State Finally Settles on Modest Javits Plan

More than a year into his term, Governor Spitzer seems to have settled on a plan to modestly expand the Jacob K. Javits Center, bringing toward a close a months-long imbroglio that began with a quixotic desire to better a Pataki-era expansion plan.

The downstate chairman of New York’s Empire State Development Corporation, Patrick Foye, told The Times on Friday that the state would go ahead with a $1.6 billion plan to renovate the existing facility and add a modest 100,000 feet of exhibition and meeting space. The renovations could cost about $800 million, though the plan will fit within the existing $1.8 billion budget approved in 2006.

The Observer broke the news in December of the likelihood of renovations instead of significant expansion.

When Governor Spitzer first came into office, he pledged to reevaluate the Pataki administration’s plan, which was heavily criticized by users of the facility as likely to slow down shows and provide far too little new space for the amount being spent.

With the aim of creating a larger, better-designed facility, Mr. Foye’s evaluation found the price tag of the Pataki plan to be more than $1 billion higher than estimated, and the projected cost for the first-class facility the governor had envisioned to be an unreasonable $5 billion.

With the state facing an estimated $4.3 billion deficit (at least) and a constant urging by an anxious Bloomberg administration to get going, Governor Spitzer also rejected a plan by Extell Development’s Gary Barnett, who petitioned the state to build a new convention center on the West Side rail yards, opening the existing site up for development, according to people briefed on his plan.