No Land Grab

Regional Plan Association Statement

While RPA strongly supports an open bidding process for the MTA's western rail yard, the process proposed yesterday is fatally flawed. By requiring bidders to assume that the current, outdated zoning remains in place, the process will make it impossible for the site to support its "highest and best" use or for the MTA to receive fair market value for the site. The MTA's own appraisal of the site assumes an override of the low-density manufacturing use to allow for valuable high-density, mixed use development. The appraisal assumption is perfectly reasonable considering that the land surrounding the site, including the eastern half of the MTA's property, is being rezoned for dense office and residential uses. With the City declaring that it will not entertain any rezoning of the site, and with silence from the State, which has the power to override City zoning, it is highly unlikely that any developer will bid on the site.

By not assuming the necessary zoning override, the State and the MTA are artificially deflating the site's value. By contrast, the Jets have already been promised a zoning override and are receiving $375 million in state and city subsidy to build a platform over the Yards, a subsidy that is not being offered to any other bidder. Under these rigged conditions, the Jets may be the only bidder. This is clearly not a true open bidding process. The only way to ensure that the taxpayers and straphangers of New York receive full value for this important asset is to provide a level playing field for all bidders, ensuring the winning bidder that the State will support its project with the necessary agreements and zoning changes. We urge the MTA and the Empire State Development Corporation to provide these assurances before the Request for Proposals is finalized.

--Robert D. Yaro, President