August 26th - September 1st, 2005

New 9/11 Museum Readies for Opening

Sunday, August 28: The Ground Zero Museum Workshop, a new museum featuring photographs, videos, and artifacts taken after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, will open to the public this September, the Associated Press reported.

Established by Gary Marlon Suson, who spent eight months at Ground Zero with recovery workers searching for victims' remains, the 1,000-square-foot museum will be housed in Manhattan's Meatpacking District on West 14th Street -- the same building that Suson stood on to take images of the World Trade Center collapse in 2001, AP explained.

The museum is slated to open on September 8. Proceeds from its $15 admission fee will be donated to six charities, AP added.

For more information, visit the Ground Zero Museum Workshop website.

New Development Chief Appointed at WTC Memorial Foundation

Monday, August 29: World Trade Center Memorial Foundation President and CEO Gretchen Dykstra announced the appointment of Addie Guttag to senior vice president of development.

Guttag, who comes with a wealth of experience in the development area, will be charged with raising $500 million for the memorial. In addition to spearheading the fundraising effort on both national and international levels, Guttag will work with individual donors and corporations.

"Our first priority is to raise funds to construct a memorial to honor those who died, those who helped, and those who cared," Dykstra explained.

Guttag's past experience includes work as a management, marketing, and development consultant for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Doctors Without Borders, and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. She has also served as vice president of development for the Museum of Television and Radio, managing director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, and chief of staff to Geraldine Ferraro.

For more information about the World Trade Center Memorial, visit www.wtcmemorialfoundation.org.

7 WTC Nears Completion

Monday, August 29: With just months to go before its scheduled completion, Silverstein Properties announced that 7 World Trade Center is 90 percent finished and will be ready for occupancy by March 2006, Newsday reported.

The first tower to be completed at the new World Trade Center site, 7 WTC stands 52 stories high and is said to become the safest office building in the country once it is completed. An estimated 400 people are working on 7 WTC daily, currently installing 29 elevators, commissioning the mechanical systems that will control the building, and installing exterior amenities, the paper explained.

Ameriprise Financial, a subsidiary that will soon separate from American Express, is continuing negotiations with Silverstein Properties to lease 20,000 square feet of the 1.7 million square feet available in the building. The New York City and State incentives that were passed this summer are expected to spike interest in the property, though it has yet to sign any official tenants, the paper added.

Lower Manhattan's Transportation Future En Route

Tuesday, August 30: A major step toward Lower Manhattan's grand, future transportation network was made official as Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, joined by Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials, marked the start of construction on the Fulton Street Transit Center's underground concourse. Scheduled for completion in 2008, the concourse will link 11 subway lines and the World Trade Center (WTC) Transportation Hub. For complete coverage, click here.

Workshops to Address Memorial Museum Programming

Wednesday, August 31: A series of upcoming workshops will invite members of the public to give input into program development for the Memorial Museum dedicated to the events of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993, that will be built at the World Trade Center site. The museum, through its resource center, exhibitions, and educational programs, hopes to tell the individual stories of the victims of the World Trade Center attacks and recall the contributions made around the world toward rescue, recovery, and relief efforts. For complete coverage, click here.

New Legislation for Business Incentives Approved

Wednesday, August 31: Gov. George Pataki, joined by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, yesterday approved legislation that will provide tax incentives to attract new businesses to Lower Manhattan while encouraging existing business to remain downtown. For complete coverage, click here.