Port Authority Plans $150M Bond Sale for Moynihan Station

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The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will issue bonds to finance its share of a planned $3 billion overhaul of Manhattan's Penn Station.

The Port Authority's board of directors approved a $150 million contribution at its meeting Thursday toward the proposed transformation pitched in January by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would link the existing Penn Station with the old James Farley A. Farley Post Office building across the street. The bi-state agency had initially agreed to lease space in the new Moynihan Station at more than $10 million a year to cover its portion of the $325 million in government funds that are earmarked for the mostly private project. The agency has instead decided that the $150 million payment will now be generated from bond proceeds.

Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye emphasized at a press conference after Thursday's meeting that the agency won't have any operational or financial commitments to the train hall after the bond sale, which is expected in October. However, the agency will have to designate the building, which will be named after former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, as a Port Authority facility to qualify for bond funding. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Amtrak are also pitching in with government funding toward the project.

"We're certifying it as facility as a matter of our bond documents," said Foye. "There is no commitment to spend a dollar of operating dollars in Moynihan."

The Port Authority's last transaction occurred in May when the public agency issued $512.6 million in consolidated bonds for refundings and capital expenditures.

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Transportation industry New York
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