Since the MTA is working on finder another developer to transform its 26 acres of Midtown Manhattan rail yards after its talks with Tishman Speyer collapse, it's only natural officials are trying to put on a happy face. NY1 notes that MTA executive director Lee Sander's positive spin is, "We're hopeful that we can put the deal back together. You never know till it's done, as we found out with Tishman. But we are optimistic."......

Sorry, Mayor Bloomberg, even your wheeling-dealing couldn't stop this: The MTA's deal with Tishman Speyer to develop the West Side rail yards is dead. Here's the statement:The MTA met today with Tishman Speyer. Despite the best efforts of both sides, a final agreement could not be reached. The MTA has now re-entered discussions with other interested developers and remains committed to timely development of these unique and valuable parcels of land on Manhattan's Far......

Photograph by streetstars on Flickr With the deal to develop the West Side rail yards on the ropes, Senator Chuck Schumer said that Mayor Bloomberg's plan for the West Side is the "goofiest thing I've ever seen." According to the Sun, Schumer was specifically referring to "the Bloomberg administration’s decision to include a mid-block boulevard," claiming that it was sapping funds from the much-needed 7 line extension. Mayor Bloomberg zinged back, "New York City......

Today, the fate of the West Side Rail Yards may be left in (near) limbo once again after the MTA meets with developer Tishman Speyer. The MTA has announced on Thursday night that the deal with Tishman had basically collapsed (Tishman was asking for things the MTA deemed unacceptable). However on Friday, Mayor Bloomberg voiced hope the two sides could work things out and a Monday meeting was arranged. MTA had selected Tishman's $1.004......

Mayor Bloomberg tried to rally hopes for a happy ending to the saga of the West Side rail yards by telling reporters, "The plan isn’t dead by any means. Hudson Yards is the most exciting opportunity New York has.” On Thursday night, the MTA issued a statement saying that negotiations wit developer Tishman Speyer had "reached an impasse" and that Tishman "no longer" had "development rights" to the 26 acres a few blocks west......

This evening, the MTA released a press release signaling that the plan to turn the West Side Rail Yards into Hudson Yards won't be happening any time soon. Apparently, developer Tishman Speyer, which won the bidding with a $1.004 billion proposal, got too grabby. At least, that's what the MTA"s statement seems to suggest:Late this afternoon, negotiations between the MTA and Tishman Speyer over the development of the Rail Yards on Manhattan's Far West......

When Tishman Speyer's bid was selected as the winner in the West Side Rail Yards development derby, politicians were relieved but the NY Times' architecture critic was upset. Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote the design "lacks even the pretense of architectural ambition" and called it a "wishful fantasy" and "a damning indictment of large-scale development in New York." In today's NY Times Arts & Leisure section, Ouroussoff takes on "big-time development" and how renderings are so......

Now that the MTA has selected Tishman Speyer to develop the West Side rail yards into Hudson Yards, a new period of public scrutiny will begin. The developer's plans will need to go through the city's public review process to rezone the western section, leaving plenty of time for potential modifications and opposition. One decided opponent of the plan is NY Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff. After being depressed by the five proposed designs, Ouroussoff lets......

Brookfield Properties, which had offered a plan to bring back streets - as well as 12 million square feet of development and 15 acres of public space - to the West Side Rail Yards, has declined to continue in the bidding process. The MTA had requested revised Hudson Yards proposals with more financial details by yesterday and the bids received were from Durst and Vornado, Tishman Speyer and Morgan Stanley, Extell, and Related Companies.......

The MTA has apparently narrowed down the list of contenders to develop the West Side Rail Yards - and may even ask them to team up together. According to Crain's New York, the MTA favors the developers who have already lined up tenants. Which means the front runners are The Related Companies with News Corporation and Goldman Sachs, Durst & Vornado with Conde Nast, and Tishman-Speyer with Morgan Stanley. But front runners may need......

It's been a busy month for NY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff. After tackling Jean Nouvel's skyscraper, Renzo Piano's Times building and the West Side Rail Yards designs, today he turns to the feverishly celebrated New Museum, previewed yesterday by Gothamist. Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japan-based SANAA, the highly refined seven-story, 174-foot building succeeds, says Ouroussoff, on a "spectacular range of levels: as a hypnotic urban object, as a subtle......

While everyone knows that the proposals five development teams have offered up for the MTA's West Side rail yards are likely to change, the NY Times' architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff made it clear that he hopes they do, with a withering review of the five plans. Noting the great opportunity that developers have, Ouroussoff says the designs "are not just a disappointment for their lack of imagination, they are also a grim referendum on......

A storefront at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street (across from Grand Central) may be a window into the future of the West Side Rail Yards. The MTA unveiled an exhibition of the five proposals to redevelop the rail yards on the Far West Side of Manhattan, and the public will get a chance to see the models every day (except Thanksgiving) through December 3. And what's more, the MTA wants the......

This morning, Governor Eliot Spitzer is announcing the sale of the West Side Railyards. The NY Times reports that the state and MTA will "formally begin soliciting bids for the development rights." Boy, does this bring us back to 2005. Of course, developers will need a boatload of patience and a boatload of money - the land was appraised last September to be worth $1.5 billion and it's estimated to cost $1 billion to......

