Polfight!

Let's see, there's a scarce resource with alternative uses... how could we decide?

The city [of New York] wants to develop more than 11,000 units of affordable housing at Sunnyside Yards [in Queens], Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday, despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo's attempt to throw water on the plan.

In his State of the City address, the mayor said the city is looking to build 11,250 affordable apartments above the existing tracks at the 200-acre rail yard, comparing the proposal to the original mission of housing developments like Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.

But Gov. Cuomo also has his constituencies to pander to, so he;

...tried to shoot down the idea, saying the state and the MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority, i.e. subway trains] are considering "potential future uses of the site from a long term planning perspective."

"The MTA uses Sunnyside Yards as an important facility for our transportation system, and it is not available for any other use in the near term," Melissa DeRosa, the governor's communications director, said in a statement.

Complicating matters;

The MTA owns 66 acres of Sunnyside Yards, 44 acres of which the city owns the air rights for and can legally build above. Another 23 acres belong to private owners, while Amtrak owns 113 acres.

Here's an idea,

Grab your coat and get your hat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street

Be as rich as Rockefeller, there's gold dust at your feet. Just let the market decide how the land is to be used.