This year Lower Manhattan will see many rebuilding and new construction projects begin or continue to proceed and with that in mind for 2006, we wish:
* The necessary preparatory work by the Port Authority and developer Larry Silverstein proceeds with urgency on Tower 2 and for other viable Church St. buildings at the World Trade Center site. We hope that everyone involved recognizes that construction of the Freedom Tower should be placed on hold until its success is more secure.
*The WTC Memorial Foundation recognizes the importance of arts institutions at the W.T.C. and works to make them a reality, rather than to delay their realization.
*The work to demolish Fiterman Hall finally begins and the inexcusable delays in taking down this blighted building near 7 W.T.C. end. Officials with the State Dormitory Authority and the City University say the project will begin this spring. Over four years after 9/11, we sure hope that the Fiterman demolition imbroglio won’t call for the special services of former U.S. Senate majority George Mitchell, who mediated an agreement to begin work at the shrouded Deutsche building hovering over the W.T.C.
*The city, state and Lower Manhattan Development Corporation move the important Greenwich Street South idea — which could transform the area south of the W.T.C. and near the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel entrance and exit ramps, from a car-dominated, pedestrian nightmare into a place where people can live, walk, work and shop safely in appealing surroundings – onto a really-going-to-happen list.
*City, state and federal officials focus on ways to provide relief from the economic hardship many small Downtown businesses will suffer while all of the construction proceeds.
*The Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center continues to look for ways to reduce the construction pain on residents and workers and to keep everyone informed of developments.
*The state and city makes real progress on opening Governors Island to the public after centuries of previous stewards denying most New Yorkers a chance to experience this potential public park jewel.
*General Growth Properties reveals to the Downtown community some of its early thoughts about what it wants to do at the Fulton Fish Market sites and begins a real dialogue with Community Board 1 in which the firm not only listens to ideas but explains how viable it thinks they are. For over a century and a half, the fish market was part of our community and we wish the mongers only the best in their new Bronx home. But we hope to see new venues and attractions that draw nearby residents and workers to the water all year round.
*The city and L.M.D.C. recognize the importance of preserving existing parks while they build new ones and permanently protect the Pearl St. playground in a neighborhood starved for active, open space.
*President Bush and Gov. Pataki convince their Republican friends in the House to approve the $2-billion tax transfer to help build the Lower Manhattan rail link to J.F.K. Airport and the Long Island Rail Road and fulfill the president’s promise after 9/11.
*The dynamic residential growth that has made Lower Manhattan the fastest growing residential area of the city, continues, and that public officials continue to plan the types of amenities — schools, parks, libraries, etc. — necessary to support this growth.
*Our biggest hope is for a peaceful and prosperous 2006.
Editorial clarification
The Port Authority has retracted its claim that developer Larry Silverstein will be able to begin foundation work at the World Trade Center site’s Church St. lots in the spring of 2006. In last week’s editorial, “Put the Freedom Tower on hold,” we reported that the P.A. said construction could begin this spring, based on an interview with Steve Coleman, an agency spokesperson. Silverstein’s executives were not able to respond in detail by press time, but the editorial did include their denial of the assertion. In a followup interview, Coleman said he was misinformed and that his original claim was untrue. Both sides now agree that Site 2 at Church and Vesey Sts. will be ready for construction in 2007 and the two other Church St. sites will be ready in the middle of 2008 when the Church St. “bathtub” will be complete. Coleman said there is a chance the Port Authority could finish the bathtub six months ahead of schedule.
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