Fancy that. Just a few days after Streetsblog (OK, and others) raised doubts about Gov. Hochul's doomed financing scheme for the renovation of Penn Station, we got serious confirmation from ... the governor herself.
Yesterday in an interview on WNYC, Hochul confronted reality: the plan she inherited from Andrew Cuomo (but, in fairness, backed to the hilt) is in trouble because the real estate development on which it's premised is also on the rocks.
Still, she vowed to push ahead: “I will shift gears and find other ways to make this happen and it is not contingent on what Vornado was planning in the entire neighborhood,” she said (the Post, obviously, covered, and so did Gothamist, though with a most positive spin).
We'll have more coverage later on this fast-breaking story about the slow demise of Penn Station.
In other news from a mostly transit day:
- More Biden bucks are flowing to the city transit system — this time $497 million for the Second Avenue Subway (NYDN). Plus money for Gateway (NY Times).
- Meanwhile, the LIRR is still figuring out how to run its two-terminal system. (NYDN, NY Post)
- The Post says the MTA is staffing commuter railways too much on weekends.
- Bloomberg did a deep dive on New York — are we dead yet? Apparently not, says Crain's, citing new job numbers.
- Here's why we're really glad we quit shuffleboard. (Gothamist)
- The City offered a useful primer on filming cops or getting their body cam footage.
- Crain's says Gov. Hochul is pitting the suburbs against the city (we hope we win!).
- From the assignment desk: Don't forget to join the counter-protest of the anti-congestion pricing rally near the Roosevelt Island tram on Sunday. It's all there on the Streetsblog events calendar.
- Pols — they're just like us (well, some of them):
Stuck on Bedford L platform on my way to press conference for increasing subway and bus service…
— Lincoln Restler (@LincolnRestler) March 9, 2023
Can I get an oy vey?! pic.twitter.com/0zzQhV9mAY
