Cuomo Proposes State Penn Station Takeover: Reports

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo surprised city officials Wdenesday when he proposed a state agency take over the blocks surrounding Penn Station to accelerate the area's development, according to multiple reports.

Cuomo floated a proposal to have the Empire State Development Corp. create a special development district that would encompass the land from West 34th to 32nd streets between Sixth and Eighth avenues and to West 30th Street west of Seventh Avenue, the New York Post first reported. The development district would allow the state to overrule city zoning regulations and create massive developments to raise money for fixes to Penn Station, the Post reported.

"Penn Station is in imminent need. It’s a public safety hazard. You have 600,000 people there every day," Cuomo told reporters Wednesday, as reported by the Post.

Cuomo also supported the state takeover Wednesday by emphasizing that Penn Station is a terrorism threat and that new state funding could shore up security at the transit hub, the Post reported.

The plan was outlined in a two-page document that Cuomo introduced Tuesday, the New York Times reported. Cuomo is currently attempting to get his budget passed, and the plan which would have major consequences for the state's largest transportation hub was presented just one week before the deadline, the Times reported.

The timing and scope of the plan puzzled city officials, according to multiple reports. Alician Glen, the city's deputy mayor of housing and economic development, told the Times that the proposal is "completely beyond the pale." Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer also criticized the plan as a "power grab," Brewer told the Post.

A strong rebuke of the plan came from City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who said it unfairly takes input away from New York City residents.

"If this goes through, the state will be able to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants in one of the busiest sections of Manhattan," Johnson told the Post. "We’re talking no environmental review process and zero input from New York City."

The governor's office seemed to walk back the plan a bit Wednesday, telling the Times that the two-page proposal was just a draft. But while the plan may not be fully fleshed out, a statement from the governor's spokesperson hinted at the state's intentions for the Penn Station area.

Dani Lever, Cuomo's press secretary, told the Times that an eventual plan will include "consultation with community leaders and elected officials, environmental reviews and local government reviews."

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