New man at Port
Gov. George Pataki on Thursday named Kenneth J. Ringler, Jr., commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services, to become the new executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owners of the World Trade Center site.
“I look forward to the challenge of ensuring that Governor Pataki’s ambitious schedule for the rebuilding effort in Lower Manhattan remains on track,” Ringler, 56, said in a prepared statement. A P.A. spokesperson said Ringler was not available for further comment.
The authority’s board is expected to approve his appointment at its next meeting in October. The agency is controlled by two states, with the New York governor responsible for selecting the executive director and the New Jersey governor the chairperson.
Ringler will replace Joseph Seymour, who will remain in his post until late October, when Seymour will become a special advisor to the Port on W.T.C. issues. Seymour replaced Neil Levin, who was one of 84 Port Authority employees killed when the agency’s W.T.C. offices were destroyed Sept. 11, 2001.
Ringler will have to coordinate rebuilding efforts with the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., city agencies and developer Larry Silverstein, who owns the site’s leasing rights.
At O.G.S., he ran the state agency responsible for supporting other state agencies. Prior to that, he was executive deputy commissioner of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles from 1999 to March 2001. He lives in Bethlehem, N.Y.
Tim Carey, president and C.E.O. of the Battery Park City Authority, had been rumored to be a candidate for the Port position prior to Thursday’s announcement.
Stemming the tide at Canal?
Dept. of Transportation officials were counting cars at Canal and Hudson Sts. Tuesday. The intersection is near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel and residents have complained about its safety for years. A traffic study could mean that help for pedestrians is not that far away.
Chinatown fest
Chinatown is busily preparing for the two-week Autumn Moon Festival, marking the end of the summer harvest.
Kicking off the festival, sponsored by The Better Chinatown Society, on Sunday, September 26th is the opening parade consisting of a marching band, lion dances, martial arts exponents and 1000 lanterns to be given to children, who are welcome to join in the parade.
Beginning at 1:30 p.m., from Mott Street (between Canal and Bayard Sts.), the parade will make its way through Chatham Square, the Bowery, Canal, and finishing back at Mott Street.
Following the parade at 3 p.m. there will be cultural performances, games and competitions through 6p.m.
For the duration of the two-week event, through October 9, more than 40 restaurants throughout Chinatown will be offering three to five course fixed priced meals, with lunch costing $8.88 and dinner $18.88.
In keeping with the food theme, on October 2, is a one-day “Taste of Chinatown” event with restaurants, bakeries and teahouses offering a tasting plate for $1. Tables will be set up in front of each food establishment and a tasting tour map will be available listing the location of participating restaurants.
For more information go to www.ExploreChinatown.com.
C.B. 1 meetings
The upcoming week’s schedule of Community Board 1 committee meetings is below. Unless otherwise noted, all committee meetings are held at the board office located at 49 Chambers St., Room 709.
On Tues., Sept. 28, the Youth Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. for a report and interview with Robert Rhodes, principal of Millennium High School; to discuss the proposed P.S. 234 annex at Site 5C, the community center at Site 5C, the East Side K-8 school and the fall youth fair.
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