(SECRET) CLAIRE LEADEN, February 24, 2022

The new Moynihan Train Hall was the first step of that “21st Century Empire Station Complex,” which was unveiled at the start of 2021. Now, Governor Kathy Hochul has taken over the project with her own insights and advancements.

A few months back she revealed her new plan — which scaled back Cuomo’s original endeavor — as well as new renderings of what the completed project would look like.

Hochul said it will be a “commuter-first” station and that neighborhood changes will “reflect the community’s needs and focus on public transit and public realm improvements.” The overarching plan involves completely revamping the current Penn Station (which they now have room to do since Amtrak operations moved to the new Moynihan Train Hall), and developing the surrounding neighborhood — which includes 10 new skyscrapers — to help finance the multi-billion dollar project.

Earlier this month, the Office of NYC Mayor Eric Adams expressed support for the project (though he hasn’t appeared to comment directly).

It has also recently been met with criticism and questions from the City Planning Commission, who have requested a clearer breakdown of how the project will be funded and how that could in turn affect city tax payers. Others have commented on the historic New York buildings that will be lost as the new towers go up (the century-old Hotel Pennsylvania is currently being razed by the Vornado Realty Trust, which would be developing the new buildings).

The main features of the new proposal — which Hochul said was created after hundreds of meetings with key community players over the course of several months — include:

Source: Secret