Tag Archives: lower manhattan development corporation

Ground Zero Mosque

American Center for Law and Justice Criticizes Mayor’s Office

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Ground Zero Mosque
The planned location of the Park51 Community Center

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents Tim Brown, a New York City firefighter who was a first responder to the September 11th attacks and ultimately survived the collapse of the Twin Towers, recently filed a lawsuit to stop the erection of the Ground Zero Mosque. As of Wednesday, the ACLJ requested that the court enjoin the mosque’s developers from performing any demolition or construction at the site.

The situation is a bit sticky, as the ACLJ claims that Mayor Bloomberg’s office is getting in the way of justice, in terms of reluctance to issue documents, and released a statement on the matter. “There is a disturbing pattern of stonewalling by the City and Mayor’s Office in providing information about what’s clearly been a politically tainted process from day one,” said Brett Joshpe, ACLJ Counsel.  “The limited release of documents by the Mayor’s Office underscores our concerns.  With developers moving forward with their plans and the continued lack of response by the City, we’re seeking an injunction from the court to halt the destruction of any of the buildings at issue in the case.”

The ACLJ’s lawsuit names New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the New York City Department of Buildings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the mosque’s developers.  The suit also cites two complaints to the Department of Buildings noting unauthorized work without proper permits at the mosque site and the developers’ application for $5 million in public funding through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation as an indication that project is moving forward.

The ACLJ’s lawsuit alleges that the LPC abused its discretion and acted arbitrarily in its deliberations last summer about whether to landmark a building that was damaged on September 11th and which would need to be demolished to develop the Ground Zero Mosque.

What is your opinion on the Ground Zero mosque?

Tribute in Light in Battery Park

Tribute in Light Returns This Year and Next

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Tribute in Light in Battery Park
Tribute in Light atop the Battery Garage on Morris Street.

The downtown skyline will soon be illuminated with the somber Tribute in Lights. Two giant beams of light cutting through the realization that we are upon the 9th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

The Tribute in Light first came on six months after the attacks in 2002, and have been primarily funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) who have provided the financial support of the iconic tribute.

Contrary to popular belief, the Tribute in Lights is not beaming at the World Trade Center site but are located six blocks south of Ground Zero, set atop the Battery Garage on Morris Street. During the first two years of the tribute, the lights were located on West Street where the Goldman Sachs building now stands.

The tribute is comprised of 88 4-foot tall searchlights set in 50 x 50 foot identical squares.

Although primarily subsidized by the LMDC, the project is also in conjunction with Con Edison. It is speculated that after the LMDC re-allocated funding earmarked for Con Edison, meant to subsidize Con Edison’s costs at the World Trade Center Site may play a role in compromising the future of the Tribute. As of today, it is if the Tribute will exist beyond the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attack in 2011.

This year, as the past few years, the tribute will begin at dusk on September 11th and end on dawn of September 12.

Lower Manhattan gears up for Fashion's Night Out

Businesses Looking Forward to Fashion’s Night Out

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Lower Manhattan gears up for Fashion's Night Out
Lower Manhattan gears up for Fashion's Night Out (Credit: A Uno Tribeca)

Lower Manhattan cannot be farther from the stilettos that will kick off Fashion Week catwalks, but that won’t stop business owners in our area from celebrating Fashion’s Night Out tomorrow night, especially not Jennifer Gandia of  Greenwich Jewelers.

“Jewelry IS fashion and we’re excited about participating!” says Gandia, “The number of stores participating this year is amazing — way more than last year. There is an event for everyone.”

Participation in an event such as Fashion’s Night Out is important to local businesses. As the global recession has taken its toll on every industry, Lower Manhattan businesses have endured a distinctly tougher economic climate.

The loss of pedestrian traffic from the original World Trade Center site compounded by infrastructural changes and the construction restrictions around the area have forced many businesses to close.

“We feel very disconnected from the rest of the West Side,” says Jennifer Gandia of Greenwich Jewelers on Trinity Place, which is only a few blocks south of the World Trade Center site, “We are ready for the [World Trade Center] site to be completed.”

As most businesses in our area still rely on the Monday through Friday patronage of nearly 300,000 daily workers that commute to our area, Gandia notes that there is a responsibility of business owners to connect with the growing residential population.

