2006, New Players, New Moves

Five years after 9/11 Lower Manhattan seemed in limbo. Newly elected Gov. Eliot Spitzer, after making a huge mark on Lower Manhattan as the state’s Attorney General and shaking up, or down, Wall Street, made little to no mark in regard to the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site.

A few signs of life materialized when a new Starbucks opened on Carlisle Street and Merchants NY opened in Battery Park City. But the recovery money was still sluggish in reaching small businesses and arts groups. The Drawing Center starting feeling the same political heat that sunk The Freedom Center the previous year, and looked to move to the Seaport from the W.T.C. Larry Silverstein’s 7 W.T.C. was named the city’s best new building by the Municipal Art Society, but his complete control of rebuilding the entire W.T.C. site was taken away as The Port Authority was named developer of Tower Five. Frank Sciame was asked to “value engineer” the burgeoning costs of the W.T.C. Memorial and recommended a vast scaling back of costs and amenities to get the Memorial back in line with its original $500 million price tag. Alice Greenwald was tapped to run the W.T.C. Memorial Museum. President Bush returned to Ground Zero to mark the fifth anniversary and was greeted by as many protesters as supporters.

The Headlines of 2006 tell the story:

Drawing Center sketches its future; after criticism from 9/11 families, center looks to move from W.T.C. to Seaport • Port and city take the Cortlandt St. retail fight to C.B. 1 • Some in Battery Park City worry about closing pedestrian bridges for West St. construction • 4.65 billion reasons why I should rebuild, Silverstein says; Bloomberg and P.A. wonder, should Silverstein be the one to rebuild the whole W.T.C.? • Officials reverse stream on 9/11 Memorial waterfalls, find a way to run them year-round • Work to demolish damaged Fiterman Hall may actually begin • Washington-Carlisle St. Starbucks and Merchant’s NY cafe: A few signs of new life as Downtown businesses struggle • More than 100 Downtown arts groups make their case for L.M.D.C. dough • Call for W.T.C. health czar to oversee treatment for first responders • Architect James Carpenter brings light to Downtown buildings, plans lighting for base of Seven W.T.C. • Holocaust Memorial Director Alice M. Greenwald to run W.T.C. Memorial Museum • Federal judge ‘shocked’ by E.P.A. statements that post-9/11 Lower Manhattan was safe • Movers and shakers say retail is moving Downtown • Independent agency should referee Silverstein-Bloomberg W.T.C. dispute, Stringer says • C.B. 1 lashes out at state bill to move 9/11 material from Fresh Kills landfill • E.P.A. skips out on City Council hearing to discuss 9/11 cleanup plan • An underground memorial loses some of its upside: Changing directions in the 9/11 Memorial design • Arts groups cash in on L.M.D.C. cash • Day of bravado and finger-pointing after Silverstein-Port W.T.C. talks break down • Community activists still press the 9/11 environmental fight • Despite protests by 9/11 families to preserve more Twin Tower bedrock, W.T.C. memorial construction work begins • Tribute 9/11 Visitors Center seeks W.T.C. photos • W.T.C. fight buried briefly as Municipal Art Society awards three Downtown projects: Seven W.T.C. is best new building • E.P.A. says ‘no’ again to Deutsche Bank demolition plan • Downtown groups look to continue 9/11 Memorial construction, oppose 9/11 families’ lawsuit • More E.P.A. concerns, more Deutsche Bank demolition delays • Downtown family objects to 9/11 footage on children’s show • With W.T.C. deal: Silverstein takes W.T.C. Two, Three, Four; Port takes Tower Five, delays retail construction • Nadler blasts J.F.K. rail link, W.T.C. cleanup: says Downtowners are being ‘poisoned’ • Ready or not, 9/11’s ‘United 93’ arrives in theaters: British writer-director Paul Greengrass recreates hijacked flight • School cell phone ban raises ire of parents near the W.T.C. • Deutsche Bank demolition demonstration draws attention to environmental concerns • 