The Regional Plan Association issued a 22-page report Thursday on the proposed plans for the redevelopment of the James A. Farley Post Office Building and Madison Square Garden, both on Eighth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets that cautioned that several "outstanding design and function issues" must be addressed to create a "regional rail center" that can accommodate significant future growth in traffic.

The report noted that NJ Transit will be adding a new commuter rail runnel under the Hudson River, known as the Trans-Hudson Express, or THE, by 2016, that will "double the number of travelers arriving to the Penn Station complex during peak times. It also noted that "In 2013, when the LIRR's East Side Access project is completed and LIRR trains can access Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station's peak-period capacity will be opened up, making it possible for some Metro-North trains on the New Haven and Hudson Lines to access Penn Station," adding that "This connection will provide capacity for new 'through' services (including Long Island-New Jersey, Connecticut-New Jersey, and Upstate New York-Long Island), which will make Penn Station even more of a regional rail hub."

Furthermore, the report continued, "dedicated one-seat train service to John F. Kennedy and Stewart airports remains a possibility" and "The New York State Senate High-Speed Rail Task Force has developed a plan for increased rail service in the Empire Corridor between Penn Station and Upstate New York," a plan that "would more than double the number of daily trains and introduce express service."

In addition to such greatly increased transportation impacts, the report noted that "about 10 million square feet of office space is expected to be added in the immediate vicinity of the station in the next 20 years" and that "The entire Hudson Yards area (West of Eighth Avenue from 30th to 42nd Streets) will include an additional 24 million square of office space and 14,000 new dwelling units."

The planned new complex will be named after the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "whose vision for the Farley Post Office as a grand and welcoming train station initiated the process now underway," the report stated. The plan now refers to the development of the post office building site as Moynihan West and the Madison Square Garden site as Moynihan East.

In 2005, the Venture - a joint effort by Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies - won a request for proposals to redevelop the Farley Building and it has since been negotiating with the Garden to move its arena onto the Farley site and redevelopment its existing site with new train station facilities and two 90-story office towers as well as new retail facilities. The towers, one of which would include a 250-room hotel, are outlined in the illustration at the right.

The Venture, however, does not have exclusive rights to the development of Moynihan East, the report maintained, adding, however, that they "have a significant natural advantage due to the fact that...they have many holdings in the immediate vicinity of the complex, which would allow them to transfer development rights...should the City allow them to do so."

The report recommended the creation of a district-wide strategy for bringing construction equipment and materials into (and demolition debris and fill out of) the Far West Side that "could cause unprecedented disruption of traffic all over Midtown Manhattan and adjoining districts for a generation or longer, with enormous implications for quality of life and economic activities throughout the city."

The association expressed concern that the Madison Square Garden and retail operations of the Venture's plan "will overwhelm the train halls visually and functionally" and urged that "efforts should be made to promote the sense that this is primarily a public space."