“We do need to get going on this station,” said Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, a civic advocacy group. “I’d like to see something exceptional done there.”

The long delay on the Moynihan project is typical of large, complicated redevelopment efforts involving partnerships between private developers and government, like Battery Park City, Hudson Yards or the rejuvenation of Times Square. The projects can languish through the ebb and flow of the economy, legal challenges and changes in Albany or at City Hall.

Nearly eight years after Related, and its development partner, Vornado Realty Trust, were selected by the state to build Moynihan Station, the developer is loath to relinquish its development rights. And today, the state has no desire to end the partnership, if only because it would have to reimburse Related for about $25 million in expenses related to the project.

Senator Moynihan wanted to transform the post office building to improve the cramped train station, which is used by more than 500,000 commuters a day. It was also meant to be an act of civic redemption for the 1963 demolition of the much-admired glass and steel train shed that soared over the underground portion of the station. Both the old Penn Station and the post office building were designed by the same firm — McKim, Mead & White.

But the development partners had a far more ambitious, $14 billion plan in mind. They sought to demolish Madison Square Garden, which sits over Penn Station, and build a new arena for the Knicks and Rangers inside the post office. With the Garden gone, they planned to overhaul Penn Station, erecting a glass-enclosed train hall, along with department stores and, nearby, office and residential buildings.

The complicated plan collapsed in 2008 because of the recession.

Currently, the state’s development corporation is overseeing about $300 million in work beneath the post office building to create two entrances for Amtrak commuters at 31st and 33rd Streets and to expand the train platforms and the passageway to Penn Station.

Related executives first approached the Borough of Manhattan Community College about a land swap in summer 2011. The college’s enrollment has climbed to nearly 25,000 students, up 30 percent from 18,763 in 2004, forcing the school to lease space nearby.