“There are many reasons small businesses in this neighborhood have closed. It’s important for the residents to patronize their local shops but its a two way street, the businesses in the area must serve the locals,” says Jennifer Gandia of Greenwich Jewelers, “That means being open when the people who live here are home. We had to change our hours and open on weekends to serve the residents of the neighborhood. In turn they come to use when they need something and know we are here.”

As businesses such as Gandia’s see this as just a bump in the road to recovery, leaders in our area acknowledge that these challenges to small businesses may last for another 5 years.

So much so, that  State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblyman Sheldon Silver along with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation had announced The Small Firm Assistance Program earlier this week. The program seeks to offer aid to small businesses in Lower Manhattan affected by these infrastructural challenges all the way through sunset of December 31, 2015.

Handicaps aside, that doesn’t mean there aren’t signs of hope. According to a recent Downtown Alliance report, economic recovery is on an upswing as nearly 300 new businesses have relocated to Lower Manhattan since 2008.

According to Gandia, “We choose not to focus on the past and instead to remain present minded and plan for our future and the next 30-plus years of serving the downtown community.”

To find out more on how you can support Fashion’s Night Out events in our area, check out the complete listing of shops and their events here.

To see how you can take part in Greenwich Jeweler’s silent auction, view the pieces on auction and find out more details here.

Richard Pasquarelli pieces are unveiled

Downtown Alliance Unveils New Art Installations

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Richard Pasquarelli pieces are unveiled
Richard Pasquarelli pieces are unveiled as part of Re:Construction

In an effort to beautify the multitude of cold construction sites in and around Lower Manhattan, the Downtown Alliance has announced three new art pieces as part of their Re:Construction initiative.

Re:Construction is a local construction site beautification project spearheaded by the Downtown Alliance.

“Now Lower Manhattans workers, residents and six million annual visitors can enjoy Richard Pasquarelli as part of our program to recast construction sites as canvases for innovative public art and architecture,” says Elizabeth H. Berger, President of the Downtown Alliance.

Re:Construction is a public art program which is funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. The program has produced 16 pieces since 2007, seven of which are currently up for viewing.

“These additional installments by Richard Pasquarelli are worthy additions to the success of the Re:Construction program” said Lower Manhattan Development Corporation President David Emil. “We’re proud to fund these exhibitions and look forward to our continued partnership with the Downtown Alliance to ease the negative impacts of Downtown’s rebuilding projects.”

The three pieces unveiled this week, will be placed at three construction sites south of Chambers Street. The first piece “Restore the View” can be seen at the site of CUNY’s Fitterman Hall, a building which was destroyed on 9/11 at Barclay Street.

The two other works are: “Secret Gardens” will be installed at the Chambers Street road construction project which spans from West Street to West Broadway, and “Hours of the Day” which is set to be installed at Washington and Albany Streets.

Once construction is completed at these areas, the pieces will come down.

Richard Pasquarelli is a 41-year-old Bronxville born artist whose paintings have been seen nationwide, including at the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

“As a painter, my work has a psychological intimacy,” says Pasquarelli, “My work tends to have an element of mystery and ambiguity that leaves it open to many interpretations and I hope that passersby will each have their own individual response to these works.”

Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque

Park51 Mosque To Seek LMDC Funding

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Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque
Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque

We had a few questions for Park51 today, so we reached out as any modern person does. Through Twitter.

UPDATE: Park51 had just tweeted to BatteryParkCity.com that they are seeking funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
To read the entire transcript go to our Twitter Feed (http://www.twitter.com/batterypark)

A partial transcript from the conversation reads below:

What do you think about our chat?

LMDC Con Edison Utility Fight

Con Edison & LMDC in September 11 Funding Struggle

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LMDC Con Edison Utility Fight
LMDC and Con Ed struggle for September 11th Funds

In a vote yesterday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) will allocate nearly $200 million dollars initially earmarked for a variety of utility costs around the World Trade Center site allocated instead for quality of life programs in the downtown area.

The variety of utility costs include those associated with the World Trade Center Memorial, transportation, cultural institutions, affordable housing and other programs.

Another vote will be scheduled to appropriate specific costs from the funding from this decision.

