Gov. Cuomo to link Moynihan with
Brookfield via a High Line expansion
BY MARK HALLUM
Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled
a plan on Monday with the State
of the State address to build on the
framework of the High Line in order to give
pedestrians a link between the Moynihan
Train Hall and Brookfi eld’s 5.4-millionsquare
foot Manhattan West development.
Pitched as a program to stimulate the
post-COVID-19 retail market and to drive
the redevelopment of Manhattan’s West
Side, Cuomo said, with involvement from
Brookfi eld Property Group, Empire State
Development, the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey, and Friends of the
High Line.
With a $15 billion hole in the state’s
budget and no word on cost or where the
cash for the buildout will come from, the
feasibility of the proposal is unclear.
“This will be the most ambitious redevelopment
that New York City has seen in
decades,”Cuomo said.“When the private
sector economy lags, state governments
build infrastructure and spur development.
The beautifulMoynihanTrain Hall
A view of the High Line from the roof of The Warehouse.
is open, the renovation of Penn Station and
this High Line extension project begin this
year. This connection is part of a districtwide
redevelopment of the West Side that
will jumpstart the private market in a post-
COVID world.”
PHOTO BY EMILY DAVENPORT/AMNY
According to the governor’s offi ce, the
elevated green space will be expanded eastward
at 10th Avenue and 30th Street along
Dyer Avenue to the mid-block between 9th
and 10th Avenues. The governor’s offi ce
says this is just the fi rst phase of the High
Line’s expansion in name of safe pedestrian
space along the West Side.
“The central element of Brookfi eld’s
Manhattan West complex will be a 2-acre
landscaped public plaza that will be surrounded
by 240,000 square feet of curated
restaurants and shops and enlivened yearround
with public events, art installations
and an ice rink programmed, in part, by
the NHL,” Ben Brown, Managing Partner
for Brookfi eld Property Group, said. “The
High Line extension, which will link the
new Moynihan Train Hall to the Manhattan
West plaza and the rest of the High Line,
will be a major addition to the entire area,
making it easier and more enjoyable for pedestrians
to access and navigate Manhattan
West and the neighborhood as a whole.”
While Cuomo’s four-part State of the
State address kicked off Monday morning
with an express interest in jumpstarting a
new vision for New York’s economy, the
continued attention to the development of
the West Side, specifi cally Hudson Yards,
caters to the wealthiest New Yorkers.
Planned at Brookfield’s Manhattan
West is a signature restaurant by Danny
Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group,
a Whole Foods that opened in 2020, a
35,000-square-foot fl agship location for
Peloton, Class-A offi ce space as well as
844 units of living space at The Eugene.
The battle for Chelsea: How a COVID
symptom has started a social war
BY DEAN MOSES
A war has been raging in the Chelsea
neighborhood since the dawn of
the pandemic, but it is not a battle
against the COVID-19 virus. Instead, it is
a fi ght brewed from one of its symptoms.
Longtime residents and businesses
have been jousting with the new kids on
the block—homeless individuals taking
refuge in otherwise vacant hotels. In the
wake of the novel coronavirus, many of
those sleeping rough throughout the city
were moved into unused hotels and inns
in hopes of preventing the spread of the
virus. However, this has created a dispute
between new and seasoned residents.
Many longtime locals say that the area
has changed for the worse, citing blatant
drug use, mounting garbage, and an exponential
increase in violence making them
feel unsafe in their own neighborhood.
Some store owners have even taken to
padlocking their fridges, which they say
is to prevent homeless individuals from
stealing bottles of soda while others claim
they are losing customers from constant
harassment.
On the opposing side, those taking up
residence in the myriad of Chelsea hotels
FILE PHOTO Marni Halasa helped organize the rally.
counter these claims, stating that they are
not the monsters they are made out to be
by the media and locals. On the contrary,
they say they are merely people down on
their luck and persons suffering from hard
lives, simply requesting more compassion
and empathy. These vagrant New Yorkers
also make the claim they are uniformly displaced,
essentially transported from hotel
to hotel after resident complaints.
Those taking shelter in Hotel Central on
West 36th street were forced to move to the
Four Seasons Hotel, on West 40th Street,
between 8th and 9th Avenue. In response
to this, Marni Halasa— candidate for City
Council District 3—held a rally in protest
of these displacements at their former home
on Jan. 12th.
“Here we go again, it’s a Band-Aid. They
keep on moving the homeless everywhere.
They need to fi nd them permanent housing.
This displacement is abusive, I am here to
shut it down,” Halasa told amNewYork
Metro outside Hotel Central.
Those at the rally who have been removed
from the hotel say they feel like they
are being passed around the city like ping
pong balls, constantly becoming another
person’s problem. Still, they hope some
New Yorkers will feel empathy for their
plight.
“It is still traumatic. When we moved,
they only allowed us to take two bags, I
lost all my property. I need my clothing,”
said Michael Shade Witherspoon, a former
resident of Hotel Central. “I was in prison,
I paid for my time, I paid my due. When
I got released and was put into a shelter
system, it was like going back to prison,”
Witherspoon added.
Not all business owners in the area see
the situation in such black and white terms
though.
John Accardi, co-owner of Vito’s Slices
and Ices has seen things he says he has
only heard about in stories. From attacks
on his customers to assaults on his family,
he has witnessed stabbings and drug use.
Still, he tells amNewYork that he does not
believe all those living in the nearby hotels
are an issue. Instead, he feels that there is
a third component at play stemming from a
certain few who suffer from mental health
problems, whom he postulates require care
they are not receiving.
4 January 14, 2021 Schneps Media