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The forum assembled an unprecedented group of public and private officials
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Community Board 1 (CB1) held a special public meeting on July 10th to learn more about World Trade Center (WTC) rebuilding plans directly from the leaders in charge. The forum assembled an unprecedented group of public and private officials, including Chris Ward, the Port Authority’s new executive director under Governors David Paterson and John Corzine.
The meeting came just 10 days after the Port’s announcement that WTC redevelopment is behind schedule and over-budget. Governor Paterson has set a September 30th deadline for a full and “realistic” construction assessment of the site’s multiple large-scale projects -- including the Freedom Tower, National 9/11 Memorial, WTC Transportation Hub, and Towers 2, 3 and 4.
CB1 members sat with state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and state Senator Martin Connor at the meeting to demand accurate timelines, cooperation, and accountability by those in charge. Ward responded to questions from the board and the public, alongside Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) Chairman Avi Schick, Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber, Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (LMCCC) Acting Executive Director Robert Harvey, WTC Memorial Foundation President Joe Daniels, and Silverstein Properties WTC Redevelopment Director Janno Lieber.
“It’s important to recognize how much has been done in Lower Manhattan -- how the site is rising,” said Ward. “There is nothing in our minds that says anything currently envisioned at the Trade Center site will not be completed. There very well may be some trade-offs, there may be some tough timing questions, but at the end of the day, that which we’ve all hoped for and dreamt of, I believe, will in fact be completed.”
Ward’s comments were echoed by other officials. “Downtown is about so much more than [the Trade Center’s] 16 acres,” said Schick. “We have to make sure that Lower Manhattan has the amenities necessary to become a 24/7, full-service community and neighborhood -- and that has to go on simultaneously with the rebuilding.”
Harvey added that with 170 active construction projects south of Canal Street, coordination and mitigation are the top priorities for safe and logical rebuilding. To that end, the LMCCC serves as the central agency for gathering, projecting, and analyzing data to ensure efficiency for the myriad downtown developers. Additionally, the LMCCC sets and helps facilitate environmental performance commitments to maintain quality of life during the rebuilding, posting air-monitoring results and other information on LowerManhattan.info.
Daniels spoke specifically about the memorial and itemized its progress: the $350 million fundraising goal has been reached, more than 70 percent of construction contracts have been awarded, footings and foundation work is complete, slurry wall reinforcement is underway, steel installation begins in the fall, and the plaza’s nearly 400 oak trees are now growing in a nursery.
“With over three years until the 10th anniversary [of 9/11], we believe working together with the stakeholders at this table and with the community, and with the right focus, this important [opening date] can be met,” said Daniels.
Responding to questions from board members, Schick also said that the LMDC still has $55 million allocated for the performing arts center, and that the agency is working with the city on preliminary plans for this cultural component at the WTC.
With basic design plans for almost all of the WTC’s projects set, Ward said that the only changes would likely be in the engineering, “to deliver the same structure but with different architecture.”
Ward said that the Port Authority will return to CB1 after September 30th to present the new rebuilding timetables for which the various public and private leaders will be held accountable. He added, “This new cooperative effort, which brings transparency and stakeholder decision-making, will allow us to come back to the community and talk about realistic dates.”
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