As a $1.6 billion plan to transform the iconic Farley Post Office Building into a transportation hub takes shape, critics say the money could be better spent on work more directly impacting commuters. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.

It's Governor Andrew Cuomo's transit project of the moment: expanding Penn Station across Eighth Avenue into the old Farley Post Office Building.

Last week, the completion of a concourse linked the two sites for the first time.

"It is a beginning of a transformation," Cuomo said. "This is also Door Number 1. Door Number 2 is when we finish the train hall."

But the $1.6 billion project is not just about rail transportation. When completed, the Farley Building will have nearly three times the amount of space for retail as there will be for Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road.

Which is why critics lined up at a news conference Tuesday blasting the deal. They said public funds should not be covering the bulk of the costs for a project that's more shopping mall than train hall at a time when the region's transit system is plagued by delays and breakdowns.

"We need to get down and tackle the real issues that are affecting infrastructure and transit in New York," said Charles Khan of the Strong Economy for All Coalition. "I promise you that it's not the lack of shopping malls and it's not that there's a lack of TV screens inside our transit hubs."

A plan for private developers to create the new transit hub has been around since the early 1990s, but it has gained traction under Cuomo.

"It's just going to privatize and sell off a public asset to the very wealthy yet again. We're here to say no," said Pete Sikora of the Center for Popular Democracy.

A spokesman for the governor called the protest "misguided," and boosters said the public-private renovation of the landmark will ultimately be a plus for the city.

"When you have this type of space and it's not being utilized in a positive way, that's really not good for the economy," said Gary La Barbera of the Building and Construction Traces Council of Greater New York.

And after a generation of plans, the renderings may finally become reality.

What will eventually be known as the Moynihan Train Hall, with its attached 700,000 square feet of retail space, is supposed to open by late 2020, early 2021.