Tag Archives: world trade center

Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque

Quinnipiac Poll: 7 Out of 10 Want Park51 Moved

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

Although freedom of religion has been an important point in the debate surrounding the Park51 development, a new Quinnipiac Poll has been released confirming that New York voters defer to the sensitivities of 9/11 families.

According to the poll:

“By a 54 – 40 percent majority, voters agree “that because of American freedom of religion, Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero,” the independent poll finds. Another 7 percent are undecided.

But these same voters agree 53 – 39 percent, with 8 percent undecided, “that because of the sensitivities of 9/11 relatives, Muslims should not be allowed to build the mosque near Ground Zero.

And by a 71 – 21 percent majority, voters agree “that because of the opposition of Ground Zero relatives, the Muslim group should voluntarily build the mosque somewhere else.

By a 45 – 31 percent margin, New York State voters say they have a “generally favorable” opinion of Islam, with 24 percent undecided.

The heated, sometimes angry, debate over the proposal to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has New York State voters twisted in knots, with some of them taking contradictory positions depending on how the question is asked,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

A majority agrees that American freedom of religion gives Muslims the right to build the mosque near the site of the terrorist attack. Republicans disagree 54 – 39 percent.

Because of the sensitivities of relatives of the terrorist victims, an almost identical majority, including many of the same voters, believes Muslims should not be allowed to open the mosque.Overwhelmingly, across all party and regional lines, New Yorkers say the sponsors ought to voluntarily move the proposed mosque to another location,” Carroll added.

New York City voters say 63 – 28 percent that mosque proponents should voluntarily choose another site, compared to 76 – 17 percent among upstate voters and the same 76 – 17 percent among suburban voters.”

9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center Site

Trees Grow at the World Trade Center Site

9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center Site
Illustration of the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site. (Credit: Renewnyc.com)

New life has been planted giving way to the birth of the 9/11 Memorial Center at the Ground Zero site over the weekend.

A welcomed change and a stark contrast to the hulking metallic structures we have grown accustomed to in our area.

The first trees have been planted after being transported from a New Jersey nursery. At least a dozen oak trees had been slated to be planted before the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Nearly 400 trees will be planted when the entire Memorial Plaza is completed. The trees are expected to be fully grown at 80 feet and will tower over a planned rooftop garden. The trees will be planted around the perimeters of the original footprints of the Twin Towers.

NJ Nursery where the memorial trees were cultivated
NJ Nursery where the memorial trees were cultivated (Credit: Renewnyc.com)
World Financial Center Stairs in the Winter Garden, Battery Park City

World Financial Stairs Will Be Demolished

World Financial Center Stairs in the Winter Garden, Battery Park City
Winter Garden Staircase

The Winter Garden will go back to it’s original roots as a connection to the World Trade Center.

In a move that is set to break hearts in our community, a likely victim will be the beloved World Financial Stairs. After several weeks of speculation and a protest from the SEBC union workers in the World Financial Center, the stairs will be demolished to make way for a connection path from the Fulton Street Transit Hub.

The World Financial Center was connected to World Trade Center mass transportation through the Vesey Street bridge, which was destroyed during the 9/11 terror attacks.

In light of the rebuilding of both the World Trade Center and Fulton Street Transit hub, Brookfield Properties has announced a plan to connect Battery Park City with an underground tunnel. According to Brookfield, keeping the Winter Garden Stairs “would not only create an obstacle between the escalators from the underground tunnel and the Winter Garden, but would also waste a once-in-a-century opportunity to open the interior of lower Manhattan to the waterfront,” according to letter correspondence between Brookfield and City Planning officials according to the Downtown Express.

It is speculated that by eliminating the stairs would also provide increasing retail space in the World Financial Center, increasing revenue for Brookfield Properties.

In July, Community Board 1 officials have put in a formal request that the stairs be preserved. They are often seen as a standing landmark of the terror attacks and also provide unparalleled views of the waterfront. Officials from City Planning as well as Brookfield properties are set to address the demolition of the stairs when the Community Board is back in session in September.

The top of the stairs is currently used by tourists as a prime viewing area of the World Trade Center site.

Residents have been disheartened by news of the potential demolition of the stairs,
“The Winter Garden, and especially the Staircase, has become an iconic symbol of renewal as well as being the most beautiful space downtown,” says Betty Heller on BatteryParkCity.com,“ Destroying it would be an act of vandalism akin to the destruction of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station. Brookfield has been a remarkably good guardian of this precious space until now. It would be a shame to destroy their reputation.”

