LAYLA LAW-GISIKO

REACH: 51,673 residents in the district

WHAT’S NEXT: Turn Penn Station into a world-class transit hub

LAYLA LAW-GISIKO may have lost her bid for an Assembly seat in November 2022, but she’s not given up the ght to overhaul Albany’s controversial plan for Penn Station.

As a member of Community Board 5 for the past 18 years and chair of its Land Use, Housing and Zoning committee , Law-Gisiko holds sway in a district that represents the country’s largest concentration of big businesses and a constellation of iconic neighborhoods, including Midtown, Times Square, the eater District, the Diamond District and Herald Square. More than that, it contains the city’s two crucial transportation hubs, Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station.

She notched a victory in 2017 with the Greater East Midtown Rezoning, helping to create a blueprint that allowed for taller buildings as a trade-o for improvements in transit and public spaces. Now, she’s determined to rework the current plan for Penn Station, which until recently would demolish six city blocks and put up 10 mostly o ce towers to raise money for transit improvements. Now Vornado Realty Trust, the largest landowner in the neighborhood around Penn Station, seems to have put the project on hold.

Law-Gisiko, a former journalist and documentary lm maker, opposed the Penn District plan in 2021 when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed it, and she continued to ght it after Gov. Kathy Hochul embraced Cuomo’s vision. Law-Gisiko applied for membership in Community Board 5 after testifying at a meeting where, she said, members seemed “apathetic.” en-Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer appointed her to the board in 2005.

She wants to focus on making the Penn District plan work for the community, to upgrade the station to serve public interests, she said. “Penn Station is grossly inadequate on so many levels, but we are not having the right conversation: how to create a transit system that is more equitable and that provides more connectivity for people in areas that don’t have access,” Law-Gisiko said.

Vornado’s recent hesitation, citing high interest rates and reduced demand for o ce space, does not change her stance, Law-Gisiko said.

In the end, she said, that even if you don’t win the battle, “what you get to do is move the needle.”