Sanders disinterest raises questions over Downtown Rail Link's future.Just two weeks away from the April 12 groundbreaking for the opening phase of construction on the Second Avenue Subway line, Metropolitan Transportation honcho Honcho A slang term describing the leader or person in charge of an organization. Notes: The CEO of a company could be referred to as the honcho or "head honcho." See also: CEO, CFO, COO, Insider, Leprechaun Leader Elliot 'Lee' Sander reiterated how he ranks the city's major transit projects in order of importance. "Right now, we're focused on the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access projects," the always-elusive Sander said when Real Estate Weekly asked him where he stood on the Downtown Rail Link project. Sander's comments weren't a surprise. It is widely believed that Governor Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10 1959 ) is an American lawyer, politician and the current Governor of New York. Spitzer was elected governor in the November 2006 election. , who appointed Sander to succeed Peter Kalikow as MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. head, doesn't consider the rail link a priority. Their persistent disinterest dis·in·ter·est n. 1. Freedom from selfish bias or self-interest; impartiality. 2. Lack of interest; indifference. tr.v. To divest of interest. Noun 1. in the project has begun to create questions over more than just the project's future, but also where a significant portion of its funding may wind up being allocated. Besides heavy support from Lower Manhattan's business interests, what has helped generate significant momentum for the multibillion-dollar rail link is an anticipated $2 billion in federal money. The funding is the result of a conversion into cash of tax credits that were part of a package of economic incentives provided to Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York. Lower Manhattan is generally defined as the area delineated on the north by Chambers Street, on the west by the Hudson River (North in the aftermath of 9/11. The trade-in still needs approval in Congress to go through, but was included as part of President Bush's federal budget and is widely expected to pass. "I'll be looking to attach it to a bill soon," New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Congressman Charlie Rangel told REW n. 1. A row. at Hillary Clinton's presidential fundraising dinner at the Sheraton in recent weeks. Rangel has the power to help fast track the trade-in as chairman of the House Ways and Means WAYS AND MEANS. In legislative assemblies there is usually appointed a committee whose duties are to inquire into, and propose to the house, the ways and means to be adopted to raise funds for the use of the government. This body is called the committee of ways and means. Committee. Rangel is part of a powerful group of New York politicians, including Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Hillary Clinton, who support the rail link. While Downtown proponents have earmarked the trade-in for the rail link, the money can, in fact, be used for other transit projects as long as they are located in Lower Manhattan. The flexibility on how the funds can be allocated has begun to prompt speculation that it may not go towards a rail link at all but another project, perhaps the southernmost stretch of the Second Avenue Subway line, which will run through Lower Manhattan to Hanover Square. To try to leverage the eminence that the Second Avenue Subway clearly enjoys to garner support for the rail link, the project's supporters have said that the two could share the same tunnel underneath the East River. To provide a one-seat ride from Lower Manhattan to Jamaica and JFK Airport, the rail link would require the costly construction of this type of new tunnel. Such a passage would also allow a Brooklyn leg for the Second Avenue Subway, an extension whose formal conceptualization con·cep·tu·al·ize v. con·cep·tu·al·ized, con·cep·tu·al·iz·ing, con·cep·tu·al·iz·es v.tr. To form a concept or concepts of, and especially to interpret in a conceptual way: is considered far off. The potential efficiency seemed to hold some sway with Sander nonetheless. "We could use another tunnel under the East River into Brooklyn," he conceded, after speaking to the New York Building Congress at a breakfast last week. |
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