A coalition of community groups claims that current plans are designed to benefit developers and don’t guarantee improvements for transit riders.
Penn Station’s long-awaited redevelopment hit another snag as several citizen groups filed a lawsuit against Empire State Development and the New York State Public Authorities Control Board, claiming that the agencies did not conduct a proper environmental review and “improperly” entered a revenue-sharing agreement with the city. Colleen Wilson reports on the case for NorthJersey.com.
“At issue is the more than 18 million square feet of commercial, residential and hotel space proposed on properties in the immediate vicinity of Penn Station.” Revenue from these projects is meant to fund other improvements to the station area, such as additional tracks, new entrances and elevators, and a new pedestrian corridor, but the plaintiffs in the suit say “there's "no basis" for ESD's claim that it would generate the revenue needed to fund New York's share of station projects.”
As Wilson explains, the historic station has become a notorious choke point in New York’s public transportation system. “The now-54-year-old structure was designed to handle 200,000 people a day, but for at least two decades it has operated over capacity, with as many as 650,000 people using the station daily in 2019.”
See the source article for more details on the lawsuit and how it could affect the redevelopment plans.
FULL STORY: Giving us mediocrity:' Penn Station remodel controversy lands in court
Report: NYC Transit Falling Behind on Accessibility
The city is lagging on meeting its pledge to improve accessibility across the system.
Fancy New Subway Cars Join the New York Subway System
New York has been planning on adding these new subway cars for years, finally achieving their goal in March 2023. More than a thousand of the new R211 trains will be running in New York within two years if all goes according to plan.
New York Subway Will Pilot Platform Barriers To Improve Rider Safety
After a shocking death and an overall rise in violent crime at its stations, New York City's transit authority will install platform barriers to prevent intentional or accidental falls onto tracks.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
The State of E-Scooters in the US
Eight years after shared e-scooters were first introduced in US cities, the industry still teeters on the edge of success, hindered in part by limited infrastructure.
Rochester Shows Possible Future for Former Highways
A former freeway is undergoing a massive redevelopment that goes beyond highway removal to reconnect and revitalize surrounding areas.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
