In This Issue:

– No, Moynihan Station is Not Dead

– Building on Bloomberg’s Re-zoning Legacy

– Mega Foresight

– Calendar

Regional Assembly 2008 Update: Register today for Regional Plan Association's 18th Annual Regional Assembly. Click here to visit the registration site, also found at www.rpa.org/ra2008.

No, Moynihan Station is Not Dead
While the news of Governor Spitzer being caught hiring a prostitute is washing away discussion of most else right now, there has been other news in recently – some of which highlights just how much responsibility rests on the governor’s shoulders.

After several reports in the past week about a possible break-down of political and economic will, the sense is Moynihan Station is on the brink of being added to the infamous list of “greatest projects never built.”

Not so.

The project has been declared dead many times before – most recently in October 2006 – yet it keeps coming back. Why? Because it’s a great project. Here New York has the opportunity to build a modern, state-of-the-art train station on the site of the existing “pit” of Penn Station; breathe new life into the historic Farley Post Office building by creating a new train hall in its old mail-sorting room; construct a terrific new Madison Square Garden; and revitalize an entire Moynihan District with 8 million square feet of new retail and office space. Most of all, we have an opportunity build a great train hall for the users of the nation’s busiest rail station.

The reason the project has been close to falling apart so many times before is that it is an incredibly complicated deal, with dozens of parties involved and an ever-changing real estate market. Empire State Development Corporation, a state entity, is the lead agency on the project. All of the region’s transit agencies – MTA, NJ TRANSIT, Amtrak – are involved, as is the Port Authority. The City of New York will be responsible for shepherding the project through ULURP and making sure the air rights are exercised in appropriate locations. The Post Office operates, and will continue to operate, in the Farley building. The Joint Venture of Related and Vornado, along with Madison Square Garden, also have to be satisfied that the deal is in their financial interest. And overarching all of these particular parties’ interests is the clock: as it ticks, construction costs rise and the real estate market becomes increasingly skittish, at least for the foreseeable future.

Lining up everyone’s interests in a timely fashion will be something short of a miracle, but it is possible. And it is certainly too early to throw in the towel. A lot of progress has been made in the last year of negotiations, and the issues that remain to be resolved are contained and manageable. The main ones are:

#1 Design and Preservation of the Farley Building.
Some changes to the historic fabric of the Farley building will be necessary to accommodate the new train hall and the arena. The roofline of the arena, for example, will necessarily be about 30 feet higher than the existing roofline. The Garden, however, is also seeking other changes to the building that are purely a matter of choice. Most notably, they are requesting that the west wall of the future train hall – now brick – be turned into a large glass wall so the Garden may be seen from the train hall itself. Preservation advocates point out that this is a historic wall, designed by Charles McKim one hundred years ago. (Sidenote: McKim’s son-in-law, Charles Dyer Norton, founded RPA; his grandson “Kim” Norton was RPA’s president for thirty years.) In addition, there is great concern that with three brick walls and one glass wall, all of the focus in the train hall would be directed toward the Garden, thereby taking away the sense that the train hall is primarily a public space, and not a forecourt to the Garden. Finally, replacing the brick wall with glass would be an expensive addition to the cost of the station, and would preclude the project from qualifying for preservation tax credits. What’s the solution? The State needs to step in and support a great train hall design that preserves the integrity of the public space. The idea of a great public train hall is, after all, is the foundation upon which the project has been built.

#2 Location of New Retail and Office Development.
As an incentive for building a train station, the developers will be rewarded with the right to build 8 million square feet of office, retail and hotel space. These air rights must be exercised within an area determined by the City, which for now is defined as approximately from 29th to 35th Streets and from Fifth to Eighth Avenues. The complication is that there are few large parcels of underdeveloped land within this area, and the community is justifiably sensitive to the impacts that massive new towers will have on neighborhood quality of life and character. Here, it’s the City’s turn to step in. They need to be actively working with Community Boards 4 and 5, preservation experts and the Venture to come up with a development plan that is acceptable to all.

