After putting in an information request to the state a couple of months back, we just received a copy of the daily schedules from April through October for Pat Foye, downstate chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, the state agency that oversees such mega-projects as Atlantic Yards, the redevelopment of Penn Station, and the (possible) expansion of the Javits Center.
A few things that caught our attention:
- Mr. Foye seemed to have more meetings about Moynihan Station than any other project. That included at least four meetings that devoted time to “Farley’s windows,” presumably referring to the old post office stamp booths in the Farley Post Office that preservationists want to see maintained partially for that use. In a daylong trip to Washington, D.C., Mr. Foye met with a Deputy Postmaster General at the U.S. Postal Service.
- Mr. Foye’s preferred location for breakfast: Pershing Square, just across from Grand Central Terminal. He’s frequented the spot with Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, state Senator Liz Krueger, as well as Vishaan Chakrabarti, the president of the Moynihan Station joint venture between developers Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust. On July 3, he even had two breakfasts scheduled there! The first was with Alfred Puchala, managing director of Signal Equity Partners, and the second with the president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Bob Lieber.
- Despite having no public face on the project, Mr. Foye seemed to be rather involved with preparations for the West Side rail yards bids, as he had numerous meetings scheduled about the yards with the officials from the M.T.A. and the city.
- On the private real-estate personality front, Mr. Foye seemed to meet up with the Moynihan Station developers Steven Roth and Stephen Ross, of Vornado and Related, respectively, more than with any other developers in the city. He’s also had multiple meetings with Rob Speyer, presumed heir to the Tishman Speyer empire.