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CRAINSNEWYORK.COM I APRIL 22, 2024
SUBWAY & RETAIL
Midtown skyscraper ‘becoming a reality,’ Adams says
s o s
Ken Griffin, Vornado’s 350 Park Ave. tower to begin public review By Nick Garber
RETAIL
DERAILED
Above: Closed retail on the subway mezzanine at Eighth Avenue in Times Square Below: The subway concourse of Grand Central Terminal in the 1960s with signs for retail stores hanging from the ceiling and stores lining the right side of the concourse | BUCK ENNIS, COURTESY OF NEW YORK TRANSIT MUSEUM
The Midtown office skyscraper long planned by Vornado Realty Trust, the development firm Rudin and hedge fund magnate Ken Griffin “is finally becoming a reality,” Mayor Eric Adams announced April 16. The tower at 350 Park Ave., in the works for years, is now ready to begin a public review by early 2025, according to Adams’ office. Thanks to more than $240 million in air-rights purchases from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church, the tower is now expected to stand 62 stories and span 1.8 million square feet, larger than the developers had previously indicated. Adams’ announcement, made before an audience of business leaders at an Association for a Better New York breakfast, signals his administration’s hopes for a return of
The MTA is struggling to fix the dead mall under NYC: More than 80% of the subway’s former retail spaces are vacant, setting an eerie tone for riders. | By Caroline Spivack DESCEND INTO THE 42ND STREET STATION AT the Port Authority Bus Terminal, walk the lengthy mezzanine under Eighth Avenue, and the first thing you’ll likely notice is the blight of more than a dozen shuttered shops. Shelves that once held items for sale lay strewn behind glass storefronts. A former newsstand with a tiered candy kiosk is caked in grime. Stacked buckets of construction sealant peek from behind a haphazardly papered-over shop window. The scene is very different compared to
much of the 20th century when newsstands, candy stores and shoe-shine shops peddled goods and services to commuters navigating packed subway mezzanines and platforms. Today, a staggering 83% of the subway spaces that in 2019 could have hosted retail are vacant or have been repurposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, quietly helping to fuel the perception that the system is desolate and dangerous. Only 57 of 195 available shop spaces host tenants;
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another 17 are under construction and 30 more are in contract negotiations, according to the MTA. The authority’s real estate team said it has taken dozens of the more tricky-to-fill spaces offline for storage and other internal uses. In March 2019, the MTA said it had 326 active retail spaces in the system, and roughly 130 of those, or 40%, were vacant at the time. Based on the 2019 figure, just 17% of subway shop spaces are See RETAIL on Page 13
57 of 195 available shop spaces host tenants; another 17 are under construction and 30 more are in contract negotiations.
SOURCE: MTA
Mayor Eric Adams showed new renderings of the planned tower at 350 Park Ave. and announced the start of its public review at an Association for a Better New York breakfast on April 16. ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE.
VOL. 40, NO. 16 l COPYRIGHT 2024 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
DINING Michelin adds 10 new restaurants to its NYC guide. PAGE 3
GOTHAM GIG Former New York Giants star turns his focus from football to fashion. PAGE 23
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