#3 Funding.
The cost of the entire station is officially estimated to be about $3.2 billion: $2.3 billion for Moynihan East (currently Penn Station), and $900 million for Moynihan West (the historic Farley building). Funding for the Farley building was secured by Senator Moynihan years ago. As for Moynihan East, out of the $2.3 billion price tag, the developers have committed $550 million. The State has committed $300 million, which he is willing to increase if the City will match his contribution. It is reasonable to expect that the federal government will be able to contribute somewhere between $500 and $800 million. Whatever funding gap is left will have to be filled with larger contributions from the developers, the City and the State. This gap is not insurmountable. Here, an exercise is joint statesmanship is required: the City ought to direct some of the Hudson Yards PILOT funding to Moynihan Station and the State should consider contributing a significant share of the proceeds from the sale of the land originally intended for a Javits expansion, to the project. They should also be pushing the Venture for a larger contribution.

Moynihan Station faces some real issues, but they are by no means insurmountable. Last week’s scare persuaded Governor Spitzer to become, in his own words, “personally dedicated to making it happen.” He has since met with the developers and the owners of the Garden; he is in active negotiation with Mayor Bloomberg, and laying out a strategy for federal funding. Spitzer’s potential misdeeds only bring into relief how important his office is. It would be a double tragedy if any of this essential public business, such as the construction of Moynihan Station, was slowed or stopped by the current scandal.

– Juliette Michaelson, Senior Planner, RPA


Building on Bloomberg’s Re-zoning Legacy
In the 1960s, New York City overhauled its zoning system with the 1961 Comprehensive Amendment to the Zoning Resolution. While this cured many ills at the time, it also caused new ones. Prime among them was that the zoning system became primarily a blanket one, which did not take into account local character as either something to encourage or discourage.

Some 40 years later, this system is still largely in effect. As a result, the Bloomberg administration’s laudable place-based approach on redeveloping areas of the city has had to confront the early 1960’s blanket zoning map and text. The current efforts have rethought the allocation of land and rezoned dozens of separate neighborhoods based on contextual and architecturally significant designs. In district after district - Greenpoint-Williamsburg, the Hudson Yards district, Manhattanville, 125th Street, Jamaica, and many others – the Bloomberg administration has built on the character of an area while promoting economic growth and residential development.

In effect, Mayor Bloomberg has overhauled the city’s land use one more time. The location of the new zoning districts approved or under review have been dispersed, providing a new armature for New York’s next generation. Taking large swaths of land governed by one single zoning district characteristic of the 1960’s resolution, the city’s zoning map, under Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden, has emerged reinvigorated as new centers have been identified and reinforced.

RPA has been largely supportive of these efforts, mostly because they are consistent with the metropolitan region’s need to develop higher density sub-centers around transit lines to give us more capacity for the four million new residents expected in coming years. The cumulative scope of these re-zonings, as well as Commissioner Burden’s focus on excellence in design, will leave a legacy for decades after Mayor Bloomberg has left office. However, even with almost two years left in the Administration, it is not too early to think about how the next mayor can build on this foundation.

One idea is to think even more creatively about community impacts and secondary displacement beyond the areas being rezoned. In the Manhattanville rezoning, RPA supported Manhattan Borough President Stringer’s proposal for a West Harlem Special District that went well beyond the originally proposed area to help preserve the neighborhood and ensure its stability as plans for Columbia University’s expansion move forward. Through contextual and inclusionary zoning, this will help protect affordable housing, small businesses and the physical and social character of the area from 125th Street to 155th Street, west of Convent Avenue. City Planning is now pursuing this action, which may provide lessons for other areas.

