[NYguy]

This article doesn’t make a lot of sense, but we’ve seen a version of this MSG plan before….


https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/n...ochul-nyc.html

Plan B for Fixing Penn Station Would Wrap Madison Square Garden in Glass
The previous proposal to help pay for the renovation of the station, which could cost up to $10 billion in state funds, has been shelved.





By Dana Rubinstein and Stefanos Chen
March 28, 2023

The proposal from a subsidiary of the Italian firm ASTM Group calls for the construction of a rectangular glass station around Madison Square Garden. The Garden would be covered in aluminum and steel, and two new light-filled train halls would replace the notoriously cramped and dark station — all of which could be completed by 2030, the firm has said.

Ms. Hochul, who has indicated that she is open to alternatives to the state’s partnership with Vornado Realty Trust — the firm expected to lead redevelopment around the station — has not publicly weighed in on the new proposal, but it has piqued the interest of elected officials and local community groups.

The governor is not obliged to pick an alternative proposal, and Vornado officials say they hope to continue with their agreement. While the Vornado plan has been abandoned in the short-term, it could be revived if economic conditions improve.

The new proposal is being spearheaded by two well-connected political operators: Patrick J. Foye, a former chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and Peter Cipriano, a former senior infrastructure adviser to Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary during the Trump administration.

Mr. Foye now works as chief executive of ASTM North America, a subsidiary of the Italian infrastructure firm that specializes in public-private partnerships, and Mr. Cipriano is the group’s senior vice president.
Both men have spent much of March marketing their proposal to elected officials and civic leaders in the Penn Station area, and MSG Entertainment, which operates the Garden, said it is open to the plans, according to sources familiar with the talks.

“ As we’ve said, we are always open to discussions,” said an MSG spokeswoman. “As invested members of our community, we are deeply committed to improving Penn Station and the surrounding area, and we continue to collaborate closely with a wide range of stakeholders to advance this shared goal.”

To build a grand, street-level entrance for the new Penn Station, ASTM would demolish the Theater at MSG, a 5,600-person venue near the Eighth Avenue side of the complex. The Madison Square Garden arena itself would be surrounded by a roughly 90-foot-tall glass podium designed to mirror the dimensions of the Beaux-Arts-style James A. Farley Building across the street.

Inside, the Eighth Avenue hall would have 55-foot ceilings above the new passenger concourse and a mix of retail and waiting areas and possibly a homeless outreach center. All 21 tracks would be accessible from the new halls, with additional staircases, elevators and escalators.
A new mid-block train hall, which would abut an office building at 2 Penn Plaza, would be wrapped in a 100-foot-tall glass enclosure, creating a sunny arcade for pedestrians moving between West 31st and 33rd Streets.

ASTM has said its cost projection will not be ready until June — when it had been planning to unveil the proposal — but has argued the project will cost significantly less than the original plan. Proponents of the new proposal add that it would not prevent Vornado, which would remain a large landowner in the Penn Station district, from developing the area in the future.

The company and its equity partners would pay for the upfront costs of construction and any cost overruns. They would then manage and operate the station for 50 years, according to people familiar with the proposal. Amtrak, which owns the station, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transit, its biggest users, would repay ASTM over time, relying on their own capital resources as well as federal funds.

“Amtrak looks forward to hearing more from ASTM and their proposal for Penn Station as part of the project development process for Penn Reconstruction,” said a spokesman for Amtrak.