Con Edison is unhappy with the decision, as the utilities company was the sole recipient of the $200 million funding for the rebuilding of their infrastructure after September 11th.

Con Edison’s current costs of rebuilding amount to  $186 million, but has already received $161 million for those costs. Con Ed claims without the subsidies, the Public Service Commission can allow Con Edison to increase energy costs to its customers.

Julie Menin, chairwoman of Community Board 1 and an LMDC board member, “It’s the first step in what will result in a very large amount of funding going to the Lower Manhattan community, and that’s what Congress intended,” according to a report in Crain’s New York.

The vote is seen as a win for the community groups, but is not over yet as representatives from the Mayors office and LMDC have meet with Con Edison to hammer out utilities deals.

Besides the World Trade Center Memorial, reports have been unclear as to who these community interest groups are. One mentioned group would be the 3LD theater on Greenwich street, which has faced bankruptcy in recent years.

The LMDC is charged with allocating almost $800 million in September 11th funds before the corporation is formerly shut down.

What happens with the Deutsche Bank building?

What Does LMDC’s Demise Mean for Battery Park City?

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What happens with the Deutsche Bank building?
What happens with the Deutsche Bank building? (Flickr/tacker)

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. After siphoning Battery Park City surplus revenue in an effort to close the State’s budget deficit, Governor Paterson has decided to dissolve the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) citing years of ineptitude in running the disbursement of funds allocated to the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after the September 11th terrorist attacks.

One could easily agree that little has been seen from the LMDC– but might also argue that the dissolution of the organization might be a heavy handed option for a community still reeling from the after effects of 9/11 nearly a decade later. Although the LMDC will not be completely shut down, the Governor is proposing cutting the organization by 85% from 35 fulltime staffers to 5.

This is cause for some concern for residents of Lower Manhattan but especially Battery Park City being that the LMDC is the owner and responsible agent for the dismantling of the former Deutsche Bank building, a behemoth skeleton of a visual reminder of how much work is left.

From its inception in 2001 from government and by then Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the intent of the LMDC was to “work closely with the private sector to determine a proper market-driven response to the economic and infrastructure needs of Lower Manhattan, as well as with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to identify the appropriate redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.”

According to the LMDC’s website, some of its core responsibilities include city operations, communications, community relations, construction mitigation, environmental compliance, fraud prevention, small business development and marketing. Dissolution of the LMDC could affect our community in the following ways:

1. Safety and infrastructural hazards
As if it’s not dangerous or confusing enough to cross the West Side Highway to reach the subway, how will a 5-person team be optimized to make sure that our safety is maintained during the construction at Ground Zero? The implementation of crossing guards in our area, although fiscally insufficient, was still a step in the right direction. With all the confusing bridge detours being built and constantly changed — who will notify us of these changes? High winds during the winter also pose a serious safety risk during construction, if the falling glass panes from Goldman Sachs’ construction site can be used as an example.

2. Dismantling of the Deutsche Bank Building
The history of the former Deutsche Bank building post 9/11 has been riddled with corruption and safety concerns. From the issues surrounding the decontamination of the building to the safety of the workers dismantling the building, who will be accountable if something goes wrong? According to the LMDC, concerned residents can call a hotline to report incidents at the site as to avoid what happened on August 18, 2007 when a fire spread through the site killing 2 firefighters.

3. Environmental Compliance
The progress reports that are issued by the LMDC are important for our community as the demolition affects the health of the air we breathe during its decontamination. Although most of us probably haven’t even seen one of these reports — it’s important that they be maintained in order for us to be aware of the hazards that might exist during the demolition.

4. Small Business Development
The lack of business real estate means the lack of foot traffic of businessmen and women, which translates into the decimation of small businesses in our area. As we roll into our 9th year of waiting for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site — who will help the small businesses that residents rely on in this underserved area? Although disbursements of small business grants have been slow from the LMDC — there is still almost $800 Million dollars of yet to be disbursed funds. These funds were meant for the development of Lower Manhattan distributed through the LMDC. When the governor dissolves the LMDC, what will happen to that funding?

These are four compelling reasons as to reconsider dissolving the LMDC. If the organization needs less ineptitude and better people to run it — why restructure and re-organize the LMDC instead? There must be a better option for the betterment of a still embattled Lower Manhattan.