A day after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a fast-track renovation of Penn Station, an MTA board member says the construction and financing projections are too optimistic. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.
Governor Andrew Cuomo's 2020 vision is to transform cramped Penn Station concourse, part of his surprise plan to fix the much-maligned transportation hub.
"It's a complete redesign of the underground labyrinth," he said.
230,000 Long Island Rail Road passengers move through Penn Station every day. The MTA will spend $220 million widening and brightening the drab corridor leading to and from the subway stations at Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
On Wednesday, MTA board member Veronica Vanterpool, a transit advocate, questioned how the cash-strapped agency will pay for it.
"I love the pretty pictures, but I like having a sound, fiscal footing for the state, and I think the governor has been very innovative with his visions. We need to see additional innovations for how we're going to pay for this," Vanterpool said.
The renovation would triple the width of the concourse to 75 feet by 2020.
Vanterpool suggested the timetable was unrealistic, given the agency's repeated failure to meet construction deadlines. MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast said the project was too important to come in late.
"We have had a tendency - this is painful for me to say, because I've been part of this organization - that we have not met timelines. So there is an aggressive timeline, because there is an impact to the users of that station," Prendergast said.
He added the agency's multi-billion-dollar capital program was "fluid," suggesting that other projects might be delayed to fund this one.
The improvements to the LIRR wouldn't be limited to this passageway. The commuter railroad would also move some of its operations across Eighth Avenue to the old Farley Post Office Building, which it would now share with Amtrak.
That's the flashier end of the project - and it comes with a 1 point 6 billion dollar pricetag. Cuomo says that would be funded by retail development, the Empire State Development Corporation and Amtrak.