April 6th - April 12th, 2007

Campaign Raises $4.7 Million to Treat 9/11 Illnesses

April 9^th: The 9/11 Neediest Medical Campaign, established to help those who developed serious illnesses after the September 11^th attack on the World Trade Center, has raised $300,000 since February, bringing the overall total collected to date to almost $4.7 million, the New York Times reported.

The funds will be divided between Mount Sinai Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital Center, where they will be used for uninsured patients. St. Vincent's World Trade Center Healing Services also will receive a $100,000 grant to treat patients suffering from major mental illnesses arising from 9/11.

The federal government last year provided $26 million to treat some who fell ill after the 9/11 attack. The money from the Neediest Medical Campaign will be available to doctors whose patients are not eligible for federal aid.

Moodys Expands 7 WTC Lease

April 10^th: Financial services firm Moody's Corp. has expanded its lease at 7 World Trade Center to occupy two additional floors, representing 80,000 additional feet, according to Commercial Property News. The expansion brings Moody's total leased office space in the building to 670,000 square feet.

Moody's will move into its new space sometime this year from its current headquarters at 99 Church Street, which Silverstein and joint venture partner CalSTRS purchased from the financial services firm last fall for $170 million.

Other confirmed tenants for 7 WTC include ABN AMRO, which will occupy 140,000 square feet beginning in early 2008; Ameriprise Financial, which moved in last June; and Darby & Darby P.C., which will move in next month. Overall, two-thirds of the building's space -- 1.1 million square feet -- has been leased.

PATH Terminal to Get New Temporary Entrance

April 11^th: A new PATH terminal entrance is now under construction on Vesey Street and will replace the existing entrance around the corner on Church Street, the New York Post reported. Like its predecessor, the new entrance will be temporary, serving until the permanent PATH terminal is completed at the World Trade Center (WTC) by 2011. Replacement of one temporary entrance with another is necessary to allow for construction of three WTC office towers and the permanent transit hub.

Deconstruction of the canopy over the current station will begin late next month. The new PATH entrance will feature eight escalators extending all the way to street level, making it easier to get to and from train platforms. To learn more about construction of the World Trade Center Transit Hub, click here.

Downtown Office Leases Surge as Rents Rise

April 11^th: According to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, job growth across several industry sectors has pushed office space vacancy rates down citywide, causing midtown rental rates to surge and more employers to look for space in Lower Manhattan, Metro New York reported. Almost 1.3 million square feet of space was leased downtown in the first quarter of 2007, up 67 percent from a year earlier.

Lower Manhattan accounted for 23 percent of all Manhattan leasing in the first quarter, up from 13 percent a year ago. Leasing of Class B buildings downtown rose 51.5 percent and Class C leasing more than tripled as tenants priced out by top-tier Class A properties began expanding their search. Downtown's overall vacancy rate dropped to 7.5 percent, down from 11.6 percent a year earlier.  

Ground Zero Slurry Wall to Get Its Own Slurry Wall

April 11^th: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey provided details about the plan to preserve part of the slurry wall or "bathtub" that protected the World Trade Center site from the Hudson River on 9/11, revealing that the wall will be getting its own $10 million bathtub, the New York Times reported.

"As an artifact, the slurry wall can no longer serve a structural purpose itself," Anthony Coscia, Port Authority chairman, told the Times. "So the wall will need its own slurry wall," he continued.

Under current plans, a 70-foot-high section of the wall measuring from 20 to 62 feet wide, depending on budget, will be visible and available for visitors to touch. In the section where the wall is openly displayed, a new concrete bathtub -- from two and a half to four feet thick -- will be built on its outer West Street side to protect the original wall from the river's water. The preliminary $10 million cost estimate could change depending on how much of the original wall will be exposed.

Additional Ground Zero Remains Identified

April 12^th: The Medical Examiners Office this week has identified the remains of two additional victims of the World Trade Center attack on 9/11 using advanced DNA technologies, the New York Times reported.

The first, an Australian man named Alberto Dominguez, 66, worked as a baggage handler for Qantas Airways in Sydney and was in the United States visiting family with his wife. He died after his plane, American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles, crashed into the north tower.

The second, a New Yorker named Carol Ann LaPlante, 59, was employed by Marsh & McLennan and was at work on the 97^th floor of the north tower at the time of the attack.

The remains of both victims were recovered in the original recovery effort, according to the Medical Examiners Office, but were only identified recently thanks to advances in DNA analysis. In total, seven new victims have been identified in the past two weeks, but the families of the other victims have declined to allow the release of their names.