Push Is Growing for U.S. Funding of Penn Station Redo

The developers involved in remaking Pennsylvania Station are pouring money into an effort to elicit federal funding for the development, retaining the services of six Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firms for the project, records show.In the first half of 2007, developers Vornado Realty Trust and the Related Companies put about $710,000 into the advocacy efforts, according to federal lobbying filings, an amount that comes on top of more than $15,000 in campaign contributions to key legislators that could affect the funding.The efforts underscore the important role of federal funding for the project, as both the state, which is administering the development, and the developers are eager to see the expected multibillion-dollar costs offset by another party.The project, which envisions moving Madison Square Garden to the western end of the neighboring Farley Post Office and radically overhauling Pennsylvania Station, stands to be an extremely cost-intensive investment that would create little direct financial return but could spark billions in nearby economic development. The downstate chairman of New York’s Empire State Development Corp., Patrick Foye, said earlier this summer that the Pennsylvania Station project could cost about $2 billion, though plans have been altered some since.The project, which has yet to be finalized and go through public review, would be linked to the development of a train station in part of the Farley Post Office across Eighth Avenue. The developers have termed the entire development Moynihan Station, with the post office dubbed “Moynihan West” and Pennsylvania Station called “Moynihan East.”Earlier this year, the state was aiming for at least $600 million in federal funds, people familiar with the plans said, with the developers being expected to cover a significant portion of the station’s cost and the state much of the balance.“This is probably the most important transportation hub in the country — there ought to be a federal contribution to it,” the president of the Regional Plan Association, Robert Yaro, said.Based on their lobbying reports and the impressions of congressional staffers familiar with the plans, Vornado and Related seem to be targeting two main avenues for the funding: legislation that would “reauthorize” Amtrak, providing billions for long-term projects, and homeland security funding targeted for transportation improvements.An Amtrak reauthorization has not happened for years, though the Senate yesterday rejected cuts to Amtrak’s annual funding proposed by the Bush administration, approving $1.4 billion for the rail service as part of a transportation bill. The White House has threatened to veto the bill, a similar version of which passed the House earlier this summer.An Amtrak reauthorization bill introduced by Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey contains a provision pushed by the developers’ lobbyists, one that makes money eligible for the developments of new stations, according to a congressional staff member.Mr. Lautenberg, chairman of a Senate subcommittee on transportation, has for years been a strong supporter of the Moynihan Station project, and he has been a recent beneficiary of thousands in campaign contributions from the developers. The CEO of Vornado, Steven Roth, gave the maximum $4,600 to Mr. Lautenberg’s campaign fund earlier this year, and the CEO of Related, Stephen Ross, has given $1,000, according to campaign finance records.“The two Steves,” as the developers are known in real estate circles, also gave so far this year a combined $13,000 to Rep. Jerrold Nadler and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, and political action committees associated with them, records show.Vornado and Related’s federal push comes as the plans for the project are being worked out behind-doors, as nine months into the Spitzer administration the state tries to sort out the details and juggle the needs of the numerous parties involved.Amtrak, which for years had no desire to be in the Farley Post Office, now wants to base its operations in the building, according to an Amtrak spokesman, Clifford Cole.In the place of the existing Madison Square Garden, the developers had been planning two skyscrapers of about 1,300 feet, though people familiar with the plans now say the state is leaning heavily against the towers at that location. The costs of physically supporting such structures above a train station are said to be prohibitive, and the state could move the development air rights to nearby Vornado-owned properties.People briefed on the plans say the state now intends to begin the environmental review process some time this month or next, though the Spitzer administration has thus far not had a great track record of staying within such timelines, at least for its large economic development initiatives.

Push Is Growing for U.S. Funding of Penn Station Redo

More from the New York Sun

Let Some Oil Tankers Sail Through the Strait of Hormuz — World Oil Prices Will Retreat Big Time

‘What Is Chabad Exactly?’

On Taxes in New York, It’s Mamdani v. Hochul

‘Hoppers’ is the Best Pixar Film of the Decade

Florida Senate Advances Bill To Let State Leaders Designate Groups as Terrorists After Federal Judge Blocks Effort by DeSantis

One Week In, Will Trump and Netanyahu Have Time To Finish Reshaping the Mideast and the World?

State Department Says Charter Flights Are Evacuating Hundreds of Americans Stranded in Middle East

Mayor Mamdani’s Wife Liked Posts Cheering on Hamas’s October 7 Massacre: Report