Spitzer

In today’s Observer, Eliot Brown reports that Governor Paterson “faces a host of uncertain economic development initiatives” in the wake of the Spitzer and Foye departures – and “eyes are turning to the Moynihan Station project above others.”

Avi Schick, the Chief Operating Officer of ESDC and former prosecutor in Spitzer’s AG office, has been named interim CEO of the agency. He is said to be friendly with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Governor Paterson’s relationship with Rep. Charles Rangel may help secure federal funding for the project.

Still, Brown thinks “inaction in coming weeks could deal irreparable injury to the projects, especially Moynihan Station, as Mr. Paterson settles into his role and the ESDC goes without a permanent leader.” Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said, “The level of uncertainty on both private and public sides is at unprecedented levels.”

For 14 months, Messrs. Spitzer and Foye had been attempting to lift the project off the ground amid a heavy load of government agencies and complex dealings with landowners, and had seen little concrete progress as they tried to round up between $2 and $3 billion in funding commitments. The clock was ticking, as Madison Square Garden, anxious to shed its second-oldest-arena-in-the-NBA status, indicated it was strongly considering a renovation of the existing facility, a move that would effectively cripple the plans for Penn Station and most of the surrounding development.

Now Mr. Paterson, who has signaled his support for Moynihan Station, faces many of the same challenges as the prior administration, and he will tackle them just as he takes on every other big issue in state government. For the next two weeks, the governor is likely to be spending much of his energy hashing out a budget with the Legislature as the search starts for a new downstate ESDC chairman.

“Without Spitzer there and his sponsorship, it does create a void, and we’d like to see the state continue to maintain a leadership role as it relates to shepherding that project through to fruition,” said Robert Lieber, the city’s deputy mayor for economic development.

While no agreement was on the table and financing was far from secured, Mr. Lieber said he believes the basic elements surrounding Moynihan Station have been advancing.

“We’ve made a lot of progress around the design and a lot of progress around the budget,” he said. “It’s still an incredibly complicated project—it’s going to take funding and it’s going to take commitments from the state and the feds, and having the governor’s support is going to be helpful.”

Advocates of the project also point to Mr. Paterson’s long history with Representative Charles Rangel, who is considered a key figure in obtaining hundreds of millions in federal funding desired for Moynihan.

Read “Fresh Doubts on Mega-Projects as Paterson Supplants Steamroller,” in The New York Observer

Crain’s reports that Hudson Yards and Moynihan Station “may face new problems in the wake of the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Wednesday.”

[Moynihan Station] was already in danger before Gov. Spitzer’s fall from grace because of a funding shortfall for the new Penn Station. However, Mr. Spitzer did support it, and experts say for it to move ahead it needs the same strong backing of the new governor. It’s unclear if Mr. Paterson will want to commit the political capital necessary to push it ahead.

Apart from the change at the top in Albany, some are worried the projects could be delayed because the private developers may be nervous about the gloomy economy and may not be able to get financing. The credit crunch has all but put a stop to big real estate projects… if Patrick Foye is replaced as chairman of the Downstate Empire State Development Corp., that could affect Moynihan Station because that agency is in charge of that project.

Read “After Spitzer: Project Delays?” by Theresa Agovino for Crain’s New York

One day after ESDC Chair Patrick Foye testified to the Assembly that Moynihan Station was short $1 billion, Governor Spitzer held a press conference to assure New Yorkers that the project is moving forward and refute comparisons to the failed Javits expansion:

”The difference is we are managing this in a very different way; whereas the Javits discussion was discussed many, many years ago and never really got to the point of closure, with people agreeing on a plan and hence dealing with the question of finances. Here we are very close," Mr. Spitzer said.

"We feel very comfortable that we are making real progress and will be able to match each of the targets that has been laid out there," he said.

Read “Spitzer Says NY ‘Committed’ to Moynihan Station Plan Despite Cost,” by Michael Gormley of the AP

Read “Moynihan Project To Go Forward, Despite Shortfall,” by Peter Kiefer in The New York Sun

On today’s editorial page, the New York Observer says “If Governor Eliot Spitzer would like to shore up his rocky standing with the public, one master stroke would be to pull the feuding and unraveling forces that surround the plans for Moynihan Station together and get work started on what would turn out to be one of the city’s most enduring and impressive public work projects.” The editorial continues to state:

The current Penn Station is, needless to say, an unsightly, slovenly embarrassment. It is the nation’s busiest commuter rail terminal, the gateway to New York City for 500,000 riders each day, and yet there is nothing memorable or even agreeable about its dingy, claustrophobic corridors.

Federal money for the multibillion-dollar Moynihan Station project depends on the city, state and the interested parties to get their act together. Governor Spitzer has an opportunity to create a new landmark for the city, and a new legacy for himself.

We agree. But the push to start work shouldn't obscure the fact that the public has yet to see detailed plans for Moynihan Station. According to a poll we conducted last summer, 92% of all respondents believe the public should have a chance to see the Penn Station renovation plans before the governor and the mayor endorse it.

Read “Moynihan Station Running Late,” in the New York Observer.

The New York Observer’s Eliot Brown interviewed Governor Eliot Spitzer about Hudson Yards, Javits, Ground Zero, and Moynihan. Here’s what he had to say:

NYO: For Moynihan Station, developers Related and Vornado stand to make hundreds of millions, if not billions, on the Pennsylvania Station project and surrounding development. How much do you think they should contribute?

ES: I’m not going to put a number on the table. What I will say is that we’ve had good conversations with the development team. It is a project that we are all committed to getting built because, first, what we the public get out of it most fundamentally is a rebuild of Penn Station.
Right now, as an entry point to the metro region, the existing Penn Station is certainly not what we would desire. It’s—the metaphors I use I’m not sure I want printed. … When you go down into the depths of Penn Station, you feel that you’re descending into one of Dante’s levels of hell. … We’re in the midst of a negotiation with the developers, and we’ll come to a middle ground that I hope is fair to everybody. They will do well on the development, and that’s great. If they weren’t going to do well, we wouldn’t get the millions of square feet of office, retail and residential space built; and if they weren’t going to do well, we wouldn’t be able to afford to rebuild Penn Station.

Read “Eliot Spitzer, Builder” [photo credit: New York Observer]