A number of activist groups claim that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Penn Station development plan is a “secretive maneuver” to redirect an estimated $5 billion away from the city and into state coffers.
The $5 billion swap stems from 2018 legislation pushed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo usurped city control over the area around Penn and declared it a slum — a move that activists called “wrongheaded” on Monday.
The leaders of Common Cause, Reinvent Albany, BetaNYC, League of Women Voters, Tri-State Transportation Campaign and NYPIRG slammed the decision as setting “a terrible precedent” in a letter to Hochul and leaders in Albany.
The groups called the state’s ploy to build the project without going through the city’s usual zoning process — known as Uniform Land Use and Review Process (ULURP) — “absurd, utterly undemocratic, and presumptuous,” and suggested developer Vornado Reality Trust could be in line for a big tax break.
“The Penn Station Area project is not a transit project,” the letter said. “It’s a secretive state maneuver to unilaterally take future NYC property tax dollars to pay for the state’s refurbishment of Penn Station and possibly provide extremely large subsidies to the politically connected Vornado Realty Trust.”
Vornado, which will build and manage new buildings, is owned by Steven Roth, a top political donor to candidates including Donald Trump and Hochul herself.
“ULURP is imperfect, but is massively superior to the Empire State Development Corporation making unilateral decisions about the future of a crucial part of New York City and potentially billions in NYC tax revenue.”
The math of paying for the project must be made public before the state moves forward, the letter said — echoing feedback from the City Planning Commission earlier this year.
Hochul inherited the effort from Cuomo. In November, she said the state had reduced the size of the towers by 7 percent — but did not walk back Cuomo’s plan to side-step the city’s zoning process to seize and destroy privately owned buildings.
State officials have not released any information on whether Vornado will receive subsidies or tax breaks as part of the plan, according to advocates.
“It is stunning that there is so little information about how this is going to be paid for,” said Reinvent Albany analyst Rachael Fauss. “It would be irresponsible of the state to move forward with the lack of information the public has about the project.”
Hochul’s office and Vornado did not return requests for comment.
City officials have been told the city will be “made whole for current taxes,” ESD said.
“Halting the Penn Station Area project only delays the long overdue improvements this plan would deliver for residents and riders alike, and demonstrates an unfamiliarity with ESD’s ongoing public process.” spokesman Matthew Gorton said in a statement.
“No financial agreements have been entered at this time, but we are continuing to engage in the productive conversations we have been having with all stakeholders, including the City, on a fair financing plan and other public benefits that move the project forward and provide progress for New Yorkers.”
