New Port Authority Bus Terminal To Face Neighbors' Scrutiny

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New Yorkers will get one of their first chances to scrutinize the proposed replacement of the Port Authority Bus Terminal at a series of public hearings this week.

Plans unveiled in January by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey call for an expansive, glassy new terminal replacing the existing 70-year-old bus station, widely maligned for its cramped facilities and dreary interiors.

The four hearings will take place over Zoom on Wednesday and Thursday, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and again from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

If built, the 160-gate terminal would reshape the surrounding area, expanding passenger space by 40 percent and paving the way for up to four new high-rise towers to be built in order to help fund construction, which is estimated at $10 billion.

It would also pave the way for new public open spaces atop new a new platform between Ninth and 10th Avenues between West 37th and 39th streets.

Construction would be carried out in two phases: a temporary terminal on the west side of Ninth Avenue would be open from 2024 to 2027 to direct buses away from the construction site, while the demolition of the existing station and construction of the new one would run from 2028 to 2031.

More than 30 proposals to replace the terminal have been put forward since 2013. One 2016 proposal, which would have involved seizing and demolishing several blocks of Hell's Kitchen, collapsed amid harsh community opposition.

Community Board 4 has been more open to the project this time around. Board leaders wrote in a March letter to the Port Authority that they were "pleased" that community input had factored into the project's design.

Still, they laid out dozens of neighborhood concerns, including effects on air quality, traffic effects and the height of the proposed towers.

The existing bus terminal is the busiest in the world, serving about 260,000 passengers each weekday before the pandemic. The 186-gate building, however, "was not designed and cannot handle today's volumes and modern buses," Executive Director Rick Cotton said in January.

During the public presentation unveiling the new terminal, Cotton showed a series of news headlines describing the complex as a "monstrosity," "Literally Hell on Earth" and "the single worst place on planet Earth."

News of Port Authority's revival earlier this year came on the heels of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge to transform Midtown West by expanding Penn Station and the Javits Convention Center, extending the High Line and building new affordable housing.

Previous coverage:

• Port Authority Plans To Replace 'Hell On Earth' Bus Terminal
• Midtown West To Be Transformed In Major Redevelopment, Cuomo Vows
• High Line To Extend Into Midtown To Moynihan Hall, Gov Says