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Opponents of ex-Gov. Cuomo’s extravagant plan to build 10 skyscrapers around Penn Station hope the stars are aligning for them.
Cuomo was charged Thursday with groping a former aide in Albany’s Executive Mansion — a crime that could land him in jail for a year if convicted.
It’s potentially another blow for his proposed multi-billion dollar Empire Station Complex — the biggest land-use proposal in Manhattan, which many people in the Midtown area didn’t even know about until last spring.
The project is reportedly under “executive review” by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration, which is being lobbied heavily by real estate interests, sources said.
“Hochul is trying to disassociate herself with some of these Cuomo projects,” said one insider who spoke on condition of anonymity. “She already killed his ($2.1 billion) Airtrain plan and this is way bigger.”
So far, Empire State Development (ESD), the state agency in charge of the project, has not responded to modifications suggested in a 27-page report submitted by a community advisory committee in August.
The report would reduce permissible density of some new buildings, put several condemnations on hold and include more public space.
Opponents have long made it clear that they want Penn Station to be renovated and modernized — but are suspicious about ESD’s plan to allow Steven Roth’s Vornado Realty to build 10 towers in the area in return for funding for Penn Station’s upgrade.
“This needs to be a transit project; not a real estate scheme,” State Sen. Brad Hoylman told The Post.
Economic development groups, including the Hotel Trades Council, have urged Hochul to proceed with the overall ESD plan.
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