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  #201  
Old Posted May 19, 2010, 1:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Dac150 View Post
Well this is certainly a good first step in the right direction.
It certainly is. That Moynihation redevelopment has seen so many delays that just getting the first phase done is a major step, and something to be excited about. This phase would only be to get the Farley Building functioning as a part of Penn Station. The second phase would be the larger conversion of the building itself into a major transit hall.
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  #202  
Old Posted May 20, 2010, 12:30 AM
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http://www.observer.com/2010/politic...tel-penn-tower
Stringer Likes Vornado’s Hotel Penn Tower

By Eliot Brown
May 19, 2010

Quote:
Steve Roth's plan for what would be the city's third tallest tower, across from Penn Station on the site of the current Hotel Pennsylvania, just got a boost, as Borough President Scott Stringer on Wednesday gave his conditional approval for the proposal.

The planned 1,200-foot skyscraper—which is theoretical in that it would not likely be built until Vornado is able to get a tenant some unknown number of years down the road—was delivered a near-unanimous (non-binding) rejection by the community board last month, with members citing too much density and discontentment over the transit benefits being offered by the developer. Had Mr. Stringer given a negative recommendation as well, the tower would likely have faced something of a political climb to get through the City Council.

But Mr. Stringer was on board with the concept of a large office tower on the site, and his recommendations pertained mostly to pedestrian flow issues, open space and a number of smaller issues that are likely surmountable.

From the recommendation:

The proposed development represents a unique opportunity to encourage high-density transit-oriented development, strengthen the nation's largest central business district, and improve local and regional mass-transit systems. The scale of the proposed project is consistent with buildings in the surrounding area and the City's development goals and policies, and is appropriate for the development site.

The plan for the tower, named 15 Penn Plaza, now goes to the City Planning Commission and then to the City Council.
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  #203  
Old Posted May 20, 2010, 12:43 AM
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A little more from the BP's report...
http://mbpo.org/uploads/15pennFINALpdf.pdf

Quote:
Economic studies in recent years have highlighted the City’s need for new Class A office space – particularly in Midtown – in order to maintain competitiveness both regionally and globally. In light of such studies, the City has taken steps to encourage the expansion of Midtown’s office base in areas such as the Hudson Yards Special District. As one of the few remaining areas within the CBD that has both significant development potential and rich access to transit, the middle portion of the 34th Street corridor represents a superb location for high density commercial growth.

Vornado’s proposed office building, situated between Penn Station and Herald Square, will have unparalleled connectivity to regional, long-distance and subway mass transportation and represents a unique opportunity for high-density transit oriented development. Regionallyaccessible office space at the proposed site would minimize congestion in surrounding areas and across the City while adding significant office capacity. Additionally, the proposed development will contribute to the much needed improvement and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in and around Penn Station and Herald Square.

Further, the density of the proposed development is consistent with other buildings within the 34th Street corridor, which includes One Penn Plaza (2.36 million ZSF) and Two Penn Plaza (1.56 million ZSF) across the street, Macy’s department store (2.09 million ZSF) two blocks north of the site, and the Empire Statement Building (2.81 million ZSF) two blocks to the east of the site. High density commercial development is also planned further west, not only in the Special Hudson Yards District, which allows new development at densities up to 33 FAR, but also contemplated as part of the redevelopment of Farley Post Office as Moynihan Station.

There are other examples of successful high density transit-oriented development in Manhattan, most notably, the Grand Central Subdistrict. It should be noted that the Grand Central Subdistrict allows up to a maximum density of 18 FAR, similar to the zoning proposed on this site, for transit improvements. Additional floor area (up to 21.6 FAR) can be achieved by purchasing air-rights from a landmarked building. Neither Grand Central nor the anticipated Hudson Yards developments offer the level of regional transportation access and commuter capacity provided by Penn Station, which currently serves over 425,000 passengers a day, 300,000 more passengers than Grand Central.

