NJ Lawmakers: Time To Move Forward With New Port Authority Bus Terminal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Port Authority Bus Terminal is a "Third World transportation system," New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney says.
Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Sens. Bob Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, and Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, visited the Manhattan facility Tuesday to push for a new bus terminal, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported. The issue is stuck in the study phase.
New Jersey lawmakers want action. Some New York commissioners on the Port Authority board, however, want more time to analyze the options.
Sweeney, who had a pigeon buzz by his head on the third floor of the terminal Tuesday, said time is running out. He called the 65-year-old maze of a building "dysfunctional."
"We expect ridership to double by 2040 at the bus terminal, from 120,000 people each way to 240,000," Sweeney told Adams. "It's not going to work in the location it's at."
"This is an infrastructure project that benefits the entire region," Gordon added. "New Jerseyans represent more than 10 percent of the workforce in Manhattan. All those people are spending money in New York."
There are five proposals. Three would cost $10 billion or more. One would move the bus terminal one block west.
There is no consensus among Port Authority commissioners. They will meet again next week.