BY John Bayles
David Emil was thinking of stepping down as President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation last summer, but he didn’t. He did, however, announce his departure, at least as the president, two weeks ago.
“The reason I am leaving is because my father died in the summer,” said Emil. “I am the executor of his estate, and it requires that I devote a substantial amount of time to the work.”
Emil said he decided to stay on board over the summer because he wanted to see the demolition of 130 Liberty, the former site of the Deutsche Bank building, through to completion. And that is why he will remain, although in a part-time manner with part-time pay and part-time responsibilities, until the project is finished.
“My goal is to help the agency to do what’s necessary to the very end of completion of 130 Liberty,” said Emil.
The building, barring unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather, is scheduled to be fully demolished by mid-January.
Emil was the owner of the Windows of the World restaurant in the North Tower before the 9/11 attacks. And according to Emil, the sole reason he took the job with the L.M.D.C. was to honor the employees and friends he lost on that tragic day.
“I felt honored to be able to do anything in memory of my friends and colleagues, both at Windows of the World and the Port Authority,” said Emil. “That is what I want to be remembered for.”
With Emil’s announcement however, comes the question of whether or not the L.M.D.C. should continue to exist.
“Its mission is coming to a conclusion at the senior level, in the sense of making choices on how [the remaining] money should be spent,” said Emil.
Another question is whether Emil should be replaced.
Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1 and an L.M.D.C. board member agrees with Emil’s assessment of the agency’s overall mission. She has been pushing for a specific sunset date for the last year, citing the fact that there is only a relatively small chunk of money left to disburse, mainly to organizations that have applied for the last round of grants falling under the category of cultural and community enhancement.
As for Emil being replaced, Menin said, “It is not worth replacing him. The L.M.D.C. should sunset.”
A $17 million pool of money has been set aside for the cultural and community enhancement grants. According to Menin, while all of the applications have been received, a panel has yet to be established to select the grantees and dole out the money. All of this, she said, could be done without Emil being replaced and could be accomplished before next summer.
What would be left would be the legal and compliance issues regarding the funds that have been allotted but not spent. Emil said he believes such issues would need independent oversight. But he stopped short of saying whether or not the entire agency should dissolve.
“The program staff, the planning aspects — that could all go away,” said Emil.
But to simply turn over the L.M.D.C.’s oversight duties to a city or state agency would be, in Emil’s words, “like letting the foxes watch the hen house.”
Regardless of the agency’s future, Emil would like to remembered for one thing and one thing only; he wanted to honor the friends he lost in the attacks of 9/11.
