CENTRAL VALLEY – State Senator James Skoufis (D, Woodbury), Thursday, said the owner of Woodbury Common outlet mall has turned its back on $5 million he secured from Albany to build a new Metro-North train station at the shopping venue.
The company painted a different story about the issue.
Skoufis said Simon Properties “has refused so much as a meeting to discuss the construction” of a station and “walked away from both $5 million and, more importantly, an opportunity to further alleviate traffic in the local community.”
The senator said Simon Properties “has ignored repeated requests” dating back to May 13 to meet with MTA Chairman Patrick Foye, Skoufis and local officials.
Mall General Manager David Mistretta said they have “engaged in multiple discussions” with Skoufis and his contention “does not represent the true nature of these conversations, nor our position with respect to the proposed train station.”
Mistretta said that when considering existing infrastructure, “a train station at Woodbury Common is simply not realistic.”
While the state’s $5 million investment is a good start, Mistretta said it would cost tens of millions of additional dollars in infrastructure costs, and he maintained a train station is not needed given the fact that there are several daily bus runs from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City, which “already provides a successful mass-transit model.”
Mistretta noted the latest expansion proposal being reviewed by the Village of Woodbury would create over 1,000 additional jobs and continue to make the center a “leading tourism destination in the state.”
