tiny fashion boutiques might be skeptical.
If the PA’s at fault, blame’s also due to publicly traded Westfield’s insistence on launching all or most of the stores at once to make a media splash — not the civic spirit “Ground Zero” deserves.
As for “events” on the Oculus floor: Westfield only says it will “program” activities, including cultural, fashion, art and seasonal events, some staged by the retailers.
Westfield is paying the Port Authority $612 million for retail rights, and it’s entitled to make a profit. Company execs have dropped hints around town that there won’t be Temple of Dendur-style, private celebrations, such as weddings, which users might pay Westfield a bundle of bucks to mount.
But they won’t say it on the record. Their official silence begs questions like: What about a commercial takeover such as for Fashion Week, in what was meant to be a spirit-lifting, free-to-all-public venue?
Nobody mentioned any “events” from the time the Santiago Calatrava-designed “bird in flight” was announced in 2004 until The Post’s Lois Weiss uncovered the plan in 2013. The PA website still doesn’t say a word about it.
But since Westfield, according to WWD, will make up to 30,000 square feet available for “programming” — more than half the Oculus floor — it’s unlikely these happenings will be restricted to a few sunglass displays.
The PA’s leverage over Westfield may be limited. It’s in such disarray in the wake of Bridgegate that officials couldn’t even agree on whether the Oculus would have a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.
(Turns out there will be one in the spring after all.)
But if PA brass don’t get their act together soon, the “bird in flight” might end up hatching a fancy, invitation-only party in a steel-and-marble cage.