Another example where more attention could be paid to the impacts on existing residents is with the City’s 125th Street Plan. The goal of adding density along this transit-rich corridor makes sense, and RPA supports the rezoning. However, every effort should be made to help local businesses and residents take advantage of new development. Given the change that the proposed rezoning will bring to existing firms and organizations, we suggested that the Arts Bonus and Arts/Entertainment Requirement in the rezoning be modified to support local institutions and businesses by including a local preference to organizations from Harlem. This has been a position advanced by the Borough President and to some extent by the Community Boards.The rezoning, particularly with these enhancements, will encourage a diverse mix of businesses, including arts and entertainment, expand career opportunities for Harlem residents, and sustain and enhance the revitalization of 125th Street as a unique Manhattan Main Street. One lesson here is that zoning alone can only go so far to mitigate neighborhood impacts. Coordinated economic and workforce development strategies are also essential.

Looking forward, two zoning proposals offer the promise of further innovations. One is the Green Initiatives Street Tree Planting text amendment that will provide new trees for every new development in the city, and will result in approximately 10,000 new street trees per year according to City Planning. Another rezoning to be watched closely is the Special Hunts Point District that will encourage the growth and expansion of the food industry sector on the Hunts Point peninsula, while creating a buffer between the manufacturing district and adjacent residential neighborhood. We want to insure that this rezoning supports the potential new Metro-North station, which is part of the MTA Penn Station Access Study.

Perhaps the most important direction that could be taken by the next mayor would be to marry the strategic innovations of the Bloomberg Administration with new community consensus-building approaches that have been evolving from city and regional visioning projects over the last 15 years. These efforts engage citizens and explore alternatives on a city-wide scale, not just in a particular neighborhood, prior to the development of specific proposals. While they are far from eliminating the intense passions or conflicts generated by ambitious rezoning or development proposals, they can address these issues earlier in the process and result in fairer and more effective outcomes.

The Bloomberg Administration’s legacy in City Planning is going to include a clear and well-articulated approach to heal the homogeneous and single-use zoning map the city has been stuck with for over forty years. Instead, the old map is being replaced by a polycentric and heterogeneous one that promotes diversity in the urban environment and catalyzes development in targeted locations. Through these efforts it has strengthened regional sub-centers and accommodated growth around transit. There is still a critical need to go further to connect existing residents and businesses to these potential gains. But rather than creating a whole new zoning map and regulations, this administration has left us with an enhanced set of maps and policies. The next administration in office will be an interesting time for City Planning: will the targeted re-zonings continue to be the land use policy of the city?

– Nicolas Ronderos, Senior Planner, RPA

Mega Foresight
I Last week, on the occasion of its 40th Anniversary, the MTA tried another first: a “State of the Agency” address to a packed house at Cooper Union. MTA CEO and Executive Director Lee Sander talked about the past, present and future. After talk of completing the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access, Sander went on to introduce the next generation of “megas” – those big projects the agency hopes to build after the current projects have spent their last billion dollars and bored their last tunnel.

This was exciting news to many in the audience. Not since the MTA’s first Chairman, William Ronan, issued his “Grand Design,” which included 50 miles of new subway lines, has such a visionary plan been put forward. Sander’s address was also filled with big ideas for the New York metropolitan region’s future.

The biggest one was the use of the Second Avenue Subway as a springboard for adding new service in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The Ronan plan called for subway extensions in the Bronx and Queens. In 1999, RPA took that idea one step further by adding Brooklyn (link). This proposal, known as MetroLink, proposed converting the LIRR’s Atlantic Branch to subway service, so it could serve more people in Brooklyn and Queens. Sander endorsed this idea in his speech, good news to many wishing to see greater connectivity between subway lines.

A second idea reflecting an RPA proposal is “Triboro Rx,” first espoused by RPA in its 1996 Third Plan – A Region at Risk. This new rail line connecting Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx would use existing underused rail freight rights-of-way and still allow for freight service to continue along the line. It would run perpendicular to almost all the existing subway lines and establish transit service to give borough residents enormous new opportunities for travel within their boroughs and into Manhattan. Current projections predict daily trips within and between the boroughs to increase by 800,000 trips by 2030. This project will be critical to meet this anticipated new demand.

