Javits Center expansion plan gets final approval.

Plan to upgrade, expand and modernize the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center passed its final approval last week with a unanimous vote from the Public Authority Control Board.

With plans nearly ten years in the making, members of the tourism and convention industries--along with public officials including Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg--have hailed the rehab and expansion of the Javits.

"For the past l0 years, industry leaders have been at work on what I always though was the important project of updating the Javits," said Jonathan M. Tisch, Chairman of NYC & Company, an organization that promotes New York City tourism. "The current facility, while very well run, is not competitive in terms of size or in terms of the makeup of its space."

Demolition work could begin as early as this month and preliminary construction work in the fall on the Javits plan, which will expand exhibit space 45% from 760,000 to 1.1 million s/f. Meeting room space will increase by 600% from 30,000 to 210,000 s/f, and the center will house the city's largest ballroom.

In addition, a headquarters hotel will help accommodate tens of thousands of additional convention attendees who will bring their business and visitor spending to New York.

Another benefit of the Javits expansion, Tisch said, is that it will allow renovation of the existing Javits structure, which was thought to be both too small and an eyesore almost before it opened its doors 20 years ago.

"What the expansion does is not only gives us more space for exhibits and for classrooms, but also allows us to go into the existing building and renovate it so once again it becomes state of the art," Tisch said.

Not everyone is happy with the Javits' expansion plans, however. Senator Charles Schumer, Freeman--the company in charge of most exhibitor services for the Javits--and the Municipal Arts Society (MAS) are all critics of the project. The MAS has filed a lawsuit that calls into question the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The group claims that the existing EIS is too general, as it was drawn up back when there were plans to also put a new stadium for the Jets and the Giants near the Javits expansion site. According to Kent Barwick, president of the MAS, the suit is meant to ensure enforcement of state environmental law.

"We feel the law requires [a more detailed EIS] and we feel it's important for citizens, particularly here in New York state where government agencies have such great power," Barwick said.

Barwick however admitted that his group's more general disagreement with the project's design also came into play. The MAS argues that the northward expansion of the Javits along the Hudson River to 40th Street will create a barrier between the city's residents and the river just at a time when amenities such as the Hudson River Park and the 39th Street Ferry Terminal are drawing people to the waterfront.

"We very much agree that the Javits needs to expand, but they have made the worst-possible decision in terms of the direction of expansion. You end up with five city blocks cut off from the waterfront in an area that is the last still ripe for development in that part of the city," Barwick said. "I've been trying to thing of a mistake made in the past 50 years with similar consequences. Only [demolition of the original] Penn Station comes to mind."

Tisch writes off critics, saying that the current Javits plan is a worthy compromise in a city of competing interests.

"When you consider this is a tight site in the heart of a vibrant city, and when you consider that budgets are not unlimited, this is an extremely viable and competitive plan," Tisch said. "We don't have the luxury some of the other cities where they have acres and acres of available land at their disposal. This is a very viable plan that deals with a tremendous number of issues."