I'm not knowledgable about this, but does New York MTA own/commercialize the land above their stations or just the tracks/right of way? I always felt like in NY

I'm not knowledgable about this, but does New York MTA own/commercialize the land above their stations or just the tracks/right of way? I always felt like in NYC it was really odd how the stations are usually really tiny and don't really have any stores or vendors except those tiny convenience stores on the platforms, and a few really crappy looking shops sprinkled in big stations like Times Square. Stands in stark contrast to the ones in Tokyo where I'm living now, where the station malls are amongst the nicest and the vendors within the fare gates are plentiful, name-brand businesses (think stuff like Muji and Kinokuniya) and quality restaurants. Is the Port Authority owned Oculus at WTC an exception to the rule, or am I misinterpreting how the MTA works? If my understanding is correct that MTA doesn't own that land, then imagine how fast and efficiently they would have built the 2nd Av subway if they also knew they could funnel millions of people to whatever revenue machines they built on every station along the way.