Gov rebuild plan vows ‘new NYC’
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo turned his attention to infrastructure and redeveloping parts of Midtown Thursday as he delivered the fourth and final installment of his State of the State address.
The governor unveiled grand plans for a revamped Port Authority Bus Terminal and touted previously announced and completed projects such as the recently opened Moynihan Train Hall as he outlined $306 billion infrastructure goals.
“Somewhere along the way, New York lost its ambition, we sat by and we watched our infrastructure crumble, meanwhile the world developed around us,” Cuomo said as he spoke from the State Capitol’s War Room. ‘Now we will expand our vision with a new Manhattan Midtown West Side transit hub and build upon it with new residential commercial and public works project that will combine to form a new vibrant district . ... It will be a transit-oriented development on a scale never attempted.”
The governor, who provided few new details, linked together several already underway and announced projects as part of a massive, $51 billion Midtown West development that he said covers roughly 140 acres.
The redevelopment centers around overhauling and adding tracks to Penn Station, which was announced last year, and an already planned expansion of the Jacob Javits Center, along with potential residential development in the area.
Cuomo also touted planned expansions to the Highline and the long-stalled removal of the NYPD tow pound on Pier 76, which will be used as a park.
The governor teased a rendering of a remodeled Port Authority featuring a new facade, saying the state will soon “completely redevelop the terminal, adding space for commercial development, dramatically improving the commuting experience, removing bus traffic and pollution from the surrounding community.”
Cuomo also took shots at the Trump administration as he bundled the perpetually put off Gateway Tunnel Project into his infrastructure dreams.
“New York State stands ready to help in an equitable Gateway venture, but New York has neither the resources nor the patience to partner in more wasteful bureaucracy,” the governor said.
As he did in the three previous installments of his stretched out State of the State, Cuomo said New York will need aid from Washington to move forward in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve established that the state’s short-term $15 billion economic deficit must be addressed by Washington and the inarguable truth that Washington has assaulted New York for the past four years and that we must demand justice and fairness from Washington,” Cuomo said.
Economic recovery from the COVID crisis has been at the heart of the governor’s legislative wish list and policy proposals unveiled as part of the State of the State.
Cuomo said large-scale infrastructure projects not only bring jobs and benefit the public, but could hasten the state’s recovery by building confidence.
“Building new projects, enhancing public life, lifts people’s spirits,” he said. “They will show New Yorkers and the world that a new New York City is within reach.”