Draft City Club Comments on Empire Station Project
Numerous government agencies, from the federal to the local realm, are working at resolving problems of the eastern seaboard rail system. The City Club is particularly interested in the New York City aspects, including additional tracks below the Hudson River, how train lines enter and traverse the City, and how they relate to the vast network of subway lines within the City.
John West, Chair of the City Club’s Urban Design Committee and a leading expert in planning and urban design, has drafted – with his usual clarity and profundity – comments on the City aspects of the planning. His comments focus particularly on the State’s proposal to coordinate needed additional trackage at Penn Station by rezoning lots surrounding the Station in a manner which would impose the cost of at least a portion of the Station revamping on the developers of the designated surrounding blocks.
We publish this draft to enlighten our constituency and to encourage responsive comments.