Governor Supports New Tunnel

A study recommending building a new tunnel under the East River between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan to create a direct link between the World Trade Center site and the Long Island Rail Road's Jamaica Station.

The new tunnel would allow for a 40 percent faster commute from Jamaica for Long Island commuters and would provide a one-seat ride to the John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. The study was conducted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

The new tunnel will carry a ridership of up to 100,000 passengers a day and will cost approximately $6 billion. It is projected that the rail link will result in an increased economic output of $6 to $8 billion annually, generated in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and as much as $9 billion to $12 billion in the region as a whole. The service can be operational by 2013 with construction starting in 2006.

A full assessment of the issues that need to be addressed prior to the implementation of a new service will be evaluated in the formal environmental review process that will commence this summer.

PA Has Record Year

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey completed a record $1.07 billion in construction projects in 2003. The agency also awarded $465 million in new construction contracts during the year.

Completed construction of Port Authority facilities increased by $70 million over 2002. Major accomplishments for the year included restoration of service at the World Trade Center and Exchange Place PATH stations and the debut of AirTrain at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Additional project highlights for 2003 included rehabilitation and repainting of the Outerbridge Crossing. Contracts also were awarded for airside improvements at Newark Airport in New Jersey and improvements at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan.

Power Plant Gets Financing

Astoria Energy LLC has closed on $983 million in financing for construction of New York City's largest new power plant in more than 25 years.

Construction of the project began immediately, with commercial production projected for April 2006. The Astoria Energy plant will use state-of-the-art natural gas, combined cycle gas turbines to produce 500 megawatts of electricity in its first phase, which represents approximately 5 percent of the city's peak power requirements.

The Astoria Energy project was conceived in 1999 and, in addition to a host of permits and approvals, received formal approval for a 1,000-megawatt facility from the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment in November 2001. The project is located on a 23-acre site in northwest Queens and is approximately 3,000 ft. from the Astoria substation complex owned by Consolidated Edison Company of New York to which the new plant will interconnect for transmission of the electricity that it will generate.

Staten Island Rail Service to be Restored

Rail service to Howland Hook Marine Terminal and other areas of Staten Island will be restored for the first time in a decade.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved an agreement with the New York City Economic Development Corporation to fund portions of the construction required to restore service. The Port Authority will provide $32 million toward construction of certain areas along the Staten Island Railroad, including in New York City's Arlington Yard rail terminal and along the tracks leading to the Arthur Kill lift bridge.

The railroad was abandoned by its previous operator in the 1990s. New York City obtained federal funding to restore the New York portion of the rail line, including the lift bridge that spans the Arthur Kill parallel to the Goethals Bridge. The Port Authority is constructing a new connection from the Staten Island Railroad to the Norfolk Southern/CSX Chemical Coast Line in New Jersey. The railroad will serve New York City's Arlington Yard and a new intermodal rail terminal the Port Authority is building on the site of the former Procter and Gamble factory. The rail line also will extend south to the Travis neighborhood to serve commercial and manufacturing activities on the west shore of Staten Island.