Finally! After realizing that a city offer of $500 million for the West Side Railyards is too low when the railyards are worth $1.5 billion (at least!), the MTA has come up with a plan to develop the West Side. They are selling rights to the eastern part of yards to the city for $200 million, while putting the other western part (as of yet not zoned for development use) up for sale via......

Dig out that reading list, load your iPod up, and get ready to lose that teeny sense of "personal space" while commuting - the MTA wants $20 million in service cuts as part of a way to deal with its huge, looming budget deficits. And we're talking deficits of $905 million in 2008, $1.13 billion in 2009, $1.48 billion in 2010. The NY Times reports how the cut could manifest themselves in our everyday lives:The......

It's deja vu all over again! After the city's hot and heavy offer to pay the MTA $500 million for the West Side Railyards in July and the MTA's apparent interest in making that deal happen (because the city would help fund the 7 line extension), it seemed like West Side development was moving along again. But then it turned out the land was worth $1.5 billion (thanks to an MTA audit), and now......

What a difference a year makes - and a few months, for that matter. Remember when the New York Jets were offering $100 million for the West Side Railyards to build a Jets Stadium? And remember when the MTA, when forced by public pressure, demanded $300 million? And then in July, Mayor Bloomberg offered $300 million for the West Side Rail Yard and $200 million for the East Side railyard - a total of......

Oh, Bloomie, Bloomie, Bloomie. Mayor Mike shot an arrow at State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday on his weekly WABC radio address. After Spitzer has moved to slow/stop/co-opt a number of his and Pataki's larger projects (read: The city's planned purchase of the West Side Rail Yards from the MTA and Moynihan Station) Bloomberg made it very clear that he thinks Spitzer needs to just let elected officials do their job: "The tendency when......

- After being fired from their summer jobs at Co-op City in the Bronx two 15-year-old girls went on a rampage, robbing an 86-year-old woman, vandalizing two cars and torching another. Really. - Evan Marshall, a 31-year-old living in his parent's basement in Glen Cove, Long Island, is being charged with the murder of a 57-year-old woman who lived across the street. He became the prime suspect after police found the teacher's head in......

- Jersey is open! - Spitzer thinks that Bloomberg is lowballing the MTA with the city's $500 million offer for the West Side Railyards. - The 34-year-old president of LIC bed-behemoth 1-800-MATTRESS has passed on. - Alleged Halloween psycho-rapist Peter Braunstein has reconciled with his father. And now he "just wants to die." - You gotta love the NYPD Bomb Squad logo. - Inside a New York-based Spyware firm. - Only one more month......

Check it out! The Mayor Bloomberg, hoping to make Hudson Yards lemonade out of failed Jets Stadium lemons, along with West Side Stadium opponent City Council Speaker Christine Quinn have offered the MTA $500 million for the West Side Railyards. The two officials sent the MTA an "unexpected" offer letter, which has the city paying $300 million for the "Western Rail Yard" (where the Jets Stadium would have been) and $200 million for the Eastern......

It's finally over! The New York Jets have officially ended their bid for the West Side Railyards and their quest to put a football stadium in Manhattan. Now, the MTA will be free to bid out the land to whomever they please while the Jets try to figure out whether or not they want to share another stadium with the Giants in Jersey or if Queens politicians will bend over and offer them the......

Apparently, the MTA has a really big couch, as the agency now has $833 million in unanticipated money for the year. Well, actually it's from tax revenue, but instead of making sure they won't raise fares in future years, the MTA is thinking about taking $350 million to build a platform over its West Side Railyards. Because, if you build it, they will come. The MTA thinks they would be able to sell the......

Donald J. Trump is suing his Asian real estate partners because he think the $1.7 billion deal for his Riverside South development is too low. Yes, Trump is suing the same investors who bailed him out when he didn't have any money to develop the land himself. You know, you'd think the investors, the Hudson Waterfront Associates, would just want a tidy profit, since they purchased the land in 1994 for $100 million! But Trump......

Surprise, surprise! The City Council put together a team of investigators to inspect the cleanliness of the subways, and found that they are stinking nasty! And what's more, the worst stations just happen to be in the poorest neighborhoods and/or the Bronx. No one is really that shocked, maybe just slightly surprised. The NY Times' Sewell Chan points out that the City Council's survey and the survey from the NYC Transit Riders Council had generally......

The powerhouse duo of the NY Jets and Mayor Bloomberg's administration, supported by Lord knows how many lawyers, chalked up a win when the MTA board unanimously approved the Jets' bid to develop the West Side Railyards. And by unanimously approved, that means 14 voting board members thought the Jets' ultimate $210 million bid was better (or more feasible) than Cablevision's $400 million bid. Why was only $210 million accepted? The $440 million part......

Sources say the MTA will approve the Jets' bid to develop the West Side Rail Yards into a sports and convention emporium full of football, retail shops, and ugly architectural plans. This as it turns out that New Yorkers are opposed to the stadium, 53% to 38% supporting it. The MTA board reportedly found the Cablevision bid "not credible" - while the Cablevision bid was higher on paper, the actual cash value was less than......