Without the proposed development, the package of transit improvements, and the associated benefits, would not be realized. Under an as-of-right development scenario, only the two subway access points that currently exist within the Hotel Pennsylvania would be replaced. As the majority of the proposed improvements exist directly on the applicant’s property, they would not be performed by any other private developer. Furthermore, even if the transit authorities were willing to undertake the other improvements, many of them could not be achieved without complicated acquisition processes. The positive benefits of the transit improvements would not be achieved without the proposed development. The application meets the findings for this special permit.
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  #204  
Old Posted May 20, 2010, 2:41 PM
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Originally Posted by NYguy View Post
http://www.observer.com/2010/politic...tel-penn-tower
Stringer Likes Vornado’s Hotel Penn Tower

By Eliot Brown
May 19, 2010
Nice to see someone with a level and logical head for a change. Just reinforces how a project like this makes all the sense in the world for so many reasons.
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  #205  
Old Posted May 21, 2010, 2:39 AM
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Nice to see someone with a level and logical head for a change. Just reinforces how a project like this makes all the sense in the world for so many reasons.
This is one of those towers that falls in line with the city's own planning, so it's not really surprising he would come out for it. Next up is City Planning, which is the group you would most expect to approve the tower, but we'll also see if anything is said of the design.
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  #206  
Old Posted May 26, 2010, 4:02 PM
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A little late for the hearing, but as usual, anyone who wants to comment still can...

http://nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/env_review/eis.shtml

Quote:
A public hearing on the DEIS will be held on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at 10:00 AM in Spector Hall, at the Department of City Planning located at 22 Reade Street, New York, New York 10007. Comments are requested on the DEIS and will be accepted until Monday, June 7, 2010.
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  #207  
Old Posted May 26, 2010, 5:57 PM
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Well, at least some decision makers are sane. Good for Stringer.
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  #208  
Old Posted May 27, 2010, 1:45 AM
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Slowly, but surely, the "grand schemes are trying to make a comeback...

Developer Said to Seek Relocation Of an Arena

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
May 26, 2010

Quote:
The developer Steven Roth is quietly trying to revive a plan to move Madison Square Garden one block west of its current home atop Pennsylvania Station just as the arena is beginning a major $850 million renovation.

Mr. Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, has in recent weeks talked to Hank J. Ratner, the Garden’s president, and James L. Dolan, whose family controls the arena, as well as top officials at City Hall, who are intrigued by the idea, according to several people who have been briefed on the discussions.

Garden executives insist that they are moving full speed ahead on their renovation. They moved their television network to 11 Penn Plaza last week in preparation for the first stage of construction and will temporarily close the Garden’s 5,600-seat theater at the end of June.

“The process to transform M.S.G. is well under way, and any other option that may or may not be available is not being considered, period,” said Barry Watkins, a spokesman for the Garden. “This transformation is the best option for our customers, partners and all of New York.”

But Mr. Roth, whose company controls much of the real estate around Penn Station, from 1 Penn Plaza to the Hotel Pennsylvania, is not one to give up easily. Officials and real estate executives familiar with the proposal were reluctant to be named publicly for fear of alienating either Mr. Roth or the Dolans.

According to these officials, the developer’s pitch to Mr. Dolan and Mr. Ratner went something like this: The renovation of the 42-year-old arena could be more expensive and more disruptive for the Knicks, the Rangers and the Liberty than anticipated. And in the end, the site would still be inferior to the new arena for the Nets that is under construction in Brooklyn.

Mr. Roth, who declined to comment, has proposed a stripped-down version of a $14 billion proposal that collapsed in 2008, a victim of hubris and a struggling economy. Civic and business groups had embraced the idea of moving the Garden to transform the cramped and bewildering corridors of Penn Station into a grand transit hub for the 550,000 daily commuters who already use it.

But the 2008 proposal also involved the creation of a special zoning district that would have allowed development rights to be sprinkled around the neighborhood, enabling Vornado to build a forest of skyscrapers.

Now, Mr. Roth is proposing to scrap the zoning district and the development rights transfer. He would simply move the Garden into a new arena that would be built within the walls of the James A. Farley Post Office, which sits across Eighth Avenue from the Garden. The post office building would also become an adjunct for an expanded Penn Station, which would be renamed Moynihan Station. The postal operations, which occupy the Eighth Avenue lobby of the blocklong building, would remain.

