War Of Words Breaks Out Over Port Authority Bus Terminal Redevelopment Plans
Several high-ranking New Jersey Democrats say Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio are consciously trying to stall construction of a new bus terminal in Midtown.
New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney and other Democrats have asked Port Authority commissioners to block adoption of the bi-state agency’s proposed capital plan if the board doesn’t earmark $70M toward a study to design and plan the new terminal, Politico reports. In classic New Jersey fashion, Sweeney didn’t mince words.
“We’re here today to continue to call on New York to stop messing around and stop jerking us off, to move forward quickly with the study,” Sweeney said at a press conference in Trenton Monday.
Sweeney said he planned to ask for a meeting with de Blasio’s office to address the matter. Feathers have apparently been ruffled on both sides of the aisle in Trenton. Senate Republican leader Tom Kean Jr. has also released a statement expressing impatience with the the process of plans for a new bus station.
A letter from a de Blasio administration official to the Port Authority, sent last week, called for a “tiered” environmental review that could let the agency change plans for the site as the review is conducted.
Within days, a letter calling for the same approach was sent to the Port Authority by a group of elected officials, led by Rep. Jerry Nadler (whose district the bus terminal site falls within).