A third idea recommends building an AirTrain-type link to LaGuardia Airport from Woodside, where the LIRR and the #7 Flushing line meet. RPA suggested this concept during the ill-fated discussion of extending the N train to the airport, which would have required a new elevated line through residential neighborhoods. While the N line plan is now dead and the funds allocated to it now being used elsewhere, LaGuardia transit access remains vital. It seems absurd that LaGuardia – located so close to the heart of the city – is accessible almost entirely by motor vehicle.

Sander also talked about the MTA’s other facilities – the bridges and tunnels that were swept into the agency when it was cobbled out of Robert Moses’ empire in the 1960s. He said that the agency would be looking at creating cashless toll collection at their bridges and tunnels, a long-overdue idea (link). There’s little doubt that the MTA should do away with toll booths and create high speed electronic toll collection for all vehicles.  It would eliminate the traffic-slowing arm barriers at the MTA bridges and tunnels and save collection costs.

Finally, in its 1996 Third Plan RPA advocated for one-seat rail service tying together the suburbs – east on Long Island, north in Westchester and Connecticut and west in New Jersey. As we pointed out twelve years ago, many of these lines already connect, so the capital cost of providing service would be minimal. Sander announced in his address that the first test of this concept will occur in 2009 to run New Haven line service of Metro North to the New Jersey Meadowlands for football games. This will be an important pilot for future through-service opportunities that will pave the way for an integrated regional transit system.
 
While some listening to these bold ideas wondered whether we’d make it through our current round of building with the economy sagging, construction slowing and acrimony rising in Albany over funding, the vision of these plans was refreshing. But it’s clear that we’ve got to get moving now. Our region is growing, while our transit system lags behind. If we wait until the current mega-projects are completed to start thinking about the next generation of capacity-building investments, we will have another quarter-century lapse in public investment that simply builds up the backlog.

The MTA has jump-started the process of laying out a grand, new vision for what our transit system should look like in the next forty years. It’s now up to City, State and Federal governments to find a way to fund these long-term investments. Congestion pricing is a good start. But even more ideas and commitment will be necessary. The consequence is looking back over our shoulders as our economy, competitiveness and quality of life erode, wishing we had started earlier.

– Neysa Pranger, Director of Public Affairs, RPA
– Jeff Zupan, Senior Transportation Fellow, RPA

Questions or comments on what’s in this issue? Send them to the editor of Spotlight On The Region, Alex Marshall at alex@rpa.org

March 11
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
milliontreesNYC Manhattan Workshop
A New York City ReLeaf series of community information workshops on Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and the MillionTreesNYC initiative
Arsenal Building Gallery, 830 5th Avenue, 3rd Floor
Free, for more info and to register: Rachel Kaminski at 718-4824-4942 or rlkamins@gw.dec.state.ny.us

March 12
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
milliontreesNYC Brooklyn Workshop
A New York City ReLeaf series of community information workshops on Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and the MillionTreesNYC initiative
Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street
Free, for more info and to register: Rachel Kaminski at 718-4824-4942 or rlkamins@gw.dec.state.ny.us

March 13
11:00 a.m.
NYMTC Annual Meeting
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council invites the public to a presentation of its vision for the region.
NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, 4th floor auditorium
Free, registration requested
For more info or to register: amiles-cole@dot.state.ny.us or 718-482-4551

March 13
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
milliontreesNYC Bronx Workshop
A New York City ReLeaf series of community information workshops on Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and the MillionTreesNYC initiative
Bronx Borough Hall, 198 East 161 St, 2nd Floor
Free, for more info and to register: Rachel Kaminski at 718-4824-4942 or rlkamins@gw.dec.state.ny.us