The old arena, in turn, would be razed to make way for a huge retail mall and improvements to the train halls and corridors below. But one executive who is familiar with the latest proposal said the work would not involve expanding the capacity of the station, the nation’s largest transit hub, one of the reasons the original proposal gained such widespread support.

Mr. Roth is motivated by both his investment in the neighborhood and a desire to enliven the planned renovation of the post office. He and his partner, Stephen Ross, of the Related Companies, are renegotiating their 2005 deal with the state to turn the post office into Moynihan Station.

But it is unclear whether there is either the political will or the public money to accomplish Mr. Roth’s proposal.

In any event, the Dolans are proceeding with their plans to transform the arena, having spent about $70 million on the project so far. For the next three summers, they say, they plan to close both the arena and the theater so that they can reconfigure the arena, providing better sightlines for fans, more luxury seating and a pair of sky bridges suspended over the court and rink.
I've seen the renderings of a renovated MSG. I would prefer a move, but the new Garden won't be completely horrible, from the inside.
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  #209  
Old Posted May 28, 2010, 3:42 PM
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http://blog.tstc.org/2010/05/27/midt...er-to-reality/

Midtown Pedestrian Tunnel Inches Closer to Reality



by Kyle Wiswall
May 28, 2010

Quote:
Some relief for pedestrian overcrowding near Penn Station may be in sight.

The reopening of the Gimbels passageway, and a host of other transit and streetscape improvements, crept closer to seeing the light of day after Vornado Realty Trust’s presented its development proposal for 15 Penn Plaza at a public hearing before the New York City Planning Commission yesterday.


Vornado would replace the Hotel Pennsylvania at 15 Penn Plaza with what would be the city’s third-tallest building. The proposal requires approval of both the Planning Commission and the City Council. Testifying at the commission hearing, Tri-State’s Kate Slevin said that “the proposed office tower’s proximity to Penn Station makes it an excellent location choice. There is no better place to encourage development than above transit facilities that provide easy access to Amtrak, NJ Transit, LIRR, PATH, and fourteen subway lines.”

The Campaign is particularly excited about the prospect of reopening the Gimbels Passageway which connects the commuter rail lines and subways at Penn Station with subway and PATH service at Herald Square. The streets in the area are very congested with pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and transit riders will welcome a safer and less congested route between these two busy hubs.

According to Vornado’s Kate Ascher, a projected 10,000 to 20,000 people would use the passageway at peak hour each day. That should help reduce the crush of crowds near Penn Station; during the busiest times more than 69,000 people per hour used the station entrance at 32nd Street and 7th Avenue, the 34th Street Partnership said last year.

Describing Penn Station as having “been left in the dark ages,” Ascher enumerated additional proposed features. For the 34th Street 1-2-3 and 34th Street-Herald Square stations, Vornado would pay for new subway entrances, better lighting and signage – including real-time train information displays, and wider station platforms. Above ground, the developer would pay for wider sidewalks and street tree plantings.

The proposal represents the best of potential benefits to be had from well-planned public/private partnerships. Ongoing contributions to the transit improvements by the developer allow the MTA to make these customer service enhancements even as the agency faces record budget deficits. Underscoring the importance of these features to the project as a whole, Commission members noted that some developers have had difficulties keeping their end of the bargain in the past, forcing Vornado to reiterate its commitment.

Commission members were generally receptive to the project, but did question whether enough was planned to ensure the vibrancy of the Gimbels passageway, which was closed in 1980 due to worries about crime. Vornado promised to address the concern by designing an attractive space more akin to the retail-lined passageways underneath Rockefeller Center. One commissioner suggested that the city needs to make broader above-ground pedestrian improvements going beyond the project area; TSTC has previously suggested that 32nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues be closed to traffic.

Also commenting in favor were Juliette Michaelson from Regional Plan Association, Dan Biederman of the 34th Street Partnership, and representatives from the Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the MTA and the Service Employees International Union. No one spoke in opposition.
What alternate reality is this?
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  #210  
Old Posted May 28, 2010, 5:45 PM
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I guess it was NIMBY sabbath.
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  #211  
Old Posted May 28, 2010, 6:06 PM
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I guess it was NIMBY sabbath.
LOL, it's unlike the NIMBYs to miss anything...
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  #212  
Old Posted May 28, 2010, 6:53 PM
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"No one spoke in opposition"

For once I can feel like we are taking back our city from the native Mid-Westerners.
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  #213  
Old Posted May 29, 2010, 11:01 AM
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More and more i see this tower getting reality. It feels good to hear such news as posted by NYguy. The most promising part is that noone spoke in opposition of it.

