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Transportation & Environment
CB5 Comment on the Port Authority Bus Terminal Replacement Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, March 14, 2024, the following resolution passed with a vote of 39 in favor; 1 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, Community Board Five reviewed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Port Authority Bus Terminal Replacement Project and discussed the merits and implications of the Proposed Project on the neighborhood of Community Board Five; and
WHEREAS, The Proposed Project is led by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) and began with two principal purposes: 1) to address an aging, increasingly obsolete facility that is costly to fix, inefficient to operate, and unable to accommodate existing or future bus size, weight, and technology, and 2) to meet forecasted year 2040 bus ridership for trans-Hudson commuters and intercity bus passengers for services projected to be currently operating within the Port Authority Bus Terminal; and
WHEREAS, The Project’s Environmental Review began in 2019 with an initial planning-level scoping process, before progressing through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and comment periods in 2021 and to the release of the DEIS on February 2, 2024; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five submitted testimony on the Draft Scoping Document for the Port Authority Bus Terminal Replacement Project on September 13, 2019, acknowledging the facility’s challenges, expressing support for Community Board Four’s concerns and preference to “build in place,” and calling for additional demands, including sufficient storage and staging space for the purposes of meeting long-term intercity bus demand and reducing congestion and pollution; further study of the West Midtown Transit Corridor, traffic, and bus services; direct and substantial links to the subway; and conformance to the highest environmental standards; and
WHEREAS, In response to community feedback during the planning-level scoping process, the Project’s purpose expanded with a number of enhancements, which include new capacity to accommodate curbside intercity buses, new bus staging and storage capacity to prevent buses from circling on the street before terminal entry, new open spaces, new concessions and sidewalk amenities accessible from both indoors and outdoors, and improved facades to enhance the visual quality of the facility and better integrate the facility with the neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, PANYNJ established six goals and supporting objectives to address the principal purpose and need, which are: 1) Improve trans-Hudson bus operations, 2) Improve passenger experience within Terminal, 3) Provide seamless passenger accessibility, 4) Strive to achieve consistency with land use plans/initiatives, 5) Develop project that optimizes life-cycle costs, and 6) Reduce impacts of bus services on environment; and
WHEREAS, In a community information session held on February 6, 2024, PANYNJ presented four areas of project deliverables, which are: 1) an elevated public realm that includes an improved streetscape and 3.5 acres of new open space, 2) an enhanced user experience featuring a unified atrium lobby with better connectivity, accessibility, and wayfinding, located in place of what is currently 41st Street, which will be closed, 3) improved vehicular and pedestrian flow, resulting from the new storage and staging facility, and 4) a green energy transition, featuring electric bus fleets and a sustainability-certified facility that will contribute towards the agency’s net zero emissions goals; and
WHEREAS, The Proposed Project, also known as “The Locally Preferred Alternative,” evolved from the original “Build-in-Place Alternative,” which consisted of a new terminal and ramps built in the same footprint of the existing terminal, and the subsequent “Enhanced Build-in-Place Alternative,” which incorporated a Storage and Staging Facility (SSF) to remove buses from the streets and private development to offset costs, designed consistent with community feedback and consisting of up to approximately 7.3 million gross square feet of commercial space on Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Avenues and 900,000 gross square feet of mixed-use (retail/residential) space on Tenth Avenue, keeping with present as-of-right zoning; and
WHEREAS, With additional community consultation, the Proposed Project to-date evolved to remove the private development on Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, as a tradeoff for accommodating more buses from the streets and keeping construction contained on PANYNJ-owned property, thus avoiding the displacement of residences, businesses, and community facilities, the shadows cast upon them, and increased construction time and costs; and
WHEREAS, Construction will occur in three main phases: Phase 1, which will take place between 2024 to 2028 and include the construction of the Dyer Deck-Overs, Storage and Staging Facility, and Ramps to operate as a temporary terminal and storage facility as the Main Terminal is demolished and built out, Phase 2, which will take place between 2028 to 2032 and involve reconstruction of the Main Terminal, and Phase 3, which will occur by 2040 and see the construction of the planned private development, as well as the conversion of the Dyer Deck-Overs to open space for the community; and
WHEREAS, The Proposed Project is projected to cost about $10 billion and be half-funded through two five-year Capital Plans from the Port Authority, with the remaining funds potentially coming from Federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan support, rent from future private development, and Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreements with the City of New York, in a manner similar to how Moynihan Train Hall was funded; and
WHEREAS, The DEIS compared the Locally Preferred Alternative with the non-viable “No Action Alternative,” which would repair the facility and enable it to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but consequently would reduce the facility’s capacity by approximately 27% and make it impossible to meet projected 2040 ridership demand; and
WHEREAS, The DEIS found that the Locally Preferred Alternative is expected to have no significant adverse impact in the areas of Land Use, Zoning, and Public Policy; Socioeconomic Conditions; Natural Resources; Hazardous Materials; Air Quality; Noise and Vibration; Utilities and Infrastructure; and Safety and Security; and
WHEREAS, The DEIS found that the Locally Preferred Alternative is expected to have some negative impact in the area of Historic and Cultural Resources, and significant impact in the area of Construction; and
WHEREAS, The DEIS found that the Locally Preferred Alternative is expected to have a positive impact in the areas of Environmental Justice and Transportation, as a result of building a world-class transportation hub to better service commuters from across the region; and
WHEREAS, The Locally Preferred Alternative therefore is expected to have a net positive impact overall, especially when compared with the No Action Alternative; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five understands that the Port Authority Bus Terminal is wholly located in Community District Four and wishes to respect the district’s concerns regarding the Project construction and mitigation of its various impacts, as well as the district’s desire for certain aspects of the plan to be subject to the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP); and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five is aware that eastbound traffic from the Terminal has the potential to impact our streets and is anticipating seeing and understanding the effects of removing curbside bus operations from our district, if achieved by 2032 as planned; and
WHEREAS, Community Board Five is pleased that the Project plan has evolved to accommodate curbside bus operations and hopes that PANYNJ will continue to work closely with the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) to ensure intercity buses will be taken off the streets permanently and space in the Terminal will be utilized in an operationally efficient manner; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five supports the Port Authority Bus Terminal Replacement Project Plan as described in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.