How to Fund: 30-Year Bonds & Land Sales. We can wisely rebuild infrastructure through 30-year bonds alongside State and Federal funding to solve mounting problems. We must embrace the 21st Century, but utilize resources without shameful waste and corruption as done in past. There is no reason why tunnels cost triple what cities like London pay, or why work crews are double the size of other cities. The multi-billion dollar cost will scare some people off, but bear this in mind: proposals below for putting highways underground will make vast tracts of government land available for development. Many hundreds of acres of land now sucked up by highways will be created and sold to developers. The vision: 50 percent of land zoned for affordable housing, 50 percent for green space and parks - and adding beauty to a much-too-gray concrete city.
Land and air rights above the Henry Hudson, FDR and the Cross Bronx highways will become available for development. That land will provide billions of dollars in income to service bonds funding the transformation of our city. The plan is a practical investment in infrastructure that solves many problems – especially the desperate shortage of affordable housing and insultingly ugly quality of life inflicted upon city residents. It provides multi-billions worth of dollars for economic growth, thousands of decades-long construction jobs, and opportunities to construct affordable housing atop former highways. It will provide vast income once government sells newly created land above current highways to developers. It will be paid for with 30-year bonds and land sale revenues to service bonds. The plan will make our city friendlier to tourism, lifeblood of revenue. It is a win-win for all, from people in need of affordable housing to economic activity to making New York a more beautiful place to live in for the next 100 years.
Only Realistic Path: Pass by Referendum. There is a path forward in terms getting this enormous public works project started: make this a referendum. Do not leave it to City Hall or Albany. Politicians will torpedo it for various reasons. Let the public decide. Let the people decide, not corrupt politicians or people afraid to do anything bold. A referendum is the path forward. As Public Advocate I will promote a long-term vision. Let's make our city a remarkable place for all to live, learn and work. Below is a grand vision for a generational transformation of our city.
VISION 1: A WORLD-CLASS PENN STATION & NEW BUS STATION
New Penn Station. Old Penn Station, tragically razed in 1964, was a wonderful building and port of entry. Now, it is a sprawling, ugly basement of an arena for basketball and hockey. That generation of leaders betrayed us. The time has come to undo tragic errors of past. Old Penn Station was grand. We deserve this again. The plan involves a world-class building of splendor. It involves moving Madison Square Garden underground (or perhaps to its original location: Madison Ave.). Penn Station must not the basement of a basketball arena. Razing the original station was a monumental blunder. Let's correct this tragic error.
New Bus Station. Our bus station is ordinary and ugly as can be, a crowded, uncomfortable eyesore to the Broadway district. I propose a new station modeled after the original Penn Station and placing it closer to the current Penn Station for convenience of travelers. The new bus station will be a port of entry second to none, and will be designed to match Farley Post Office. The neighborhood will be rezoned to reflect an architectural approach of tradition and grandeur that will include hotels and malls of similar look. Further, an electric bus will connect Penn Station to the new bus station. Washington, D.C. has a unified rail/bus station with beauty, efficiency and ample space for eating and shopping: Union Station. This will be our model. Zoning will call for extensive greenery, malls, treed streets, and playgrounds all the way to the Hudson River. Roads taking buses to the Lincoln Tunnel will be put underground to ensure the area won't be filled with smog and ugly traffic. In place of the current bus station, we will build attractive housing earmarked for the middle class that by law will be affordable. We shall plan on a rezoned neighborhood that offers fine shopping near Broadway and quality housing. Land and air rights for the old bus station will be a windfall.
VISION 2: RIVER-TO-RIVER REINVENTION OF 34TH, 42ND & 125th STREETS
Following completion of a new Penn Station and bus station, a remake of 34th, 42nd and 125th streets will commence. Along riverfront build parks allowing access to waterfront that is attractive, instead of ugly gray concrete. Further, a new “tram-bus” (electric buses resembling trolleys) will be built from river to river with dedicated lanes for electric buses to keep costs reasonable. A “tram-bus” is an attractive, cost-efficient solution that avoids the expensive pitfalls of costly tracks. The streets will be vehicle-free. Shopping and eateries will pervade. The three major streets will be pedestrian shore-to-shore, with greenery, trees, shopping, outdoor sitting areas, and quick access to waterways and subways. The plan will especially help in redeveloping Harlem and the region. The city will zone for new museums (or relocate museums): a museum row focusing on American/New York history and the fine arts. In Harlem, the focus will be civil rights, jazz and urban art. Monuments to World Wars I-II, the Civil War and 9-11 will be erected. Efforts will be made to encourage the Smithsonian, in our capital, to participate. There are many ugly warehouses that can be converted for such purposes. The plan will create tourist attractions and an unprecedented centrality.
