Senator Thomas K. Duane And West Side Community Hail Mta Decision To Make Public Proposals For West Side Railyards Development

Senator Thomas K. Duane (D-WFP Manhattan) today applauded the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and its Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Elliot Sander, for its decision to make public significant design portions of the recently-submitted responses to the Request for Proposals ("RFP") for the development of the West Side Railyards. Senator Duane was the first to request some form of public presentation of these responses in an August 7, 2007 letter to Executive Director Sander, and has been working with the MTA ever since to realize this goal.

"I am pleased that the MTA is going to make public these proposals, which I expect to be of world-class quality and of much interest to stakeholders throughout the City and State, as well as surrounding neighborhoods. This decision is yet another example of the MTA's new commitment to transparency and public outreach," Senator Duane said in response to today's announcement.

Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (D-WFP Manhattan), in whose district the Railyards also lie and who has also been a leader in requesting that the MTA make the proposals public, said, "Extraordinarily important land use decisions are being made here. The public is entitled to see what is being considered and to have input. The MTA is taking a major step for good government."

Senator Duane acknowledged that the proposals will go through a series of examinations by the MTA and the Hudson Yards Development Corporation, which could lead to amendments to the proposals, and that the final details of the process and the format of the public presentation are yet to be worked out.

Senator Duane commented, "The MTA just received the bids, and this process will be a dynamic one. We will continue to work with the new MTA administration to determine a mutually satisfactory means by which the pertinent information will be disclosed."