Silver May Stymie Javits Expansion; His Appointee Opposes the Plan

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Today marks a year since the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, torpedoed Mayor Bloomberg’s dream for a West Side stadium over the Hudson rail yards. This summer provides Mr. Silver with another opportunity to kill a giant West Side project: the $1.7 billion plan to expand the Javits Convention Center.

Mr. Silver’s appointee to the state’s Convention Center Operating Corporation, Ronald Goldstock, was among only two people who voted against the latest expansion plan last week. Thirteen other board members voted in favor of the plan, which would add roughly 1.3 million square feet of exhibition and meeting room space and turn New York’s convention center into the fifth biggest in the country, up from no. 19.

A spokesman for Mr. Silver, Charles Carrier, said the “no” vote was “an expression of concern, not a signal of opposition” to the final plan. Mr. Silver has a reputation for playing hard-to-get during negotiations and is known to hold out until the last minute before committing to support big projects.

Mr. Silver in the past has said he’s inclined to support a Javits expansion, and project supporters say he has not recently tried to extract concessions from them in exchange for his vote.

Mr. Silver sits on the state public authorities control board, where the Javits plan is expected to wind up this summer for final approval. The board also includes Governor Pataki and the state Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, who both strongly support the plan.

Mr. Silver, who represents Lower Manhattan, voted against the West Side stadium a year ago after he complained about the city’s efforts “to shift the financial and business capital of the world out of Lower Manhattan and over to the West Side.”

Mr. Goldstock said his vote was not political. He said he voted no because “there are too many unanswered questions” on the plan, specifically about the changes that were instituted late last year to move the truck marshalling yards to the north end of the convention center.

The other dissenting member of the operating corporation, Lloyd Constantine, a lawyer, said he could not vote for a plan that would be obsolete before construction begins. He said he supported an earlier version of the plan but was turned off by recent changes.

“It wasn’t as if I was holding out of the Taj Majal of convention centers. It had to be something that was adequate, and this was inadequate,” Mr. Constantine said.

Specifically, Mr. Constantine pointed to the state’s decision to sell the development rights of the block between 33rd and 34th streets and Eleventh and Twelfth avenues and move the truck marshalling yards.

State officials have said the sale of development rights, estimated at $339 million, is necessary to finance the project, for which costs have grown to an estimated $1.7 billion from $1.4 billion.

The sale appears to bolster the Bloomberg administration’s plan to remake the far West Side into a dense commercial district with about 24 million square feet of office space, according to several observers, including the former chairman of the Convention Center Operating Corporation, Robert Boyle, who was removed by Governor Pataki in December for opposing the newest plans.

Mr. Boyle said the rationale for the sale – a budget gap – was “invented.”

Mr. Boyle said Mr. Silver would probably not reject the expansion plan because it would further upset construction unions, which are still miffed that the speaker voted against the West Side stadium.

Mr. Silver’s rationale for rejecting the stadium – to protect downtown – could also apply to Javits. During negotiations over development rights at the World Trade Center site, several real estate observers said commercial development of the far West Side could compete with more than 8 million square feet of office space planned for downtown.

A development consultant and a critic of the Bloomberg administration’s plans for the far West Side, Brian Hatch, said: “They will develop on about the same schedule, and compete for the same tenants – people who don’t want to pay Midtown rents, but want to be in Manhattan. It’s the same niche.”

City officials have repeatedly said the plans for 24 million square feet of commercial space west of Ninth Avenue would not compete with downtown, and that most of the West Side commercial development will come after downtown space is filled.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use