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We Must Renovate The Javits Center Before We Can Destroy It
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 16, 2012
Modified Jan 16, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 16, 2012
Modified Jan 16, 2012
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During his State of the State address, Governor Cuomo unveiled a bold plan to build America's biggest convention center out in Jamaica Queens, and tear down the Javits Center, making way for more commercial and residential development by the Hudson River. Cuomo and others believe the Javits Center is too small and too old to remain competitive in a tight convention market, and it would be better to tear it down and lease the land to developers. Too bad taxpayers are shelling out a big chunk of the $463 million currently being spent to renovate and expand the place.
But even if Cuomo gets his Queens monorail convention center, Javits Center boosters say it's still worth going through with the renovations, which are expected to be competed next year and include structural improvements to the roof, as well as changes to reduce the center's environmental impact. "This is essential work," Austin Shafran, spokesman for the Empire State Development Corp., tells the Post. (If you initially misread "work" as "pork," you're not alone.) "Finishing this work will allow Javits to hold on to the business it has and be an acceptable facility while it still stands."
Of course, it's far from certain that the Queens convention center will ever be built. The Malaysian company that would pay for the construction is demanding, in exchange, the exclusive rights to operate non-Indian reservation casinos throughout New York State, but there's no guarantee Albany will approve it. And other critics say Cuomo is insane to expect so much from a convention center in the first place. "Convention centers all over the country are money-losing white elephants," E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute tells CBS 2. "So basically what the governor is saying is that we ought to build the nation’s largest money-losing white elephant in New York City." Well come on, are we really going to let Illinois have the biggest elephant?
Tagged
casinos
convention centers
gambling
governor cuomo
javits center
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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