Welcome to Curbed Cuts, a tri-weekly digest connecting the dots between shelter, structure, parks, transportation, and more.
Countdown to the “summer of hell”
We’re just a few days out from when Amtrak will begin its planned track work on the aging tracks beneath the Hudson River, with the so-called “summer of hell” kicking off on July 10. And one of the ways that the rail organization will mitigate the effects of that work—which will close some of Penn Station’s tracks for close to six weeks—is by diverting some of its trains to nearby Grand Central Terminal.
Amtrak announced on Monday that three of its round-trip Empire Service trains (so six trains total) will travel between Albany’s train station and Grand Central Terminal, rather than Penn Station itself. (h/t New York Post) Those changes, which Amtrak officials have been mulling since the spring, will be in addition to the previously-announced cancellation of some Northeast Regional trains, as well as changes to service on the Keystone, Adirondack, and Maple Leaf service trains.
But will it actually make Penn any less hellish for those six weeks? That, alas, remains to be seen.
DOT takes a step back from the Gateway Project
Speaking of Penn Station’s woes, a possibly-not-so-great development in the Gateway Tunnel project came this week, when the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it would “permanently withdraw” from the board of the Gateway Program Development Corporation. The DOT’s withdrawal “underscores the department’s commitment to ensuring there is no appearance of prejudice or partiality in favor of these projects ahead of hundreds of other projects nationwide,” a spokesperson for DOT told the Wall Street Journal.
The Department of Transportation made up one fourth of the Gateway Program Development Corporation, whose remaining members include one representative each from New York and New Jersey, and one representative from Amtrak. The corporation was created “to allow the agencies involved in Gateway to consider a variety of funding structures that might not have been possible through conventional channels,” the Journal notes.
How DOT’s withdrawal from the board will affect the project is unclear, but the project’s already failing to meet deadlines. A draft environmental impact statement was supposed to be published on Friday, but DOT has delayed its release.
The former St. Vincent’s gets another medical facility
When St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village closed to make way for the schmancy condos of the Greenwich Lane, the community was not so psyched on losing one of the few remaining hospitals in the area (and gaining about a bajillion luxury condos.)
Now there’s a bit of good news for both new and old community members: The developers behind The Greenwich Lane have inked a deal with Northwell Health to open another medical facility on site, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s not a hospital, but it’s something.
The facility is expected to open in 2018 and will provide specialty care including cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, and ear-nose-and-throat. As a part of The Greenwich Lane conversion, the O’Toole Building was converted into an emergency medical facility.