May 13th - May 19th, 2005

Buses Drive Once Again on Park Row

Monday, May 16: After being closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic for more than three years, Chinatown's Park Row reopened to buses and passersby, Newsday reported.

For the next 90 days, 200 buses per day will be permitted on the street, which connects City Hall Park and Chathman Square and serves as a main downtown thoroughfare. New York Police Department (NYPD) officials will closely monitor the traffic before deciding whether to permanently reopen the area, the paper said.

Closed after September 11, 2001, to address security concerns, the 660-yard stretch was used for additional parking by the nearby NYPD headquarters at One Police Plaza. The extended road closure is said to have been a strain on area businesses and residents, who have largely been isolated from daily traffic over the past three years, the paper explained.

Both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, who announced the partial reopening of Park Row on April 14, are expected to announce whether or not the street will permanently reopen soon after the 90-day trial period concludes, the paper added.

Staten Island Ferry Terminal to Get New Look

Monday, May 16: When Staten Island's new St. George Terminal officially opens on Friday, it will feature a glass-and-metal wall offering breathtaking views of the sky and water, a roof 20 feet taller than its current one to increase the site's openness, and 20,000 square feet of retail space, among other amenities, the New York Times reported.

"The idea was to create as many modern interventions as we could," Kenneth Drucker, a design partner at the architecture firm H.O.K., which revamped the terminal, told the Times. "The challenge was to reuse as much of the existing structure as possible."

The newly outfitted terminal will include electronic sensors to count the number of passengers boarding the Staten Island ferries each day and a newly surfaced floor showcasing a colorful map of the ferry's routes across the harbor, the paper explained.

Staten Island's St. George Terminal rehabilitation project was proposed in 1999 as part of the city's efforts to revitalize its waterfront. Groundbreaking on the $124 million renovation project took place on September 6, 2001 -- just five days before the 9/11 attacks, which resulted in the project's delay, the Times noted.

The opening of the terminal comes just months after the January opening of Lower Manhattan's new Whitehall Ferry Terminal. For complete coverage about the Whitehall Terminal, click here.

New WTC Signs Chronicle 9/11 Events

Tuesday, May 13: Three new signs were quietly hung along a fence on Church Street overlooking Ground Zero on May 12, representing a historic timeline of the events that took place during the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

Inspired by the New York State Museum's "WTC, 9/11 First 24 Hours" timeline, each of the new fixtures recounts the day's events between 6:30 a.m. and 11:29 p.m. and features 13 photographs and three illustrations, including one that serves to help visitors orient themselves to where they are at the site. With the exception of one, all of the photographs were taken on the day of the attacks.

Produced on a graffiti-resistant surface, the $18,000 signs each measure 12 feet wide and 4 feet high and depict several objects from the museum's collections that were recovered from the WTC site, including a PATH patch, an evacuation plan sign, an elevator plaque from the 78th floor, and primary campaign posters.

The signs were designed and produced by the New York State Museum in collaboration with the Families of September 11, an advocacy group whose executive director, Nikki Stern, helped to spearhead the 10-month effort along with the museum's director, Mark Schaming. Additional support was provided by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which funded the project; the Fire Department of New York; the York Police Department; and the Family Advisory Council of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

WTC Cultural Center Designs Revealed

Thursday, May 19: The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation presented schematic designs for the cultural center to be built at the World Trade Center site during a press conference at downtown's Museum of Jewish Heritage. For complete coverage, click here.

Trump Proposes Alternative Plan for WTC Site

Thursday, May 19: Donald Trump unveiled his vision for a new World Trade Center that would feature two separate buildings, similar to the original Twin Towers, at a news conference held at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported.

Designed by Trump's structural engineer, Kenneth Gardner, the towers would stand 111 stories tall -- one floor taller than the original towers. Additionally, each structure would be created in accordance with updated building codes and reinforced to be more structurally sound than their predecessors, the Journal explained.  

The plan, which was dismissed by rebuilding officials for not having been proposed during the actual planning process three years ago, lacks details on how it will be funded, among other items. Trump has proposed that WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, execute his design proposal, the Journal added.