The retail giant that operates the Fulton Transit Center in lower Manhattan wants out of its contract with the MTA, saying crime is scaring tenants away from the shopping space.
According to court documents, the Westfield Fulton Center alleges that the subway hub was overrun with homeless people, street thugs and vandals because it lacked adequate security. One shop manager told the Post that even a container of chips had been stolen multiple times.
Assaults and threats against employees have become increasingly common at the glass-and-steel building at the corner of Fulton Street and Broadway, and the MTA initially said the building’s height would be higher than Rockefeller Center or Grand Central. The company claimed that it was pitching itself as comparable to a train station.
“Few companies want to open and operate a store where employees or customers regularly experience theft, property damage, physical harm, or threats of the same,” the company said in a statement. in a March 8 response to the MTA lawsuit seeking .
“As the safety and security of the Fulton Transit Center continues to deteriorate, it will become nearly impossible to attract “quality” subtenants, and existing subtenants may refuse to renew their leases or terminate their leases early. “And the remaining existing tenants are looking to Westfield for help.”
“Many of the subtenants acknowledged that security issues at the Fulton Transit Center were the only reason for their departure.”
Additionally, the MTA claims it is still in dispute over $13.2 million in damages awarded by an arbitrator to Westfield in 2022 for shoddy and unfinished subway hub construction.
An MTA spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in a statement: “We have full confidence in the NYPD, which rushed officers to the subway to ensure the safety of our entire transit system, including Fulton Center.” mentioned in.
But in a lawsuit filed last month in Manhattan federal court, the MTA said Westfield “faces irreparable harm” if it abandons the building, which opened in 2014.
A 20-year lease signed in May of that year obligates Westfield to manage and operate the Fulton Center, the complaint states. And it cannot be withdrawn based on concerns about crime.
“The lease contains three clauses that allow Westfield to terminate the lease, none of which apply to Westfield’s situation,” the complaint says.
The agency asked the court to force Westfield to stay and declare him in breach of the agreement if he leaves anyway. Westfield is a subsidiary of the giant Paris-based commercial real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
The gleaming $1.4 billion transportation hub a few blocks south of City Hall was at the center of the Big Apple’s plans to revitalize the area in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, which destroyed significant amounts of public transportation infrastructure, according to the lawsuit. That’s what it means.
Up to 300,000 straphangers pass through the center every day, which connects five metro stations and nine metro lines. According to the M.T.A.
But Westfield claims the MTA is not meeting deadlines in the security agreement, as the city continues to suffer from a series of troubling crimes in its transit system.
Some tenants agreed, telling the Post that the location desperately needs more security guards.
“It’s difficult. There’s only one security guard,” a manager at bubble tea shop Gong Cha told the Post on Tuesday. “We should have more security. One is definitely not enough. There should be two or three.”
The manager, who did not wish to be named, said the store’s tip box had been stolen three times in six months. The now-closed Haagen-Dazs next door was robbed “every few weeks.”
“That used to happen a lot,” the manager said. “They couldn’t make any money.”
Crime on the subway rose 20% in the first two months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to city data.
The increase was primarily due to large increases in grand larceny, felonies, assaults and robberies, according to NYPD statistics.
Gov. Cathy Hochul responded to the surge in traffic unrest by immediately deploying 750 National Guard troops and 250 New York State Police and MTA officers to help “resolve this crisis” in the Big Apple.
“Such brazen and brutal attacks on our nation’s subways will not be tolerated,” Hochul said in a statement from the MTA Transit Rail Control Center in Midtown, pointing to the recent indiscriminate slashing of conductors and other acts of violence. Ta.
The governor’s decision to announce a five-point plan to combat traffic crime comes a day after Mayor Eric Adams said the NYPD would conduct bag searches and add officers to underground operations.
The number of crimes is also on the rise in the NYPD’s First Precinct, which includes Fulton Center, according to CompStat statistics, which is up about 2.3% since the beginning of the year compared to 2023.
Felony assault cases soared to 23 this year, an increase of 21%, according to the data.
Meanwhile, statistics show that robberies have increased by 53% to 43 cases, and petty assaults have increased by 22% to a total of 60 cases. Data specifically about the center was not immediately available.
Westfield claims in court papers that it has spent nearly $700,000 repairing damage caused by vandalism and arson at the Fulton Center.
Nia, a shift leader at Bitch Coffee, told the Post that she has recently seen more homeless people limping past, especially at night.
“They come and take away bags of beans and little mints,” she says. “Two weeks ago, they took bags of beans and tried to return them for cash at our other stores. However, we do not offer cash returns.”
Employees also don’t leave tip containers on the counter, and if someone drops extra cash, the barista puts it away until the end of the day, she added.
Leroy Smith, Krispy Kreme’s deputy general manager, said suspicious people walk by, but “when we look at them,” they run away.
“They come in and see if anyone is watching,” Smith said. “They change their mind when they see me. I don’t play like that.”
“They will leave…but we must be vigilant,” he added. “None of us here are superheroes. But we do the best we can.”
