Sierra Club: Gov. Murphy’s Monorail to Mall Is Off The Rails
Gov. Murphy’s Monorail to Mall Is Off The Rails
Gov. Murphy said that a new “magnetic monorail” is being considered for the American Dream/Xanadu mega-mall in the Meadowlands. The futuristic “Maglev” train would be the first of its kind in the nation. Murphy said the monorail could be an alternative to connecting the existing Meadowlands rail line that now serves MetLife Stadium. A magnetic monorail uses magnetic fields to “levitate” and power a train instead of wheels and electric motors.
“Gov. Murphy’s monorail to the mall is off the rails. The American Dream Xanadu mega-mall is already the largest publicly subsidized development project in state history. Gov. Murphy keeps criticizing corporate subsides. Now he could pour another billion dollars for a monorail into this black hole after the $1.15 billion American Dream/Xanadu has already received. That’s while NJ Transit riders are suffering and we cannot even fix our own rail systems,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Gov. Murphy says he wants to crack down on corporate subsidies. He should be starting with American Dream/Xanadu. Instead, he continues to support the project.”
Projected costs of the monorail were not immediately known, but Maglev trains are expensive to build. Shanghai’s 20-mile Maglev train cost $1.2 billion. That amounts to $60 million per mile.
“Right now, NJ Transit is broke. They’re borrowing from their capital budget just to keep operations going. Gov. Murphy wants to keep spending on the monorail to the mall instead of helping NJ Transit. That’s money that could be used on the Gateway Tunnel project, and for Bergen-Hudson light rail. NJ Transit could use it to extend rail lines and improve service. We should be helping people get to work, not giving more money to a developer for a mall,” said Tittel. “We certainly don’t need a train to nowhere.”
Gov. Murphy recently created the Economic Development Authority Task Force to evaluate the EDA’s mismanagement of $11 billion in tax incentives provided to business. The American Dream/Xanadu project received $350 million in direct state subsidies from EDA.
“While EDA is investigating corporate subsidies, Gov. Murphy wants to add even more subsidies to American Dream/Xanadu. The governor talks about the problems in EDA and the need for reform, but he always forgets to mention American Dream/Xanadu. We have asked the task force to make the project a priority in their investigation. Now they may be adding an expensive monorail, which makes it that much more important,” said Tittel.
The Canadian-based Triple Five company, which owns the Mall of America, took over the long-stalled Xanadu project in 2010. A corporate audit of the EDA ordered by Gov. Murphy showed that American Dream/Xanadu received subsidies and tax breaks of $1.15 billion, far more than any other company under the EDA program. The incentives include $100 million in road improvements, $180 million for a rail line, $300 million in property tax exemptions, and $31 million in toll money. EDA provided $350 million in direct state subsidies.
“As he criticizes wasteful subsidies elsewhere, Gov. Murphy doesn’t seem to be bothered by the mega-mall. The state has poured more than a billion dollars into that project and it will continue to cost even more. An expensive monorail project will only add to the price tag. American Dream/Xanadu got $300 million in property tax exemptions, nearly $300 million for road improvements and a rail line, and another $31 million from tolls. EDA gave $350 million in direct state subsidies. Triple Five didn’t even pay anything for the billion-dollar property. They got it for free,” said Tittel. “The American Dream/Xanadu mall has done nothing but suck up money and put environmentally sensitive areas at risk for development, and we still don’t know when it will open.”
The 3-million square foot retail and entertainment complex is expected to generate 16,200 “sustainable” jobs on site and 7,000 jobs in surrounding areas. The Canadian-based Triple Five company, which owns the Mall of America, took over the long-stalled project in 2010.
“Malls are dying across the country and investing in this one makes no sense. Even if the American Dream succeeds, it will cause a traffic nightmare. The project will generate more than 150,000 cars a day, gridlocking an area of the state already overburdened with traffic. The site floods, and will end up underwater. Any new jobs created by the mall will be taken from other malls,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “New Jersey needs another mall like they need another Superfund site. The monorail idea is just one more reason the American Dream should be called the American Scheme.”
