Another delay for GPO plan.

Consideration of a plan to convert the Farley Post Office into Moynihan Station was postponed for the second straight time last Wednesday by a powerful state agency whose approval is necessary for portions of the $812 million project's financing.

The Public Authorities Control Board, which struck down the Jets stadium project in the summer of 2005, first delayed its vote on the plan in mid August when one of its three voting members, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, expressed concerns that it didn't outline the scope of the developer's intentions for the site.

Vornado and the Related Companies, the development team selected by the Empire State Development Corporation to carry out the station's construction, have envisioned a much bolder plan that includes relocating Madison Square Garden to the Farley Post Office's western annex, erecting office towers on its current site, and renovating Penn Station.

In August, Silver and State Comptroller Alan Hevesi took issue with what they said were unanswered questions relating to the project's financing and, more importantly, its failure to include the MSG move.

An article published in last week's issue of Real Estate Weekly speculated that state officials may in fact need to see a development plan that also includes the redevelopment of the current MSG site and Penn Station before work can begin on the site, a process that could take months, if not years.

Last week's delay came after Governor Pataki, who along with Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno is a voting member on the PACB, postponed the board's consideration of the plan after Silver indicated he would vote against it.

A letter issued by Hevesi the day before the vote, stated that the comptroller's financial concerns hadn't been answered nor had the MSG inclusion formally been presented by the Empire State Development Corporation, the state agency which has overseen the station development plan.

ESDC chairman Charles Gargano has said that it would take months to put a new plan that includes the MSG relocation through a formal approval process, a time frame that could jeopardize the project's federal funding.