March 15
8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Connecticut Land Use Academy
The Land Use Academy provides practical and accessible education for local land use decision makers across the state, with a focus on skills and knowledge needed to serve on land use commissions with confidence.
UConn Stamford Campus, Auditorium
$40, includes lunch
For more info and to register: http://www.clear.uconn.edu/lua.htm

March 18
6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Get on the Bus: Congestion Pricing Advocacy Day in Albany
Join advocates in Albany to meet with legislators in a final push for congestion pricing.
Free but RSVP required
For more info, contact Neysa Pranger at npranger@rpa.org or call (212) 253-2727 x319

March 18
4:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation for the Portal Bridge Capacity Enhancement Project Public Hearing
Presentation at 4:30, repeated at 6:30, Public comments immediately following presentations
Hudson County Administration Annex, 3rd Floor Freeholders' Chamber, 567 Pavonia Avenue, Jersey City, NJ
For more info: www.portalbridgenec.com or call 1-800-823-1348

March 19
6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
The First Annual Building Green Long Island Gala
This premiere event honors Scott Rechler, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RexCorp Realty LLC, for his visionary leadership in developing and implementing healthier, more efficient building standards and practices
The Grand Ballroom, Marriott Long Island Hotel and Conference Center, Uniondale, NY
For more info: http://buildinggreenli2008.eventjournal.com/view_about.php?journal_id=120

March 19
6:30 p.m.
New York Neighborhoods/Development and Preservation: The Future of Coney Island
Lynn Kelly, President of the CIDC, will present the latest proposal for the area and join a panel discussion moderated by Brad Lander, Director of the Pratt Center for Community Development. Additional panelists include David Gratt, Managing Director, Coney Island USA, Domenic Recchia, representative to the City Council from the 47th District, and Chuck Reichenthal, District Manager of Community Board 13.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Reservations required, $9 for non-members of the Museum, $5 for members, seniors, and students
For reservations and more info: 212-534-1672, ext. 3395

March 20
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
milliontreesNYC Queens Workshop
A New York City ReLeaf series of community information workshops on Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and the MillionTreesNYC initiative
Queens Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Boulevard
Free, for more info and to register: Rachel Kaminski at 718-4824-4942 or rlkamins@gw.dec.state.ny.us

March 25
8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Public Private Partnerships: National and International Experience, Local Possibilities
A panel of distinguished practitioners will discuss U.S. & international experiences with public private partnerships in their many forms, and explore the promise and policy challenges, as well as future possibilities for mobilizing private equity for public benefit in transportation
NYU Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, The Puck Building 2nd floor, 295 Lafayette Street
For more info and to register: http://wagner.nyu.edu/events/ppp.php

March 26 - 28
Reinventing Older Communities: How Does Place Matter?
The Reinventing conference has become a major meeting ground for policymakers, community developers, lenders, funders, planners, and government representatives who want to learn from leading practitioners and researchers around the country
Mariott Philadelphia Downtown Hotel
For more info and to register: www.philadelphiafed.org/cca/conferences.html

March 29
11:00 a.m.
Walking Tour: Moynihan Station and the West 30s
Learn the history of the West 30s, from before the planning of McKim, Mead and White's Pennsylvania Station to the present day. Led by Matt Postal, architecture historian
Meet at the NW corner of 6th Avenue and 30th Street
$15, $12 for members of the Municipal Arts Society
For more info: http://www.mas.org/viewarticle.php?id=1994

March 30
8:00 p.m.
Bike Shorts
Short films about the bike
Galapagos, 70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn
For more info: www.bikeshortfilms.com

April 1
6:30 p.m.
Panel: New York and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis: Real Estate, Wall Street and City Neighborhoods
With the city’s investment banks in despair and the economy threatening to go into a downward spiral, New York’s working-class neighborhoods have already been reeling from the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis. How far will the effects spread, and what are the long-term implications for homeowners and neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs?
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
$9, $5 for members of the museum, seniors and students
For more info and to RSVP: http://www.mcny.org/public_programs/all/815.html

