NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A major real estate company overseeing retail spaces at the Fulton Center in the Financial District blamed an increase in crime last week as the reason for terminating its lease amid an MTA lawsuit.
Westfield decided to break its lease less than halfway through its 20-year lease. The subway and retail complex -- which was first announced in 2002 but not officially opened until 2014 -- was built as part of $1.4 billion project by the MTA to rehabilitate the Fulton Street station. The complex was initially called the Fulton Transit Center, but was re-branded as the Fulton Center in 2012 to emphasize its retail component.
Located on Broadway between John and Fulton streets, tenants include Shake Shack, Freedom Wine Cellar, Gateway Newstands and PNC Bank. the transit hub serves the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, J, N, R, W, and Z lines.
The MTA filed a lawsuit last month in federal court in Manhattan that Westfield Corp. told it earlier this month it intends to cease operations at the center, which links nine subway lines with PATH trains to New Jersey via an underground passageway. The agency is seeking a court order blocking Westfield from terminating its operations at the site early.
The Fulton Center subway station is shown virtually empty on April 30, 2020 in New York City. All non-essential businesses in New York state have been closed or have had their workers work from home since March 22.Jeenah Moon/Getty Images
Westfield Fulton Center responded to the lawsuit on March 8, claiming that the number of businesses that want to open and operate a store are very low at a place "where their employees and customers regularly would experience theft, property damage, bodily harm, or threats thereof."
It also claimed that the safety and security of Fulton Transit Center was on the downfall and it became "nearly impossible to attract 'high quality' subtenants, existing ones declined to renew their leases and some surrendered their leases early, and the remaining existing subtenants have begged Westfield for help."
According to Westfield, many of its subtenants confirmed that security issues were the main reason why they left the space.
When questioned about the security concerns and the lawsuit, MTA Spokesperson Joana Flores said "While we are unable to comment on specific pending litigation, we have full confidence in the NYPD, which has surged officers into the subway, to ensure safety across the transit system, including at Fulton Center."
According to the lawsuit, "NYCTA will face irreparable injury if Westfield abandons the Fulton Center in derogation of its lease obligations by advancing its own self-serving business interests over the interests of NYCTA, retail establishments in the Fulton Center, and members of the public. Westfield's unauthorized cessation of its operations and termination of the lease would adversely affect not only the retail establishments in Fulton Center that Westfield subleased, but also members of the transit public who are customers of these retail outlets."
The case is New York City Transit Authority v Westfield Fulton Center LLC, 24-cv-1123, US District Court, Southern District of New York.
New York City Transit Authority v. Westfield Fulton Center by David Caplan on Scribd
The concern about crime comes as Hochul announced that she was deploying 750 members of the National Guard and 250 officers from New York State Police and MTA Police into the NYC subway system to crackdown on transit crime earlier this week.
Bloomberg contributed to this report.
