Hell's Kitchen Group to Argue for More Inclusive Process in Port Authority Bus Terminal Design

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The new Port Authority Bus Terminal continues to be a center of controversy in Hell's Kitchen with officials pushing to change "the entire planning process" for overhauling the old facility.

The Hell's Kitchen Land Use Committee and a group of local elected officials will be meeting with the Port Authority on Friday to discuss the process of designing Port Authority's new bus terminal, committee chair Jean-Daniel Noland announced Wednesday night. The committee will be prepping its arguments Thursday evening for a more inclusive process in designing a new bus terminal, he said.

Port Authority Bus Terminal Working Group representative Betty MacIntosh said Wednesday evening that a couple of Community Board 4 members and local elected officials would meet with the Port Authority Chair on Friday to "reframe the entire planning process, which would include a process that includes the Hell's Kitchen community, Community Board 4 elected officials, and city and state agencies."

MacIntosh said the group would call for "the creation of a master plan" which would "develop an approach to improve air quality in Community Board 4 ... preserve the residential character of the Hell's Kitchen community, and address all the Port Authority property in the area."

Dozens of Hell's Kitchen community members are furious with the way the Port Authority Design and Deliverability Competition for a new bus terminal has played out so far, calling it a secretive competition in which Port Authority has purposely excluded community members and elected officials.

The five finalists selected in June for Port Authority's competition for the new bus terminal design called for the demolition of part of Hell's Kitchen on 40th Street, across the street from the current bus terminal, Community Board 4 members said.

In July, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, state Sen. Brad Hoylman and City Councilman Corey Johnson called for a halt to the competition and boycotted a stakeholder meeting with Port Authority on the five finalists. Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris also released a statement in July saying the city had "significant concerns" about how the process had played out so far without community input.

"They contended ... they would oppose any design concept that would be selected," MacIntosh explained. "Pretty strong stuff."

The Hell's Kitchen Working Committee said in a presentation at a town hall meeting in April that 283 apartments, 30 businesses and stores, 30 historic buildings, a food pantry that serves 700 families each month, and a Head Start program that serves 40 families would all be lost if Port Authority goes forward with its plan for the bus terminal.

Photo Credit: Patch