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Yesterday, New York's Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) released the environmental scoping document for the Moynihan Station project, a sweeping public transit plan to recreate the legendary Pennsylvania Station demolished in 1963. The release of the document, which outlines plans for the new transportation center and the private development that would accompany it, represents the first step in the project's public review process.

ESDC is developing the project in partnership with New York City. Project constituents include Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA Long Island Rail Road, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, United States Postal Service (USPS) and Madison Square Garden (MSG).

The project calls for building a new Moynihan Station within the James A. Farley Post Office, which ESDC acquired in March from USPS, and constructing a new MSG within Farley’s western annex. The scoping document offers two plan options: create a 1.1-million-square-foot, predominantly retail development on the site, and disperse the remaining 4.3 million square feet of development rights into a new zoning sub-district surrounding the Penn Station complex; or create the entire development remaining on the Penn Station site in the form of two new towers over a retail and commercial podium. The first option would minimize construction within and over the operating railroad station, ESDC said.

The project would be completed in two phases. Phase I (2008 to 2011) includes the development of the new train station at Farley, the construction of the new MSG, the redevelopment of the block between 33rd and 34th streets and Seventh and Eight avenues, and potential utilization within the sub-district of development rights transferred from the Penn Station block. One and Two Penn Plaza would remain in place. Phase II (2012 to 2018) includes the construction of a new Penn Station, and the development of the remaining development square footage.

The public transportation improvements would be subsidized by private development, ESDC said in a prepared statement. The public train station portion likely would be funded by the private developers, as well as contributions from the state, city and federal governments, ESDC added.

"From the moment passengers step on the platform to the moment they see the natural light cascading through the soaring ceilings, we believe this new station — as currently envisioned — will alter the way people experience rail travel in New York," said Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Alexander Kummant.

Added MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander: "The future of Penn Station is critical to the MTA's aspirations for greater regional connectivity, and this project is an historic opportunity to enhance access to our train levels, enlarge our waiting areas, decongest our corridors, and create a grander space and a new surface presence."

And this from NJ Transit Executive Director Richard Sarles: "The new Moynihan Station and NJ Transit's new 34th Street station as part of the Access to the Regions Core project will give us room to accommodate forecasted ridership growth and provide New Jersey commuters with better access to train platforms and the street."

ESDC will hold a public scoping session on Dec. 6, and members of the public can comment on the scope through Dec. 17.