Eastern Consolidated in the Press

EASTERN CONSOLIDATED IN THE PRESS

AS APPEARED IN THE COMMERCIAL OBSERVER ON AUGUST 12, 2015

A Metrocard and A Dream

By: Adelaide Polsinelli Street and Th ird Avenue with new stations along Second Whenever I speak to investors, Avenue at East 96th, East they cite a property’s proximity 86th and East 72nd Streets to public transportation as part and new entrances to the of their rationale for buying a existing Lexington Avenue/ building or developing a site in East 63rd Street Station on a particular neighborhood. Third Avenue.

They note that since the crime In exchange for a rezoning rate in the outer boroughs that will allow a 65-story o ffi has plummeted by nearly ce tower at 1 Vanderbilt, SL 80 percent since 1990, Green has agreed to invest individuals priced out of one Bushwick Avenue-Aberdeen Avenue and West 34th Street $210 million to upgrade community are willing to travel Street Station (11.5 percent), is now scheduled to open Grand Central Terminal’s farther out on their subway Wilson Avenue Station (9.9 next month. Not only will the overcrowded subway hub. line to find affordable housing. percent), and Jefferson Street new line open up access to o Th e proposal includes Station (9.3 percent). ffi ces, residences, hotels and three new staircases to In fact, subway ridership is retail in Hudson Yards, but it subway platforms, two new at its highest level since New New York City grew by nearly will enable riders in Flushing street-level entrances and a York City’s post-World War 316,000 people between and other neighborhoods in renovated mezzanine, and II boom with the greatest 2010 and 2014, Census Queens to reach the Far West a 4,000-square-foot waiting percentage jump in ridership in figures show, bringing the Side of Manhattan without area. neighborhoods like Bushwick population to 8.5 million and even changing trains. and Long Island City that are putting pressure on a subway Th e new Fulton Center at the seeing a spike in residential system that serves over 2.4 Phase 1 of the Second Avenue corner of Fulton Street and development and population billion riders annually on 24 Subway, which is slated for Broadway opened last year growth, according to the subway lines traveling on a completion in December bringing a modern, light-fi lled Metropolitan Transportation network of 659 miles of track. 2016, will improve com- structure to Lower Manhattan Authority. muting on the Upper East Side and replacing what had been To accommodate this by relieving congestion on the a dark and dingy station. Up Along the L line, for example, growth, city and state officials packed 4 and 5 trains and to 300,000 daily commuters the Bedford Avenue station are making a number of make properties east of Third now have improved subway in Williamsburg saw 27,224 capital improvements to our Avenue more desirable for access to the 11 trains that average weekday customers transportation network and renters, buyers and investors. converge at the station—the last year, more than any other rolling out new projects. Th e The first phase is expected 4/5, A/C, J/Z, 2/3, R, 1 and E. station on the L line. But the MTA recently announced that to serve 200,000 riders largest weekday percentage the long-awaited 7 train line daily and will include tunnels When it’s completed, the increases actually oc-curred extension from Times Square from East 105th Street and 800,000-square-foot, World farther east on the L line at the to a new station at 11th Second Avenue to East 63rd Trade Center Transportation

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Hub will improve the daily commute for Together all of these projects illustrate over 200,000 workers who have been how public transportation in New York negotiating the construction site for more City is and will always be a value enhancer than a decade. Th e concourse will be the when it comes to commercial real estate, most integrated network of underground job creation, and development. pedestrian connections in New York City and connect to the 11 subway lines in - Adelaide Polsinelli is Principal and the Fulton Center, the Port Authority Senior Managing Director for Eastern Trans-Hudson (PATH) rail system, Battery Consolidated. Park City Ferry Terminal, the World Trade Center Memorial Site, WTC Towers 1, 2, 3 and 4, the World Financial Center and the Winter Garden.

One of the most interesting new initiatives is in the Bronx. A proposal to add four new Metro-North stations at Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester and Hunts Point gained momentum when Gov. Andrew Cuomo came out fi rmly in support of the project by including $250 million for it in the 2015-16 state budget. Th e four new stations will reduce commuting times by extending rail access to over 93,000 residents from the eastern section of the Bronx, provide easy access to jobs up and down the New Haven line and to Penn Station, and serve one of the largest concentrations of medical facilities in the United States at the Morris Park station.

Finally, the F train station on Roosevelt Island has made possible the transformation of this once secluded and curious enclave into a future beacon for technology with the groundbreaking of Cornell-Tech’s new world-renowned campus.