Opponents of the former government. Cuomo’s extravagant plan to build 10 skyscrapers around Penn Station hopes the stars will align for them.
Cuomo was accused Thursday of groping a former aide in the Albany executive mansion – a crime that could land him in jail for a year if convicted.
This is potentially another blow to his multibillion-dollar Empire Station Complex project – the largest land use proposal in Manhattan, which many people in the Midtown area were not even aware of until. last spring.
The project would be under “executive review” by the administration of Governor Kathy Hochul, which is the subject of significant lobbying from real estate interests, sources said.
“Hochul is trying to disassociate himself from some of these Cuomo projects,†said an insider who requested anonymity. “She’s already killed her Airtrain plan ($ 2.1 billion) and it’s a lot bigger.”
So far, Empire State Development (ESD), the state agency in charge of the project, has not responded to the changes suggested in a 27 page report submitted by a community advisory committee in August.
The report would reduce the allowable density of some new buildings, suspend several sentences and include more public space.
Opponents have made it clear for a long time that they want Penn Station to be renovated and modernized, but are wary of ESD’s plan to allow Steven Roth’s Vornado Realty to build 10 towers in the area in exchange for funding for the Penn Station upgrade.
“It must be a public transport project; not a real estate project, â€State Senator Brad Hoylman told The Post.
Economic development groups, including the Hospitality Trades Council, urged Hochul to continue with the overall ESD plan.