New York City‘s dirty, cramped 70-year-old Port Authority Bus Terminal is expected to get a majestic $10 billion replacement.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the terminal, unveiled a plan on Thursday to build the new facility mostly on top of the transit hub’s existing footprint.
The terminal, built in 1950, is both the largest bus station in the nation and the busiest in the world, according to the agency’s website.
It serves an estimated 260,000 passenger trips on a busy weekday before COVID-19 and is one of the most important transit hubs in the region.
Port Authority released renderings of plans for the new bus terminal, which could include four new skyscrapers
Proceeds from selling the rights to the new development of the new buildings would be used to partially fund the project
However, the notorious bus station, with its leaky ceilings and disgusting bathrooms, has long been criticized by New York commuters.
‘I’d rather drag my balls through a mile of barbed wire and broken glass than spend more than one nanosecond in the Port Authority bathroom,’ reads a Thrillist article from 2018.
However, the second-floor women’s bathroom has been hailed for its ‘salon-like atmosphere’ as scores of women use it to primp daily because of its bright lighting.
Late night talk show host John Oliver did a segment on Port Authority for his Last Week Tonight show in 2014, where he lampooned it as ‘the single worst place on planet earth.’
‘It’s a place where cockroaches run up to people screaming: “Please get me out of here, this place is disgusting”,’ Oliver quipped.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced new plans to rebuild its disgusting, ancient bus terminal
The notorious Port Authority Bus Terminal, built in 1950, has long been criticized by New York commuters
The bus terminal serves an estimated 260,000 passenger trips on a busy weekday
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the new bus terminal would ‘show New Yorkers and the world that New York is back, and the future is once again bright.’
‘The new Midtown Bus Terminal plan includes the complete rebuild of the main terminal at its current location with a nearly 40 percent increase in capacity for commuter and intercity buses,’ reads the press release.
The new plan also includes a storage and staging facility to reduce congestion and foot traffic, and to respond to requests from the community for increased public green space.
Port Authority said that plans would increase capacity for buses by 40 percent
Port Authority’s second-floor women’s bathroom has previously been hailed for its ‘salon-like atmosphere’ because of its bright lighting
Port Authority Bus Terminal is both the largest bus station in the nation and the busiest in the world
It would also include up to four new high-rise towers, the plan reads, of which proceeds from selling the rights to develop would be used to partially fund the project.
The agency said that $3 billion has already been earmarked for the project in its 2017-2026 Capital Plan.
Other funding may come from Federal Transit Administration programs and payments in lieu of taxes that would otherwise be paid to the city.
‘From day one, the construction of a new Port Authority Bus Terminal that meets the needs of New Jersey’s commuters and delivers a 21st century, world-class facility has been a top priority for my Administration,’ said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
The Port Authority recently opened its new Moynihan Train Hall in New York City’s Penn Station.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has been mocked online after he opened a new $1.6 billion train hall in New York City with a theatrical press briefing (above) while urging people not to travel and spread COVID-19
The public got a first look at the $1.6 billion and 255,000 square-foot train hall, named after late US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
The outside of the new hall. Cuomo said the city had surpassed all expectations of skeptics to deliver this ‘breathtaking’ train hall on time
The $1.6 billion project and has been in construction since 2017, when Cuomo approved the project that officials have talked about for decades.
Cuomo’s senior adviser Rich Azzopardi told DailyMail.com he did not believe opening the train hall at a time when New Yorkers are being told not to travel because of the coronavirus pandemic sends mixed messages.
‘The project has been 25 years in the making and we said we would have it by the end of the year and we have done it by the end of the year,’ he said.
The 255,000 square-foot train hall, named after late US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Cuomo held a briefing Wednesday at the new Moynihan Train Hall in New York City’s Penn Station (above), where he cut the ribbon with giant scissors, regaled how it was a moment for ‘our children’s children’ and declared that the skylight in the new hall ‘literally and figuratively brings the light’ to the Big Apple after a dark year
It officially opened for business on January 1 and serves Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road passengers.
It was designed to provide more space for the notoriously congested transit hub of Penn Station which, prior to the pandemic, welcomed 650,000 through its doors each day.
As well as a 92-foot-high skylight, it also features art installations by Kehinde Wiley, Stan Douglas and Elmgreen & Dragset and a nursing room for new mothers.