VISION 3: INCLUDE BROOKLYN & CONEY ISLAND IN TRANSFORMATION
Coney Island was once a sprawling seaside of fun for the middle classes. While an amusement park is still there, it is a shadow of its past glory. We must restore this lost glory and make Coney Island a place all New Yorkers and tourists want to visit. The plan will connect the newly rebuilt 34th, 42nd and 125th Streets to Coney Island through a ferry line along the East River during warm seasons. A rapid ferry will leave hourly, taking tourists and residents (at discount) to Coney Island in less than an hour. This will connect Manhattan, and therefore tourists, to a seaside recreational area that is currently neglected. This merging of Manhattan to Coney Island will encourage investors to rebuild Coney Island. It will be a giant step towards returning Coney Island to past glory, including razing eyesore housing projects that were once part of Coney Island. The ferry system may also connect to Yankee Station, Flushing Meadows Park (in summer), and the Bronx shores, to allow tourists to see parts of the city, and grant Bronx and Queens residents a new way to get to Manhattan.
VISION 4: UNDERGROUND HIGHWAYS & AFFORDABLE HOUSING
FDR Drive and the Henry Hudson highways ruined riverfront for generations. We must end this. The Greater Gateway Project (as we'll call it) expands the current Gateway plan for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River to a citywide urban project. It includes building tunnels for highways to transform Manhattan riverfront by putting the highways underground, making hundreds of acres available for low-rise affordable housing sprinkled with parks, playgrounds, and forestland - perhaps even zoos so children can explore nature instead of urban concrete. Northern Manhattan is a further example of wasted riverfront: rail/bus depots along water. It was archaic planning. Place all rail/bus yards underground and turn them into parks.
The Greater Gateway Project will mark an epic urban renewal accomplishing important goals: 1) solve the affordable housing crisis; 2) transform New York into a beautiful city of riverfront; 3) create an enormous economic engine providing thousands of construction jobs over a 25-year period; 4) grow the city economy by making our city a greater tourism destination providing a windfall of revenue well into the 21st century. Land rights above former highways will provide billions of dollars in revenue once sold to developers. This will help enormously towards serving the cost of bonds. And let's be clear: THE LAND, BY LAW, WILL BE SOLELY ZONED FOR MIDDLE CLASS HOUSING, NOT EXPENSIVE CONDOS.
Transform All Manhattan Waterfronts. With ugly highly replaced by tunnels, riverfront can be zoned solely for parks and affordable housing so city residents and tourists can enjoy beautiful riverfront squandered by past generations that built railroads and highways along rivers. Yes, some riverfront is parkland, especially in Northern Manhattan, but vast stretches are blocked or merely a narrow concrete walkway alongside noisy, ugly highways. This must change. The cost of underground highways will be paid for through 30-year bonds and land sales to developers. Developers will make money, but windfalls will NOT be allowed. They must pay their share in taxes. Fair pricing through market bids will be essential. Going over budget: contractor pays. Taking too long? Contractor is heavily penalized. Corruption and waste will be met with severe punitive fines.
New tunnels replacing highways will require extensive study as to ideal solutions satisfying 21st-Century standards, population growth, and overstressed subways. The underground highways need not be directly under the current ones. Could a single 10-lane highway merge two highways into a single, efficient highway to lower costs? Should an additional subway/tram line be included in the new tunnels to provide additional mass transit for overcrowded Manhattan subways? Taking into considering natural population growth and proposed creation of more housing in Manhattan and the Bronx (see the below Cross Bronx Expressway plan), more people will live in New York and we must anticipate the need for more subways to address population growth and ever-more crowded subways. We need a comprehensive plan anticipating future needs.
Learn from Boston “Big Dig”. Precedent for this project exists in Boston's Big Dig, which removed an ugly downtown highway, replacing it with tunnels and airport connections. Boston was transformed. A raised highway vanished, replaced by a park. Financing was shameful: corruption, waste, cost overruns, multi-year delays, poor work, water leaks. We must study the Boston project and avoid their errors. But we have a great advantage Boston did not have: we have experienced “hogs” crew with expertise in building tunnels. We must make sure work is done without waste and corruption typical of the past. As seen in the new 2nd Ave. subway tunnels, we have experts at tunneling to build new tunnels for highways. Once tunnels are ready for vehicle use, demolition of the ugly riverfront highways will begin and historic transformation will commence.
Increased Land Value. Government owns highway lands. Once tunnels replace the highways, land values will soar and government will be the recipient of this windfall. Such revenues will help service bonds. Half of the newly created land will be sold to developers to build affordable housing. The other half will be permanently zoned as park and forest land. Private developers will build the new affordable housing. Government will not bear that cost. Rather, government will be paid handsomely for land, offsetting the cost of tunneled highways. Land will be zoned half for affordable housing and half for parkland. Developers will have firm requirements in terms of high standards, beauty, elegant housing (perhaps modern-day brownstone architecture), and middle class affordability. We don't want yet more failing “NYCHAs.” Housing will not be government run or owned. It will be privatized, attractive, low-rise, and perhaps modern-day brownstone. No skyscrapers blocking river views. Some people will buy homes via a new Mitchell Lama program, but the majority of new housing will be rental. Let's get it right. NOTHING WILL BE ZONED FOR CONDOS FOR THE RICH -- NOTHING.
