Megan Wylie
1:55:35
Good afternoon, chair Riley and council members.
1:55:37
And thank you for the opportunity to speak to the zoning and franchises today.
1:55:42
My name is Megan Wiley, and I'm the director of government relations at the New York Building Congress.
1:55:46
The Building Congress comprises 500 constituent organizations and represents 250,000 trade skilled tradespeople and professionals across the industry, all dedicated to the growth and prosperity of our city.
1:55:57
We strongly express our support for the Port Authority's Midtown Bus Terminal Replacement Program, a groundbreaking plan that will transform our city.
1:56:04
The current Port Authority Bus Terminal opened more than 70 years ago on a west side that no longer exists.
1:56:09
The neighborhood and surrounding area has exploded and the terminal has reached the end of its useful structural life.
1:56:15
In addition to being the butt of countless jokes for far too long.
1:56:18
Our new New York demands modern terminal built for the future.
1:56:20
State of the art sustainable LED certified and future proofed for projected commuter growth.
1:56:26
This proposal will not only beautify a current a current blight, but also can, reduce congestion by removing curbside, intercity, and idling buses.
1:56:34
The new ramp structure connecting to this Lincoln Tunnel will take buses off our local streets, and decking over Dyer Avenue will create 3.5 acres of community green space where once traffic was all anyone could see.
1:56:46
From the building congress's perspective, the creation of 6,000 good paying union construction jobs over the 8 years and the 100 of 1,000,000 in contracting opportunities for MWBEs is a win win.
1:56:57
Finally, the most important factor in all of this, is that unlike many public projects of this size, the community and commuters were enlisted as partners in the planning.
1:57:07
In fact, it was approved unanimously by the community board form.
1:57:10
We urge you to support this bold initiative to reimagine mass transit in Manhattan.
1:57:14
Let's lead the way in community driven, sustainably built, commuter friendly mass transit infrastructure, and let's start by approving a new Port Authority bus terminal.
