NYC Greenlights New 34K-SF NYPD Traffic Enforcement Office at 31 Penn

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) will move 260 traffic enforcement agents to a new command center in Penn Plaza, Commercial Observer has learned. 

The city’s property manager, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), signed a 20-year lease to relocate the NYPD’s Manhattan South Traffic Enforcement Unit to 34,000 square feet across the entire second floor and part of the third floor of 31 Penn Plaza, according to city planning records and landlord Vanbarton Group.

Representatives for Vanbarton and its broker, JLL (JLL), declined to share the asking rent, but average asking rent for office space in Penn Plaza was $94.35 per square foot in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report by Transwestern.

Some 3,300 civilian traffic enforcement agents fan out across the city each day, leaving unwelcome neon orange parking tickets on car windshields and directing traffic at rush hour. They wear police uniforms but do not make arrests.

The Manhattan South unit covers the most congested territory in the five boroughs, from 34th Street to Battery Park. The unit was headquartered at Vornado Realty Trust’s 260 11th Avenue until its lease expired in 2020, according to city planning records. Since then, it has had a nomadic existence, with agents operating out of two temporary offices at 469 Seventh Avenue and 59 Maiden Lane.

The City Planning Commission voted to approve the agency’s application in January, paving the way for the unit to be reunited at the 18-story office tower between West 30th and West 31st streets. Its new space, which was previously occupied by Blink Fitness, comes replete with a muster room and showers for agents.

The agency will enter the new office through a separate door on the south side of the property, using the building’s alternative address, 127 West 30th Street. 

It’s a convenient location for the unit since the NYPD’s Citywide Traffic Task Force — which issues traffic violations, makes arrests and upholds the rules of the road in New York City — is headquartered across the street at 138 West 30th Street. 

CBRE (CBRE)’s Jeffrey Kilimnick arranged the deal for DCAS. He declined to comment. 

Vanbarton was represented by JLL’s Kyle Young, Matthew Astrachan, Mitchell Konsker and Thomas Swartz. Young said in a statement that there has recently been significant leasing momentum at 31 Penn Plaza.

That includes food service company Compass Group renewing for another 10 years at 31 Penn and expanding its footprint from 8,600 to 14,000 square feet on the sixth floor, according to JLL.  

The U.K.-based Compass — which owns a variety of companies that provide catering in schools and senior-living facilities — has its U.S. headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., and has been a tenant in 31 Penn since 2013.

Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Amy Zhen and Bianca Di Mauro represented Compass and did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.