NYC approves skyscraper in exchange for transit hub work

NEW YORK (AP) — City officials have cleared the way for the construction of a gleaming, 65-story skyscraper that will rise in Manhattan's aging East Midtown area.

In exchange for getting more square footage for the site, the developer will invest about $220 million in improvements to nearby Grand Central Terminal that will allow more trains to run on the subway's busiest lines.

One expert says the unusual tradeoff could be a prototype for the future by allowing the debt-burdened Metropolitan Transportation Authority to offload the cost of improving its aging infrastructure onto private developers.