The $4 Billion Train Station

The small PATH subway system that runs between northern New Jersey and two stops in Manhattan has stations that could be described fairly as the dingier step-brothers of New York's MTA subway stops.

That should change a bit later this year, though, when the new PATH station opens at the World Trade Center.  The old stop was destroyed in the 9/11 bombings, and the new hub will be pretty jazzy, judging from the look of it.

Twelve years ago, officials selected a design by famed architect Sergio Calatrava for the new station.  He was inspired by the idea of a child releasing a bird, as seen below.  The cost was estimated at $2.2 billion, and its opening date was set for sometime in 2009.

Later, according to Stephen J. Smith of nextcity.org, the plan was scaled back.

"The light and airy bird-like structure with a retractable roof simulating flight was value-engineered down, its wings rendered immobile and its rib-like supports doubled, leading to a heavier-looking structure."   

You can see the result below.

Wags say the thing now looks more like a stegasaurus, or a "Calatrasaurus," after the architect, who is known for graceful white designs and massive cost overruns.  

Meanwhile, nearby, ground was broken on One World Trade Center in 2006.  Known as the Freedom Tower, its cost was estimated initially at $3 billion and then rose to $3.9 billion.  The shimmering tower, tallest in the country, opened in November. 

Back to the train hub, which will include a huge retail space and a $100 million hallway that is brighter, and no doubt bigger, than a baroque cathedral.  The project's total cost has risen to $4 billion.

People now are wondering where all that money went.  A post by The Angry Architect on the architizer.com website explains.

"To put that into perspective . . . this train station will cost more than the tallest all-office building in the western hemisphere.  Couple this with the fact that the station is not even one of the top 10 busiest stations in the city . . . and you begin to wonder who was in charge of the feasibility report, if anyone at all." 

Another complaint is that the new construction missed an opportunity by not adding a short tunnel to connect the PATH hub with the NY subway station at the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge.   

Port Authority

Tempting as it is to blame the architect, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey probably deserves the greater portion of responsibility for the ridiculous cost.

Even at that, assigning credit for the station would be impossible.

The PA is an enormous, murky agency.  It operates three airports, the biggest shipping operations on the East Coast, six bridges and tunnels, the PATH train system and the World Trade Center.  Its annual budget is more than $8 billion.

New York and New Jersey share responsibility for the PA, with each state's governor wielding a great deal of influence.  The governors like it that way.  Each selects a senior official for the PA, and in the time since the PATH station was planned, both states have changed governors and both governors have replaced their executives.  The system almost seems designed to accommodate political capture.