Don’t give away our leverage to fix Penn Station, once and for all

Ten years in the past, the Metropolis Council gave Madison Sq. Backyard and its homeowners, managed by James Dolan, 10 years to both transfer or repair issues created when a earlier era of city planners thought, wrongly, that squashing it on prime of Penn Station was a good suggestion.

However those that run the Backyard didn’t make any enhancements in that point, and neither did Metropolis Corridor or the state.

On Wednesday, the Metropolis Planning Fee voted 9-1 to provide Dolan and his group one other 10-year allow; it’s asking us to belief MSG to maintain a brand new spherical of guarantees that the sector might be improved.

No approach.

The Metropolis Council, which should nonetheless OK such a transfer, ought to give the Backyard not more than a four-year extension — and never a minute extra, as leverage to make sure he lives as much as his guarantees.

It’s solely prudent.

In the meantime, former MTA boss Patrick Foye and present boss, Janno Lieber, are in a cage match over totally different visions of the way to repair the issues.

Foye has thrown his assist behind a plan by the Italian agency ASTM to sheath the Backyard in a glass field and reportedly pay MSG $500 million for the Hulu Theater; Lieber prefers a much less eye-catching imaginative and prescient with extra space for commuters. 

In each instances, the Backyard would keep on prime of the station, making life more durable for each it and the station going ahead and pushing prices up throughout development.   

Each plans would require billions of public {dollars}, and simply as many complicated real-estate, engineering and development choices that would take years to nail down.

Every plan depends upon Dolan’s “promise” to do the suitable factor, no matter that seems to be. 

Within the meantime, Dolan is making the traditional New York real-estate ask: You need one thing?

Pay me.

That’s the place the $500 million for the theater is available in.  

In the meantime, bear in mind, the town doesn’t cost Dolan taxes for sitting on the most important transportation hub within the area: Per the town’s Impartial Finances Workplace, MSG will get as a lot as $50 million a yr in property aid, totaling over $1 billion over a 20-year interval.

The town actually has leverage: With out the particular allow, the Backyard wouldn’t be allowed to host greater than 2,500 prospects (with it, MSG can accommodate 20,000 individuals).

As well as, Dolan would lose the rights to have profitable, supersized digital exterior billboards.

Setting a restrict on his management — not agreeing to his request for a allow with no time restrict — is the one approach to ensure he preserve his guarantees and the general public will get the ultimate say on whether or not he does. 

Dolan needs the Metropolis Planning Fee to find out if he’s made the promised enhancements he’s promised.

However how can its members probably name him out if he reneges after they’ve given him a allow for 10 years, as they wish to do?

Their leverage could be gone.

And New Yorkers may very well be caught in the identical rut a decade from now.

The Metropolis Council is about to carry a listening to on this difficulty on July 18 after which vote on it; a four-year particular allow means the council would vote once more in 2027, conserving everybody on a decent leash.

Rather a lot can occur in 4 years.

Solely two years in the past, everybody thought Gov. Andrew Cuomo was going to push by means of a Penn Station plan to be financed by a sweetheart cope with Vornado to construct 10 workplace towers.

Now he’s gone, and so is the cash promised by Vornado.

Then again, it solely took 18 months from groundbreaking till the Barclays Heart had its first present.

Who is aware of?

Possibly in 4 years we are able to have a brand new Madison Sq. Backyard too, and at the least some actual progress on enhancements to Penn Station and the neighborhood.

If not, the council can name the foul.

Let’s begin a four-year countdown clock on Dolan’s guarantees.

After 4 years, we are able to rethink.

Robert Yaro is a former president of the Regional Plan Affiliation