For $2.1 Billion, We Better Get Expos Up The Ying Yang

One station, $2.1 billion, to be funded by the city:

The city will pay $2.1 billion to build a single subway stop on the No. 7 train extension as part of its deal with the MTA to share a role in developing the West Side rail yards.

MTA board members yesterday unanimously approved a plan to auction the prime Manhattan real estate to the highest bidder that meets a set of yet-to-be-determined criteria set by the agency and the city.

Should the cost of extending the No. 7 train from Times Square west to 11th Avenue and down to 34th Street end up costing more than $2.1 billion, the MTA will be on the line for any overruns, officials said.

MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow said that despite arguing with the city over the particulars, the offer was hard to refuse.

“This is one of the few times we’re getting a project where we don’t borrow or use our own resources,” he said. “Our riders get an extension of their line at no cost to them.”

Under the current plan, the city will pay only for building the terminal station at 34th Street, not the second one originally planned for 41st Street and 10th Avenue.

Instead, a “shell” of a station will be built at 41st Street, in case the agency later decides the extra stop is necessary. Building that station would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

But Kalikow said the MTA decided the station isn’t needed now.

“This is a lot of money for one stop,” said Beverly Dolinksy, director the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. “The MTA and the riders are still going to be left hanging.”

And is it just me or does the Javits calendar look pretty busy already?