As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans for a convention center in Ozone Park continue to draw headlines, more and more interested groups and interest groups continue to weigh on. Today, Charles Bagli of The Times checks in with convention experts, attendees and planners, and what they have to say deserves some serious consideration. Essentially, they say, poor transit access to Ozone Park and its out-of-the-way location make it ill-suited as a potential site for a massive convention center.
“The industry is skeptical about the viability of the Aqueduct site,” Jeff Little, a trade show organizer, said to The Times. “It has the potential to be a big white elephant. It’s true that there are large shows that can’t go to the Javits, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll go to a large facility at Aqueduct.”
Bagli summarizes the skepticism surrounding the proposed plan:
Conventioneers and other visitors come to New York expecting to see Broadway shows during their down time, eat in famous restaurants and shop on Fifth Avenue, trade show managers and hotel operators say. None of that exists at the relatively remote Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, where the Malaysian company, Genting Group, hopes to build a 3.8-million-square-foot convention center and 3,000 hotel rooms and enlarge its existing gambling hall.
More to the point, they add, Aqueduct is a 60-minute subway ride from Times Square. They fear that some conventions, trade shows and conferences will decide to go elsewhere…
Mr. Little’s view was amplified a week ago at a meeting of the New York chapter of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events in Manhattan. After listening to a presentation by a top Genting executive, Christian Goode, one trade show manager jumped up and asked the crowd, Who wants to see the Javits closed? Not a single hand shot up in assent from the 125 people in attendance.
With the Cuomo Administration noting that nothing has been set in stone and any convention center plan will include “a comprehensive master plan reflecting community and shareholder input,” the Ozone Park plan continues to suffer from a lack of integration into the aspects of New York City that make it New York City. While it may be close to JFK Airport, it simply isn’t near the attractions of the Big Apple.
“We know that Javits is the most successful convention center in the country in terms of bookings,” Mark Schienberg, head of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association and host of the annual auto show, said. “But people want to be in the heart of Manhattan. Do they want to be on the fringes of Queens?”
Even more practical, though, are the concerns about access. Genting has not indicated it will do much more than fund a super-express A train, and based on recent history, that idea appears to be a non-starter. A comprehensive plan involving the reactivation of the LIRR’s Rockaway Beach Branch line could cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Furthermore, if a new convention center does not lead to the redevelopment of the current Javits Center, support from groups such as the Regional Plan Association may dry up as well.
Ultimately, this convention center plan, which came out of left field during the Governor’s speech, has a long way to go, but stakeholders are making appropriate noises early on. Better and faster transit access that doesn’t rob riders further down the line of train service must be a part of the equation, and as the convention industry and regional transit advocates voice these concerns, hopefully someone in Albany is listening.
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