Lefty - although I'm torn between reusing the CT and pushing for a downtown station, I'm also not totally following your thought process here.
I don't think reusing the CT is shortsighted as you keep saying, actually I think it's just more realistic. You mention a connection to Toronto, but using the CT would not hinder that connection in any way. Although it may not be ideal to have the platform on the East Side, it's not as big a deal if it were well connected with an expanded metro-rail. I don't think the benefits of having it go directly downtown necessarily outweigh the cost of substantial demolitions and costs of all the things you are talkiing about like a new convention center, new ball park, land acquisitions, etc. On top of that, the CT fits much better with a westward expansion to Chicago. Much like having the airport in Cheektowaga, I don't see the CT's distance as a total negative. If both the airport and CT were connected to downtown (and other local destinations) then they can work well. Finally, I know you keep talking about 25 years out, but the HS rail in NY could happen much more quickly if realistic solutions are selected (like reusing the infrastructure at the CT) and using that as a strong business case to get money for the metro rail expansion. I think those investments are more likely to happen. I know you think the more grandiose plans are more forward-thinking. But they are also less likely to ever happen... or at least less likely to be completed properly. The money is being made available in the short-term.... i.e. "now". There is no guarantee any of it will be available later when all this city-redesign you mention has been studied, engineered, planned, debated, and finally approved. This is NY after all.
This is a good debate though. I don't see any of this as 'right' or 'wrong'... but they are serious decisions, and they need to be made relatively soon so that the opportunity of these federal investments isn't lost to another region.