9/11 Memorial pedestrians won’t be stalled, officials say: Pedestrian circulation study has good findings • Frank Sciame, Kevin Rampe tapped for new W.T.C. roles • One opening, one bombshell at the W.T.C.; two days in the life of the W.T.C. • As Seven W.T.C. opens, insurance companies delay funds for further construction • The man behind life’s joy: Mark di Suvero has created 70-foot sculpture for reopening of Liberty Plaza Park as Zucotti Park • River-to-River Festival returns with a bang • Sciame hints at cuts to the W.T.C. memorial; 9/11 names will move, museum may stay • Residents’ 9/11 health funds running out, but W.T.C. Registry health survey continues • Deutsche Bank demolition delayed; Silverstein gets more bonds • 9/11 Memorial cuts please many, cost questions remain • For these characters, it’s not a wonderful life: “The Great New Wonderful” directed by Danny Leiner, is about New Yorkers coping with 9/11 • Architect David Childs’s design of Freedom Tower’s base and plaza • Construction workers, union leaders, pols rally to demand insurance funds for timely W.T.C. construction • New delay for Fiterman: demolition bids disregard environmental standards • NY Waterway to pay back $1.2 million in 9/11 billing dispute • City seeks to take over W.T.C. arts center project • Shifting dollars, debatable legacy as L.M.D.C. approaches its final days • Menin says Port is  interested in building a W.T.C. middle school • Downtowners in the street give mixed marks to L.M.D.C. • Manhattan Youth group forum would see if kids are all right five years later • Small merchants say 9/11 rebuilding is plowing them under • Images of 9/11, five years later: “Here: Remembering 9/11” photo exhibit by professionals and amateurs to be permanent part of W.T.C.  Memorial • Tribute W.T.C. Visitor Center to open on anniversary with galleries, gift shop, ‘full experience’ of both former W.T.C. and 9/11 • Moving on, despite the pull of the past, at “Here: Remembering 9/11,” the first public show of the W.T.C. Memorial Museum • Silverstein pledges environmentally-friendly W.T.C. construction • 9/11 demonstrators demand better health care for rescue workers and area residents • At preview opening, an emotional first look at Tribute W.T.C. Visitor Center • In ABC mini-series “Path to 9/11,” everyone is to blame • Bringing the 9/11 Commission Report to life: T.V. series traces the “Path to 9/11” in under five hours • Anne Nelson’s 2001 play ‘The Guys’ is remounted for Sept. 11’s fifth anniversary • New designers on the block: W.T.C. architects talk up designs for Church St. shopping • Bush, grannies, families find their way to mark 9/11, commemorating and demonstrating five years later • L.M.D.C. shakes budget, finds $200 million • Stefan Pryor, L.M.D.C.’s first hire, reflects on final days • Picturing loss: Seven W.T.C. exhibit “9/11 and the American Landscape: Photographs by Jonathan Hyman” commemorates country’s grief • E.P.A.: Shroud should come down!; agency ready to approve Deutsche Bank demolition • Fiterman takedown still in limbo • Clinton, Kennedy call for hearings on 9/11 bill to provide health money for affected workers and residents • Air quality control: Participants check for pollutants in Brooke Singer’s public art project • 9/11 Memorial run honors firefighter Stephen Siller, killed on 9/11 • No plan for W.T.C. tour buses in the early years • W.T.C. Memorial Foundation gets children’s 9/11 art from all over country • B.M.C.C. hopes Fiterman demolition will begin in 2007 • W.T.C. Memorial Foundation: Raising the money while we build the 9/11 memorial • C.B. 1: Cultural building shouldn’t be delayed any longer • Family member: Will the city do a better search for human remains this time? • W.T.C. workers’ forum to address injuries sustained by first responders • Port holds public hearing on W.T.C. Vehicle Security Center • W.T.C. remains search splits community board • Intrepid aircraft carrier swings Downtown to unfurl stars and stripes near the W.T.C. • Visitors invited to tell stories, make their marks on Freedom Tower’s beam