EDIT: can someone make a diagram of this one and add it to the NYC diagrams.

Last edited by kickser; May 29, 2010 at 2:18 PM.
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  #214  
Old Posted May 29, 2010, 2:18 PM
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Looks like talk is progressing, which is good. What’s important is that the right people identify the benefits this project will bring to the city. In this case, it goes much further than a tower. This project will pave the way for a revitalized and more vibrant Penn District.
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  #215  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2010, 1:52 PM
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Ahh, the whining we've come to expect. I feel better now...

http://www.2600.com/news/view/article/11955
HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA FACES DESTRUCTION - AGAIN

31 May 2010

Quote:
There has been very little in the way of media coverage, but quietly and steadily the forces that want to demolish the Hotel Pennsylvania, site of the HOPE conferences, have been working to get their way and sidestep all of the opposition.

Meetings and hearings on the matter have been scheduled with very little notice and at the most inconvenient times imaginable.

In an extremely troubling move, the Manhattan Borough President gave his "conditional approval" for the demolition of the hotel. A sparsely attended meeting last Wednesday at 10 in the morning of the New York City Planning Commission focused primarily on the popular idea of reopening a pedestrian tunnel and obscured the fact that the demolition of the Hotel Pennsylvania was also a part of this plan, all of which led to the conclusion that "no one spoke in opposition."

In addition to the hotel being our home for the conferences since the first one back in 1994, it's also one of the only affordable hotels for out-of-towners located in a convenient spot, directly across the street from Pennsylvania Station, the country's largest train station. Replacing it with a huge office tower would remove a valuable resource and would also be a slap in the face to the significant history surrounding the hotel.

There has been difficulty mounting a successful campaign to oppose this ill-advised move. For many in New York City, the hotel is just another old building from 100 years ago. Obviously, residents of New York don't really make use of hotels in their own city. The people hurt most by this would be those coming from different parts of the country and the world. This is a significant number, as the hotel's 1700 rooms are sold out night after night. Clearly, the people who depend on the hotel aren't able to make it to these little known meetings. Even those of us in New York can't take a full day off of work or school to attend on those rare occasions where meetings are adequately publicized.

Now that the threat has been clearly identified, we have no choice but to take action. To not do so will ensure that our next conference will indeed be our last, as there is no affordable space in New York with adequate facilities for a gathering of that size. In order to pull this off, we will need lots of help. This includes volunteers to contact the media, run websites, do research, organize leafleting campaigns and demonstrations, and basically get the word out so that this really bad idea is stopped before it's too late.

We need to add a lot of energy to the ongoing conversation on our online forum in order to be able to organize and strategize. Please email us at hotel@2600.com if you're able to lend a hand or can feed us with any information.


We advise people to read through the Draft Environmental Impact Statement to see what's planned by Vornado.

Finally, please follow savehotelpenn on Twitter. Having a large number of people showing up as followers to this Twitter account will demonstrate the fact that people really do care.
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  #216  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2010, 7:00 PM
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2600.com is the remnants of an old hacker newsgroup. I don't think they carry much weight in the Planning Commission.
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  #217  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2010, 9:12 PM
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Originally Posted by NYguy View Post
Ahh, the whining we've come to expect. I feel better now...

http://www.2600.com/news/view/article/11955
HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA FACES DESTRUCTION - AGAIN

31 May 2010
How does this blatant editorial article pass itself as "news"?
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  #218  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2010, 10:35 PM
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2600.com is the remnants of an old hacker newsgroup. I don't think they carry much weight in the Planning Commission.
I don't think anybody carries much weight with the Planning Commission.
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  #219  
Old Posted Jun 8, 2010, 5:26 AM
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  #220  
Old Posted Jun 8, 2010, 6:00 AM
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From the article:
Quote:
That plan has been rejected by the neighborhood's Community Board 5 because, as one official put it, "they're asking for too much and giving too little."
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