The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will face stiff community opposition, lawsuits and demonstrations if the agency builds its new bus terminal west of Ninth Avenue, an elected official warned Monday.
The bi-state agency recently committed to building a new depot, which could cost more than $10 billion, to replace its aging facility at 625 Eighth Avenue in Midtown.
“People are going to tie you up in court, tie you up in demonstrations … the project will be stymied for years,” Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said at a town hall meeting on Monday, DNAinfo reported. “Let’s work together — then the project will get done in the right way,”
A Port Authority committee in October suggested an agency property between Ninth and 11th Avenue would be the best location for the new terminal, DNAinfo reported.
The bi-state agency launched a design competition for the project, based on concepts that would necessitate using eminent domain and demolishing some private property on Ninth Avenue, between West 39th and 41st streets, Crain’s reported last month.
Officials at the town hall, which over 100 Hell’s Kitchen residents attended, said it will select a plan for the new facility through the competition, the website reported.
Community Board 4 said at its February meeting that the Port Authority’s plans, which includes demolishing buildings, could “obliterate” Hell’s Kitchen. [DNAinfo] — Dusica Sue Malesevic