Empire Station Complex a net gain
for Midtown Manhattan, civic leader says
BY MARK HALLUM
The Empire Station Complex is not
completely unwelcome among
leaders in Midtown Manhattan as
Dan Biederman, President, 34th Street
Partnership, says there are net positives to
the redevelopment plan.
After opponents to the state proposal
to expand Penn Station to the south and
greenlight space for up to ten skyscrapers
gathered on Seventh Avenue on April 7,
Biederman believes the plan will help factors
that lead to crime-ridden corners and
eliminate outdated structures.
“Eighth Avenue and 34th Street is really
a bad corner for us where we keep everything
clean, we remove litter, we remove
graffi ti, we have a beautiful streetscape,
we run Harold and Greeley Square Parks,
but we also try to keep the crime rate down
which it was for many years and it’s been a
real challenge since two bad things: bail reform,
and COVID,” Biederman said. “So we
actually want development of some of those
empty sites and it sounded like the community
boards, the newly formed group to fi ght
the plan, and others are totally against that.
But my main point is, if there’s anywhere
in the metropolitan area to put bulk, it’s on
top of Penn Station. We have incredible rail
infrastructure that’s being improved.”
Commuters walking through the Long Island Rail Road concourse of Penn
Station as it undergoes construction.
One problem opponents to the Empire
Station Complex hope to see resolved is
the exclusion of the public and city elected
offi cials to weigh in and have some control
over the trajectory of the development.
Whether or not this will be on the agenda
for Empire State Development which is
leading the effort has been promised but
not expanded upon.
“To date, ESD has held more than 50
meetings with local elected offi cials and
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
other community stakeholders, including
a virtual public meeting attended by 200
people last July. We’ve incorporated public
feedback into the project at every step —
like adding residential alternatives for three
of the development sites — and will continue
to do so as the process progresses,”
Matt Gordon, a spokesman from Empire
State Development, told amNewYork. “By
defi nition, State projects* follow a different
process than others, but the community’s
voice is no less important. In fact, ESD just
postponed a public hearing at community
leaders’ request to allow more time for
public engagement in the draft plans, and
we will continue to work collaboratively
with the community to ensure we put the
best plan forward.”
According to Biederman, calls for
Madison Square Garden to be moved to
another location in order for Penn Station
to be redeemed from its current depressing
state should not be considered a realistic
option with the amount of money that
was invested in building the structure and
the potential for improvements despite
the seeming inconvenience of the venue’s
location.
“I don’t think you give up on a station
just because it’s currently ugly, there was
plenty of ugly architecture built in the 60s
and 70s that people have retrofi tted and
made much more attractive without totally
replacing a building that’s on top of it,”
Biederman said.
One example of improvements that
could be made without the removal of the
entire arena is new entrances such as the
newly completed escalators at 33rd Street
and Seventh Avenue which is an upgraded
aesthetic that lets more light into to crypt
that is the Long Island Rail Road concourse
of Penn Station.
‘Hamilton’ creator Lin Manuel-Miranda, Mayor de Blasio
tour new Broadway COVID-19 vaccination hub
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
The mayor doesn’t want any of New
York City’s artists and performers
throwing away their shot.
A new vaccination center solely for the
city’s theater workers has opened in the
heart of Times Square — a fi rst step, star
Lin Manuel Miranda said, in bringing
Broadway back to life.
“We want to gather again and we want
to tell stories in the dark, and we cannot
do that if we don’t feel safe and if you don’t
feel safe,” said Miranda, the award-winning
composer, lyricist, actor and creator of hits
like “Hamilton” and “In The Heights.”
“The fi rst step in that process is getting
our vaccination shots. The next steps will
follow but the fi rst steps start today with
this clinic.”
Miranda was one of many performers
and elected offi cials to join Mayor Bill de
Blasio on April 12 at an unveiling of the
new site, which will also serve the city’s
Vaccinations at the new Broadway vaccine hub in Times Square.
fi lm and television workers.
“There’s a beautiful saying in the theater:
‘The show must go on,’ and here in New
York City the show is going on again,” de
Blasio said. “Broadway is coming back, fi lm
MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE
and television is coming back — New York
City is coming back.”
Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi
and Offi ce of Media and Entertainment
Commissioner Anne del Castillo were also
on hand for the Broadway vaccine hub’s
opening. The hub’s opening featured a
Broadway performance.
The hub, located at the corner of 47th
Street and Seventh Avenue, will service
just about anybody who worked on- or
off-Broadway or in the theater or fi lm industry,
said Miranda, who added that those
performers will be in the best hands possible
— those of a Broadway stage manager.
“If anyone knows how to make s–t run
on time, it’s Broadway stage managers,” an
emotional Miranda told the crowd.
Not only will the new center help get the
city’s theater employees inoculated and get
the industry back onstage, but it will also
help employ 80 to 100 Broadway workers
who have been laid off to handle administrative
support tasks, reported Broadway
World.
Prior to Monday’s press conference,
Miranda and his father, Luis, toured the
new vaccine hub. Earlier in the day, the
Hamilton creator got his shot in the Bronx.
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