The never-ending saga that is the Javits Center expansion planning process has taken another turn, as state officials now want to extend the convention center northward two blocks to West 40th Street.At a state board meeting today with an unusual amount of open disagreement, Empire State Development Corporation officials unveiled a set of preliminary plans for an expansion and major renovation of the 22-year-old facility at an estimated cost of $1.8 billion, $200 million more than is currently budgeted for an earlier plan.
Now almost a year since the Spitzer administration decided, after a year of planning, to scrap a large expansion plan and instead do a renovation and small expansion, ESDC officials told the board of the Convention Center Development Corporation that they were nearing approval for the first of two phases for the project.
In Another Shift, State Wants to Expand Javits to 40th Street
4 comments:
This is stupid. The Javits Center isn't doing all that well as far as occupancy. Many trade shows and conventions are scaling back, as they have been for several years.
Javits was known for years as one of the most expensive centers for vendors because of all the piddly-shit expenses that the unions would hit them up for. Vendors weren't allowed to carry in their own boxes and and at the height of their mess in the early 90s, they couldn't even carry in their own briefcases and laptops, a union member had to carry those items onto the showroom floors for a fee.
That changed a little in the later 90s, but now it's back in full force. There are convention committees that avoid Javits like the plague.
Clean that up a bit, and then maybe there'll be some business to expand the center for.
How about those 5 convention centers planned for Queens?
The influx of convention centers and hotels in Queens is also ridiculous. Although the rates are sure to be cheaper than Manhattan, what happens when the Manhattan places drop their prices to bring in the business?
The hotels are sure to become welfare dumps.
The original plan was to expand Northwards - 2 blocks.
Like ground zero, this project had twisted in the wind for years while conventions bypassed the current venue as being too small. This is a vital project to visitors industry - get going already.
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