Yardsmania: MTA in No Hurry to Sell Cursed Land for $1B

One would think, given the dramatic series of events that have crippled the financial sector over the past several weeks, that the MTA would be busting its hump trying to get the Related Companies to sign on the dotted line for the West Side Rail Yards. Especially after the deal with the first developer chosen to build out the 26-acre site kinda sorta fell apart. And don't even get us started on that Jets stadium. Or the Olympics. But logic and the MTA have never been the best of friends, and so, the Observer's Elliot Brown reports that the MTA's own 165-day deadline to have a signed contract with Related for the Hudson Yards expires today, and oops, no agreement is in place. The MTA has "been slower than expected in producing the needed paperwork," and so the deadline has been pushed back another 90 days. Seems like the perfect opportunity for Related (and partner Goldman Sachs) to back out of the $15 billion megaproject, but Related boss Stephen Ross has recently stated his commitment to the Hudson Yards, and the Observer provides that splashy rendering of Relatedville that we don't think we've ever seen before. Is it actually going to happen? Or will we have a ghost train on our hands?
· Related's West Side Rail Yards Deal Faces Delay [TRE]
· Hudson Yards coverage [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.