printing plant for The New York Times between 1959 and 1975, as well as ABC television studios. At the same time, public housing extended to West End Avenue (across the street from the printing plant and the TV studios), and the Lincoln Towers redevelopment project extended to the rail yard boundary along Freedom Place. In 1962, the railroad proposed a partnership with the Amalgamated Lithographers Union to build a mixed-use development with 5,300 apartments, Litho City, on a platform over the tracks, with landfill in the Hudson River added for parks and docking facilities. Litho City was conceived as the centerpiece of a grandiose "master plan" for the entire Lincoln Square area. In the late 1960s, there were various proposals by the city's Educational Construction Fund for mixed residential and school projects, also partly on landfill. New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Central in 1968 as the rail lines were suffering severe financial difficulties that would ultimately lead to the demise of both. (The rail yard was known as the "Penn Yards" even though Penn Central only owned it for a brief period.) The railroad finally went bankrupt in 1971, and use of the yard for rail activities was abandoned. Redevelopment plans Early planning and Lincoln West After Penn Central declared bankruptcy, its assets were sold off in federal court. Aided by his father's influence, real estate developer Donald Trump first optioned the 59th-72nd Street yards in 1974 for no money down. Following a private meeting with Trump, his father, and Mayor Abraham Beame, the firm that was selling off Penn Central's assets gave the option to Trump because he "seemed best positioned [...] to get rezoning and government financing". Initially, Trump wanted to build up to 20,000 or 30,000 housing units on the site. After objections from the politically powerful Manhattan Community Board 7, which represents the neighborhood that included the rail yard, Trump twice downsized his plans for the yards. One of his proposals was for 12,450 apartments, and it depended on public financing that never materialized. One version had a relocated highway and a pseudo-park. In 1979, Trump decided against extending his option and Abe Hirschfeld, a longtime friend of Trump's father, took over the agreement. Hirschfeld soon brought in an Argentine company, the Macri Group, as majority partner, and in 1982, for the first time, a redevelopment plan was approved for