State Finally To Make Move On Penn Station

In a boost to the planned multibillion-dollar remake of Pennsylvania Station, the state is expected to release an environmental planning document today, a required first step in a lengthy approval process for the far-reaching development plans.

The release of the draft scope for an environmental impact statement would be the Spitzer administration's first public display of forward progress on the Moynihan Station project, which seeks to move Madison Square Garden into the back of the neighboring Farley Post Office and spread new development throughout the area.

Economic development officials for months have said the document's release was due in coming weeks, though people briefed on the project say the state seems to have had trouble sorting through a tangled web of stakeholders. Between Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New Jersey Transit, developers Vornado Realty Trust and the Related Companies, Madison Square Garden, the city, and the community, the state has slowly formed a more coherent vision for the project.

While two towering skyscrapers were initially planned for the site above the Garden, the state moved toward a less costly option of spreading the 4.5 million square feet of development rights in the surrounding neighborhood.

"It's a good step for the project," the executive director of the Regional Plan Association, Thomas Wright, said of the scoping document's release. "We're pleased that they're looking for ways to spread the development density around the district."

In briefing officials and community members, the state said and the Post Office may continue operations in some of the Farley building's stamp booths, and officials said the exterior signage on the building would be reasonable, sources briefed said.

The progress comes almost a year after the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, blocked the Pataki administration's efforts to advance a smaller scale version of the project before the governor left office. Mr. Silver wanted to see the Garden's move to the Farley building included in the project, along with the renovation of the existing Pennsylvania Station, a vision that has taken the state and developers months to craft.