Gov. Kathy Hochul’s controversial plan for Penn Station overhaul just got a big boost
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s controversial plans to overhaul Penn Station and the surrounding area took a key step forward Wednesday — getting approval for its state and city financing arrangement.
The unanimous vote from the three-member Public Authorities Control Board moves the proposal forward despite lingering questions about how the plan is being financed and who is footing the bill.
“Today’s vote is not the final say on this massive undertaking. Future review and votes will be required, both by the PACB and the MTA Capital Program Review Board,” state Sen. Leroy Comrie, who represents the state Senate on the panel, said following the vote.
The three voting members of the panel are appointed by Hochul, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
There are still additional approvals that will have to go before the PACB for rebuilding the aging transit hub, among the busiest in the world, at a later date – meaning Wednesday’s vote is not a final approval for the massive project.
Skeptics of the plan said following the vote that they will continue efforts to push the Hochul administration to alter its approach to Penn Station.
“That means much more guaranteed affordable housing, and no unnecessary tax breaks that reward developers for building projects they wanted to build anyway. It also means real transparency and community input, prioritizing the needs of existing residents, and ensuring that the public realm, the neighborhood, and the city as a whole see significant benefits,” said state Sens. Liz Krueger, Brad Hoylman, and Robert Jackson in a statement after the vote.
Plans backed by Hochul would have Vornado Realty Trust play a key role in financing parts of the Penn Station overhaul by providing the state with so-called “payments in lieu of taxes,” which would be used to raising more money through borrowing.
Real estate mogul Steven Roth, who leads Vornado, gave $69,700 months ago to the gubernatorial campaign of Hochul., who has championed plans to rebuild Penn after taking over for scandal-plagued ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year.
The state would reimburse the city for some lost tax revenues that could total about $5 billion, according to a deal struck between Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams.
Critics of the plan, however, say more details are needed before the PACB should give full approval to an overhaul of Penn Station and the surrounding the area estimated to cost somewhere around $7 billion or more.
Additional details on financing will be key to securing final approval from the unanimous approval of PACB to move Penn plans to completion, according to Comrie.
“I will not vote in favor of any future PILOT agreements for individual above-ground buildings in this project footprint until we have secured necessary federal approvals and the fair share of funding from the federal government and New Jersey,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
