Cuomo's Controversial 'Empire Station' Faces Midtown Hearing

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The state entity pushing the controversial "Empire Station Complex" that would transform swaths of Midtown will be put on the hot seat in an upcoming town hall meeting convened by two neighborhood boards.

The virtual town hall will be held over Zoom starting 6 p.m. Thursday, July 15. Organized by Community Boards 4 and 5, it will feature representatives from Empire State Development answering residents' questions about the project.

Backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the plan calls for opening up eight lots around Penn Station for development, allowing private companies to construct 10 new buildings — including five skyscrapers towering more than 1,000 feet.

About 208 residents and 9,000 workers would be displaced by the project, which would also entail the demolition of the Hotel Pennsylvania, St. John the Baptist Church and Touro College, among other buildings.

Community leaders recoiled when those details were revealed late last year, noting that when Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced it in January 2020, he pitched it as a way to increase rail capacity at cramped Penn Station by up to 40 percent

The current plan includes no such expansion, but says the revenue generated from the developments would fund Penn Station's eventual transformation.

Lowell Kern, chair of Community Board 4, told Patch that the boards organized the meeting because "the community has to know what's going on."

"There is a potential upside to this, but there’s a huge potential downside to this as well," he said of the complex.

After a presentation by Empire State Development, members of the public will get to ask questions, and board members running the meeting will press the representatives if they avoid answering, Kern said.

Meanwhile, the battle over Cuomo's complex continues to roil state politics. Democratic lawmakers scaled back his bid to include $1.3 billion for the development in the state's latest budget, restricting the money for "transportation improvement projects" only.

Meanwhile, three Midtown state senators introduced a bill that would force the project through the city's typical land use review process known as ULURP. (The state is attempting to fast-track Empire Station by avoiding ULURP, instead convening a panel with no power to stop the project, the New York Post reported.)

Previous coverage:

• Midtown Leaders Slam Cuomo's Empire Station Complex
• Embattled Cuomo Pushes Skyline-Altering Penn Station Real Estate Plan As Critics Mobilize