Retail giant wants out of MTA transit center lease, blames NYC crime for scaring away tenants

The retail giant that runs the Fulton Transit Center in Lower Manhattan wants out of its deal with the MTA – blaming crime for scaring tenants away from the shopping space.

Westfield Fulton Center claims the subway hub has been overrun by homeless people, street hustlers and vandalism because of a lack of adequate security, according to court papers — as one shop manager told The Post even a tip jar was stolen multiple times.

Assaults and employee intimidation have become more and more common at the glass-and-steel building on the corner of Fulton Street and Broadway, which the MTA initially pitched as comparable in stature to Rockefeller Center or Grand Central Station, the company claimed.

“Few businesses want to open and operate a store where their employees and customers regularly would experience theft, property damage, bodily harm, or threats thereof,” the company said in a March 8 response to an MTA lawsuit demanding the company stay on as managers.

“As the safety and security of Fulton Transit Center continued to degrade, it became nearly impossible to attract ‘high quality’ subtenants, existing ones declined to renew their leases and some surrendered their leases early, and the remaining existing subtenants have begged Westfield for help,” it continued.

“Many of the subtenants confirmed that Fulton Transit Center’s security issues were the sole reason they left the space.”