MCNY Panel Calls for West Side Development Oversight, Funding Transparency [1]
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At a panel discussion at the Museum of the City of New York [2] last night, planners and community advocates criticized the lack of coordination going into the planning for the West Side.
The sheer mass of public and private development planned for the West Side (between 14th and 42nd Street, West of 8th Avenue) is staggering.
Besides the Rail Yards themselves, current planning initiatives include:
-Commercial and residential buildout in response to the 2005 Hudson Yards Rezoning [3], including:
-The development of Hudson Boulevard, a grand pedestrian walkway between 10th and 11th Avenues.
-The Javits Expansion [4], overseen by the Empire State Development Corporation.
-The ARC (Access to the Region's Core) transit plan [5], which would double the number of trains coming from New Jersey into Penn Station.
-The new Moynihan Station [6], relocation of Madison Square Garden, and related high-rise commercial development on the site.
-The extension of the 7 train [7] West to 11th Avenue and South to 34th Street.
The sheer mass of public and private development planned for the West Side (between 14th and 42nd Street, West of 8th Avenue) is staggering.
Besides the Rail Yards themselves, current planning initiatives include:
-Commercial and residential buildout in response to the 2005 Hudson Yards Rezoning [3], including:
-The development of Hudson Boulevard, a grand pedestrian walkway between 10th and 11th Avenues.
-The Javits Expansion [4], overseen by the Empire State Development Corporation.
-The ARC (Access to the Region's Core) transit plan [5], which would double the number of trains coming from New Jersey into Penn Station.
-The new Moynihan Station [6], relocation of Madison Square Garden, and related high-rise commercial development on the site.
-The extension of the 7 train [7] West to 11th Avenue and South to 34th Street.
-The expansion of Clinton section of Hudson River Park. [8] Community Board 4's Anna Hayes Levin and former MTA chair Richard Ravitch both called attention to the lack of an overarching body to oversee the planning and financial aspects of this development. Ravitch called the West Side "planning run amok." He pointed to Moynihan Station as the key to smart planning, saying,"Until Moynihan Station is resolved, there will be a serious impediment to development on the whole West Side." Expansion of the station would promote natural growth of Midtown by adjacency, he explained, rather than starting with large commercial developments on 10th and 11th Avenues. He encouraged the MTA to hold off plans for the Rail Yards until Moynihan Station was settled.
All panelists called for financials of each project to be made public. University of Pennsylvania Planning Professor Lynn Sagalyn noted that press coverage of West Side development has not pushed the City, State or MTA to reveal how much these projects will cost or who would pay for them.
Likely, full buildout on West Side development will happen over the course of the next three decades or so. Chances are high that these projects will shift, scale back, or possibly fall through completely [9]. This development burst is in its infancy, so it's crucial that the public stay informed and demand accountability in both the planning and funding of these major projects.
A video of last night's discussion will be up next week.