The city, state and a group of developers would like to see that vision of 42d Street come true. They are betting $2 billion on an ambitious redevelopment plan - the largest city-state effort in the history of Manhattan - that would rid the area of porn and grime and, they hope, draw more office workers and visitors to the neighborhood.
But the future of 42d Street is far from set.
Six years have passed since planners first began sketching ideas for the 42d Street Development Project. In the time since, the project has been mired by legal battles, troubles with developers, escalating costs and reluctant tenants.
Building owners and neighborhood groups fought in court to halt the project. The last of 25 lawsuits was settled in favor of development only two weeks ago.
The team of developers is in a state of flux. One of the developers, Michael Lazar, who had been hired to restore the theaters along 42d Street, was convicted last fall in a city corruption scandal. Another company that was part of a trio working on the merchandise mart, Trammell Crow Associates of Dallas, has backed out of the deal, leaving the status of the mart up in the air.
The most secure component of the project, the office towers, has yet to find a lead tenant. The law firm of Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood dropped plans to take space in one of the towers because of the delays. The law firm had hoped to move in by 1989; as it stands now, construction on the first office tower would not start before late 1988.
The setbacks to the redevelopment of 42d Street have robbed the project of valuable momentum, some say.
