Cuomo Unveils Final Design For New Main Entrance To Penn Station
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo yesterday unveiled final design renderings for the new main entrance to Penn Station.
The new entrance will be located at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue, providing much needed direct access to the Long Island Rail Road Main Concourse and the New York City Subway. The project, which will begin construction in June, will eliminate congestion by doubling customer access and egressing capacity to the LIRR level when it is completed in 2020, enhancing safety and security for passengers.
The Governor also announced that the overall Penn Station redevelopment master plan – which includes the creation of the Moynihan Train Hall – continues to move forward, which will fully transform Penn Station into a modern, world-class transportation hub.
“Penn Station was one of the great railroad stations of the world, but now it’s not fit for the greatest city in the nation,” said Cuomo. “That’s why we are creating a world-class train hall at Moynihan and today we are announcing a new East End Gateway to bring more access, safety and light. Passengers will be able to come in that entrance and avoid the front of Penn Station, there will be less traffic and you’ll have access to the subway and the LIRR. It will be a gateway to a world-class facility. This is not a proposal – we are getting to work now.”
Kavanagh, Krueger Push For Rent And Tenant Protection Laws
State Senators Brian Kavanagh (D-Lower Manhattan, Northwestern Brooklyn) and Liz Krueger (D-Upper East Side), yesterday, ahead of a major public hearing on rent regulation and tenant protections at the Ebbets Field Apartments in Central Brooklyn, called for the state to pass comprehensive rent reform to address the affordable housing crisis.
“My Senate colleagues and I are working hard every day to enact the best possible legislation to dramatically strengthen the laws that regulate rent and protect tenants, and close loopholes that have been exploited by shady landlords. We appreciate the urgency of this moment for the tenants who have been fighting for years for their families and their communities,” said Kavanagh.
Krueger, a Senate Housing Committee member, said over the last 30 years, New Yorkers have watched the housing crisis deepen, as hundreds of thousands of rent regulated homes have been lost to deregulation.
“Tenants have faced harassment, exorbitant MCIs and IAIs, groundless evictions and court cases, and downright fraud as landlords schemed to turn their units market-rate. Now we finally have the chance to stop the bleeding and begin to turn the system around so that it can once again act as a bulwark to protect affordability for working New Yorkers. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Legislature to do just that,” she added.
Rivera, Levin, Rosenthal Support More Community Land Trust Funding
City Council Members Carlina Rivera (D-East Village, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Lower East Side, Murray Hill, Rose Hill), Mark Levine (D-Manhattan Valley, Manhattanville, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights and Helen Rosenthal (D-Upper West Side) this week urged support for a new funding initiative to incubate and expand Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in all five NYC boroughs.
CLTs are nonprofits that own and steward land in the community’s interest. They engage residents in decision-making about affordable housing and other neighborhood development.
The request for more funding comes as more than a dozen CLTs are taking root in the South and Northwest Bronx, East Harlem, Brownsville, Jackson Heights, and beyond, to curb displacement and advance community-led development.
The City Council initiative would provide $850,000 in FY2020 discretionary funding to emerging CLTs working to develop and preserve deeply affordable housing — from mutual housing and limited-equity cooperatives to single-family homes at risk of foreclosure.
“When the Cooper Square CLT launched in my district in 1991 we started something truly special. I want that in every single corner of New York City. I want us to be the model for the nation,” said Rivera. “This is the most effective affordable housing model that we have seen in decades. That’s why I have been contacting the Speaker’s team every single day about this.”
“We want power to be in the hands of people who fought for decades to turn around these communities, and who should be able to stay there in perpetuity,,” said Levine. “When you put the power of ownership in the hands of residents, you guarantee continuity in communities, you stop displacement, you stop gentrification, and you build economic power in the hands of working-class people.”
“The Community Land Trusts Initiative is incredibly important for our city and its residents,” said Rosenthal. “CLTs are part of a growing landscape of institutions — including worker-owned businesses — that are working to advance democratic economic development that benefits all New Yorkers. I applaud the work done by groups in this initiative.”