April 3, 4 and 5
32nd Annual NJ State Transportation Conference and Expo
Taj Mahal Casino Conference Center, Atlantic City
For more info and to register: 908-903-1077, FTR4444@hotmail.com or www.njcost.com

April 4
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Building Capacity in Community-Based Organizations for Brownfields Redevelopment
The workshop will demonstrate a technical assistance program designed to build capacity in CDCs and other community-based organizations to engage in brownfields redevelopment and successful neighborhood renaissance.
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, 33 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, NJ
For more info and to register: http://policy.rutgers.edu/brownfields

April 11
Energy in the 21st Century: Seeking Environmental Solutions
Join leaders in government, business, environment and academia for the fourth annual Symposium on Energy in the 21st Century.
Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY
Free Event, Space Limited
For more info and to register: www.cazenovia.edu/energy

April 11 - 12
Schools, Food and Community
The Nutrition Program, Teachers College Columbia University, and Baum Forum will co-host this day and a half of conference sessions, workshops, resource fair, entertainment and seasonal luncheon
Teachers College Columbia University, Broadway between 120th and 121st Street, New York City
For more info and to register: www.baumforum.org or 718-884-5716

April 15
6:30 p.m.
Governors Island: A Park for All New York
Leslie Koch, President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, will discuss the latest plans for this historic landscape with moderator Robert Pirani, Executive Director of the Governors Island Alliance; architect Jonathan Marvel, Principal, Rogers Marvel Architects; and Robin Pogrebin of The New York Times.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Reservations required, $9 for non-members of the Museum, $5 for members, seniors, and students
For reservations and more info: 212-534-1672, ext. 3395

April 18
8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Oil and Water: Adapting to Scarcity
Regional Plan Association's Regional Assembly 2008
Waldorf=Astoria Hotel
For more information: http://www.rpa.org/ra2008 or (212) 253-2727 x 324

April 29
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
New York City Infrastructure: What's New in Transportation in New York City?
Moderated by Roberta Gratz, featuring panelists Janette Sadik-Khan, Samuel I. Schwartz, Paul Steely White and Robert Yaro
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Reservations required, $9 for non-members of the Museum, $5 for members, seniors, and students
For reservations and more info: 212-534-1672, ext. 3395

May 5 and 6
Climate Change and Land Use: Global Warming Impacts on Land Use Planning and Project Approvals
Learn from early adopter jurisdictions and leading New York land use professionals and attorneys about the factors that go into a successful regulatory program, the appropriate scope of local review in the Hudson River Valley and the best way for developers to respond to the new regulations
Tarrytown, NY
For more info and to register: 1-800-854-8009 or registrar@lawseminars.com

May 17
8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Connecticut Land Use Academy
The Land Use Academy provides practical and accessible education for local land use decision makers across the state, with a focus on skills and knowledge needed to serve on land use commissions with confidence.
UConn Avery Point, Marine Science Building Room 103
$40, includes lunch
For more info and to register: http://www.clear.uconn.edu/lua.htm

September 27
8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Connecticut Land Use Academy
The Land Use Academy provides practical and accessible education for local land use decision makers across the state, with a focus on skills and knowledge needed to serve on land use commissions with confidence.
UConn Torrington, Main Building, Auditorium
$40, includes lunch
For more info and to register: http://www.clear.uconn.edu/lua.htm

November 15
8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Connecticut Land Use Academy
The Land Use Academy provides practical and accessible education for local land use decision makers across the state, with a focus on skills and knowledge needed to serve on land use commissions with confidence.
Northeast Utilities, 107 Selden St. Berlin, CT
$40, includes lunch
For more info and to register: http://www.clear.uconn.edu/lua.htm
This was exciting news to many in the audience. Not since the MTA’s first Chairman, William Ronan, issued his “Grand Design,” which included 50 miles of new subway lines, has such a visionary plan been put forward. Sander’s address was also filled with big ideas for the New York metropolitan region’s future.