So Now Whenever We Switch From The R To The A Downtown We’ll Fondly Remember The $900 Billion Economic Stimulus Package Of 2009

For $500 million President Obama better get a nice looking plaque:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects to spend $497 million in federal economic stimulus money to complete the stalled and over-budget Fulton Street Transit Center in Lower Manhattan, the agency’s executive director said on Thursday.

The money would bring the project’s cost to as much as $1.4 billion, nearly double what was estimated when it was conceived in the wake of the terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

The additional financing would allow the authority to move ahead with plans to erect an architecturally dramatic glass building atop the transit hub, said Elliot G. Sander, the authority’s executive director. However, it was not clear if the final design would include the project’s signature feature, a conelike skylight, known as an oculus, that would channel daylight into the lower areas of the station. Mr. Sander said the oculus could add about $40 million to the cost.

“The pavilion has to be many things to many people,” Mr. Sander said, referring to the glass structure. “It has to be a building of vibrant design with as much new retail activity as possible.” He called it “a highly visible portal to a modern transportation complex.”

Mr. Sander, who spoke at a State Assembly hearing in Lower Manhattan, said that he estimated the authority would receive $1.5 billion to $2 billion from the economic stimulus bill that is working its way through Congress. He said he planned to spend $497 million of that to complete the downtown transit hub. He did not say how the remainder would be spent.

The Fulton Street project, which is a block from the World Trade Center site, was originally financed by the federal government with $750 million that was earmarked for the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. The project was meant to simplify a tangle of subway stations, topping them off with an eye-catching building that would rival the iconic structures planned for the rebuilt trade center.

But costs kept rising, and last January the authority said that while work would continue on the underground portions of the project, it could no longer afford to move ahead with the above-ground structure. The announcement was met with dismay downtown, where residents and businesses feared they would be stuck with an unsightly hole, a site where several buildings had been torn down to make way for the transit work.

Earlier: Yet Another Reason Not To Extend The 7 Train To A Convention Center That Doesn’t Even Need It . . ., Between Simpler Transfer Or Fancy Roof, I Want The Roof!