Reprinted from the Times Union, January 7, 2006
Convention panel misses bus
Talks about moving the Greyhound station
bypass authority, which
hasn't met
By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, January 7, 2006
ALBANY -- Members of a state panel created to oversee construction
of a multimillion-dollar convention center questioned Friday whether
their authority is being ignored.
Their reaction came amid revelations that Senate Majority
Leader Joseph Bruno and Mayor Jerry Jennings are eyeing relocation
of a downtown bus station to make way for the project.
A day earlier, Bruno said the Greyhound bus station
near Broadway might be moved to the Amtrak station in Rensselaer
to clear the Albany property for the convention center.
His disclosure came even though a nine-member authority
created last year by the state Legislature to control planning for
the convention center has yet to meet.
On Friday, Jennings said his discussions with Bruno
on moving the bus station "don't imply anything" about the future site
of the convention center. "Joe and I won't have any approval
over the site. If it's not the convention center, I have other developers
who are interested in that site."
The bus station is part of two sites between Broadway
and Beaver Street that were recommended for a convention center and
hotel complex by a Jennings-created task force in 2002. The other
recommended site, which includes the landmark Wellington Hotel, is
on State and Eagle streets near the state Capitol.
On Friday, two authority members -- Assemblyman Jack
McEneney and Deputy Albany County Executive Joe Pennisi -- questioned
why Bruno and Jennings are discussing the future of the Broadway
site behind closed doors while the authority board remains moribund.
"I'm not here to be a fig leaf," said McEneny, who was appointed
to the board by Speaker Sheldon Silver. "Everyone is a little
bit ill at ease over this. ... The senator's comments implies that
there have been meetings among people who may feel that decisions have
been made."
Created by the state in 2004, the authority is responsible
for deciding where the project will be built and how it will be paid
for. It is required to hold public meetings.
McEneny, Pennisi and several authority members said
they don't know why they haven't met and are waiting for someone
to call a meeting. Gov. George Pataki appointed three members, Bruno
and Silver picked one member each, and Jennings and County Executive
Mike Breslin chose two members each.
However, the legislation that created the authority
doesn't specify who is responsible for calling the initial meeting.
A call to Pataki's office for comment was not returned.
On Friday, Bruno spokesman John McArdle said discussion
between Bruno and Jennings were at an "early stage" and "nothing
has been decided upon."
McArdle dismissed as "speculation" a question whether the
talks of moving the bus station showed that Bruno and Jennings were
backing the Broadway site for the convention center. "The purview
of the convention center authority is not not where the bus station
goes, it is where the convention center goes," he said.
Pennisi, who was named to the authority by Breslin,
echoed McEneny's concerns.
It's obvious that they can't ignore us," Pennisi said. "There
are requirements in the legislation requiring that the authority
have public meetings."
Bruno and Jennings representatives on the authority
said they weren't aware of the Greyhound discussions until learning
of them through the media, but dismissed any concerns about the
authority being marginalized.
The owner of Jack's Oyster House, Brad Rosenstein,
who was appointed by Bruno, said the authority's job was to take
up the convention project after "leaders" had "finalized it," describing
them as "the powers that have to get everything all put together
before we get together."
George Leveille, a Jennings appointee, said Bruno
and Jennings talks were "good news" because it showed "the people in
leadership are working to advance this, which is their job."
He said he was anxious for a meeting to be called,
and suggested it was Pataki's responsibility. "I don't what is going on behind
the scenes. I'm encouraged they are talking about it. ... When the
time is appropriate, the authority will get involved."
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