Robert Douglass, founding chairman of the Alliance for Downtown New York and a driving force behind the building of Battery Park City and the original World Trade Center, died on Dec. 6. He was 85 years old.
Douglass served as Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s Counsel and Secretary in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and helped lay the groundwork for the Twin Towers and the creation of the state-controlled addition to Manhattan, as well as helping David Rockefeller’s Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association launch the revitalization of Downtown, before helping to found the Downtown Alliance and leading from its inception in 1995 through 2015 — a career that earned him the monicker “Mr. Downtown.”
“He was a giant and a gentleman, and it is nearly impossible to overstate his influence on this neighborhood,” said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin. “For more than 30 years, he championed Lower Manhattan’s growth and played a significant part in its recovery after the 9/11 attacks. As an advocate for businesses and residents, he has helped articulate a compelling vision for a Lower Manhattan for the 21st Century. Lower Manhattan simply would not be what it is today without him.”
Douglass was an early advocate of converting Downtown’s vacant office space into residential buildings, and ongoing process that has transformed Lower Manhattan from a fading commercial district into the fastest-growing neighborhood in the city, and one of the most dynamic.
As chairman of the Downtown Alliance and lifetime director of the D-LMA, Douglass was one of Downtown’s most effective boosters — especially in the wake of the 9/11 attacks — and helped ensure that Lower Manhattan came back better than ever from the catastrophe.
In 2005, Gov. George Pataki appointed Douglass to the board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, charged managing the post-9/11 rebuilding of Downtown, describing him as “a tireless advocate for Lower Manhattan for decades” and a “dynamic, committed leader who brings the vision, experience and expertise to ensure that we realize the Master Site Plan for the World Trade Center and ensure that Lower Manhattan remains the financial capital of the world for generations to come.”
The day after Douglass’s death, the LMDC and the board of the Battery Park City Authority both voted to recommend renaming the upcoming West Thames Street Pedestrian Bridge in his honor.
After he received the Liberty Award at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s annual gala in 2012, Douglass described Lower Manhattan’s extraordinary recovery after the 9/11 attacks and added: “I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have had the opportunity to play a part in this incredible transformation.”