Decades-Long Jobs Creation. Decades of construction, with thousands of jobs created, will commence as miles of highways are transformed into a wonderful riverside mix of affordable housing, parks, grassland, schools, and forests. In stage two, the waterways of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn can be similarly transformed. It is a generational, citywide transformation that will take decades to complete. New York is currently built upon early 20th century thinking when pathetic insensitivity to living standards was prevalent. It's time we change all that and plan for the 21st Century.
VISION 5: RESTORATION OF BRONX SHORES & FLUSHING MEADOWS PARK
Flushing Meadows Park was once home to two splendid World Fairs. Now it is a backyard to a baseball and tennis stadium. Queens residents deserve better! Let's turn the park into a world-class park with pools and a water park – a place New Yorkers and Long Islanders can enjoy. Further, the Bronx shoreline wastes scenic waterways that should be used for enjoyment, not rail yards or roads. Rezoning shall restore riverfront for use by families and children. We can turn Bronx shores into lovely walkways, parks, shopping, and eating zones with trees, grass and playgrounds. Bronx residents deserve better than what is currently there.
VISION 6: UNDERGROUND CROSS BRONX EXPRESSWAY
All boroughs must benefit, not just Manhattan. Similar to the above plan, the Cross Bronx Expressway will be put in underground tunnels, providing ample land that will resolve the desperate need for affordable housing in the Bronx. The current ditch slicing the Bronx will instead become a 10-mile strip of parkland and new housing that, by law, will be solely for the poor and middle class. Land above the newly underground highway will provide enormous sums of money once sold to developers. Half of the land will be zoned for parks while hundreds of acres will be made available for affordable housing. Then-Park Commissioner Robert Moses created a connection to Long Island, but it led to the tragic ruin of the Bronx by putting a ditch smack in the middle of the borough. It destroyed neighborhoods and began a steady decline resulting in the notorious arson era of the 1970s. While the Bronx has recovered somewhat, the CBE legacy remains. Putting the eyesore underground can solve the affordable housing crisis and provide parks, playgrounds, and shopping. Long-divided neighborhoods will be reunited. Thousands of construction jobs will be created. It's a win-win for everyone. Queens and Staten Island highways could also be transformed. It may take 50 or more years, but there is a point: urban transformation must become the new norm in New York.
VISION 7: ELEGANT TRAMS, BXQ “TRAM-BUS” & 2ND AVE. SUBWAY TO BRONX
Car congestion and overcrowding in the Lexington line are notorious. Until 1952, New York had a 2nd Ave. “El” connecting the Bronx to southern Manhattan. Its removal without adequate replacement plagues us to this very day. The new 2nd Ave. subway plan must be revised to address overcrowding and population growth. It should extend through 125th St to the 149th-Grand Concourse and 138th-3rd Ave. stops where most major lines merge in the Bronx. Further, the Queens/Brooklyn BXQ plan is stalling due to huge cost. A simpler, far cheaper plan can achieve the same goal. Rather than costly rail, make it a “tram-bus” using purely electric buses elegantly resembling pre-World War II trams we once had (and for good reason!). There are lower cost options that improve transportation and encourage people to use “trams” instead of cars, Uber, etc. We can reach desired goals without huge cost. Our bus system can be made far more attractive and elegant, just as trams were in past. This savvy approach of creating elegant “tram-buses” can become a cost-conscious, citywide solution for mass transit expansion, subway overcrowding, and mounting vehicle congestion.
VISION 8: ON-TIME SUBWAYS & GRAND CENTRAL/PENN STATION LINK
While the MTA, city and state negotiate/squabble over funding the subway system, I provide a caution sign: prioritize on-time performance. Only once the system is reliable should we move on to station renovation, elevators, etc. New Yorkers are tough. We can deal with grime, but being later for work or job interviews is not acceptable! Fixing 1930s-era signals and slow service must be the clear priority. Further, a direct link between the key rail hubs is an error of omission that must be addressed. My proposal is tram-buses connecting the two - a quick electric tram/bus connecting the two in five minutes. It's a lot cheaper than rail. Traffic lights should be reprogrammed to speed up electric buses from 34th to 42nd Street.
VISION 9: CONGESTION, SOLAR POWER & CLEAN ENERGY
The MTA needs funding and we must encourage people to use subways. Cars must be discouraged and we will sooner accomplish that goal by ensuring subways are clean and reliable. Tolls at bridges below 90th will discourage driving. It's necessary. People justifying cause for using cars may apply for permits or toll credits. Fairness must be part of the plan. ALL tolls must fund the MTA. Further, over a 10-year period, let's refit street/traffic lights, walk signs, etc., to use solar power. While still connected to the electric grid, use solar energy and AI to minimize carbon-causing electric use. City programs must encourage solar energy. Require government offices to use solar panels and put batteries on roofs. All government vehicles must convert to hybrid and (when possible) pure electric power. Government must be a role model.
In sum, we need to invest in our city and not cling to errors made generations ago. We cannot allow our city to decline, for the cost of decline is far greater than the cost of improving. We must think big!