Larry Silverstein, World Trade Center, Port Authority New York and New Jersey

Port Authority Holds Special World Trade Center Meeting

Larry Silverstein, World Trade Center, Port Authority New York and New Jersey
Larry Silverstein, Developer of World Trade Center

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owners of the World Trade Center Site will be holding a special meeting today to vote on the funding required for two towers being developed by Larry Silverstein.

The vote that takes place today will solidify tentative deals announced between the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein in recent weeks.

The financing terms call for $1 billion dollars help from the Port Authority to develop a 64-story tower at the World Trade Center site. The Port Authority will also provide $600 million in backup funds for another 71-story tower, contingent on Silverstein being able to raise $200 million in cash as well as tenants for the building.

These two buildings are being constructed in tandem with 1 World Trade Center which was previously known as the Freedom Tower.

Former World Trade Center Site

9/11: 9 Years Later – Share your stories

Former World Trade Center Site
Former World Trade Center Site

It’s quite unbelievable that we are embarking on the 9th anniversary of 9/11.

For years after the attacks, I refused to face Ground Zero while passing south on the West Side Highway.

Partially because it pained me to see the area, but also because I wanted to remember everything that I loved so much about the Twin Towers. Simple memories, like tasting my first Krispy Kreme donut to meeting my high school sweetheart at the Path station.

This time, the road to the anniversary has been paved in controversy surrounding the Park51 center. The political firestorm has overshadowed the progress and positive rebuilding of our area that so many of us are looking forward to.

So, in light of the anniversaries — We’d like for you to share your memories, pre and post 9/11, thoughts and hopes for our neighborhood as we are moving through its metamorphosis.

We’re looking for pictures and stories from our neighbors and community members in our area. We will post as many as we get! Even if it’s only 1 or 2!

This site is as much yours as it is ours here at BatteryParkCity.com and it would be an honor to help share some of your stories with all our readers on the site.

To submit your shared stories, pictures and thoughts please reach out to us:

On our site:
https://batteryparkcity.com/contact

By email:
[email protected]

By Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/batterypark

We really look forward to hearing from you and to sharing your stories!

A visual depiction of the world trade center site

1 World Trade Center is a potential HQ for Bank of America

A visual depiction of the world trade center site
An illustration of the WTC site

Two years ago, the Port Authority faced an empty World Trade Center site with companies showing little to no interest in locating downtown.

It seems 1 World Trade Center is the address to have these days.

After having settled on its new headquarters at 1 Bryant Park, Bank of America is entertaining the possibility of 1 million more square feet at the World Trade Center.

Bank of America’s interest comes on the heels of magazine giant Conde Nast locating their new headquarters at 1 World Trade Center.

According to the New York Post, “Sources said the bank prefers at least half of its relocation space to be at a newly minted address with features similar to those at 1 Bryant Park, which it co-owns with Douglas Durst — i.e., LEED-certified environmental design, advanced electronic technology and relatively colum-free floor plates.”

Douglas Durst, along with Larry Silverstein are the two main developers responsible for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. Silverstein also owns and operates the glass behemoth, 7 World Trade Center.

Bank of America is prospecting locations in both midtown and downtown.

“Downtown, only 1WTC (in which Durst now holds a minority stake) is in fullbore construction for completion in 2013. Larry Siverstein’s 4 WTC could offer comparable modern space, but construction above a six-story base awaits completion of a financing agreement between him and the PA,” according to the same article.

Park51 Mosque Protest Image

The Heart of the Mosque Debate: Community Safety

It has been extremely challenging to cover the deluge of news surrounding our neighborhood in the past few months.

When we started this site, we intended for it to be a community-building place online: a place where we could discuss with pride the rebuilding of the new World Trade Center and the metamorphosis it will surely bring to our area.

However, we could not have anticipated the national response towards the development of the Park51 mosque, a development connected — in ways other than geography — to the greater rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. Issues of ‘fundamental rights’ and ‘racism’ have sprung up, and our readers (and the nation as a whole) remain divided.

Ideological debates aside, some troubling events from this weekend leave us with another important question: How can we be protected and made safe from opponents targeting the mosque in our area?

In the video above (shared with us via Facebook), protesters lambast a person they wrongly believe is a Muslim.

Racial profiling and police profiling in our area has been recorded in negligible amounts. A recent New York Times article published a map of police stops in the city; stops in our area were nearly non-existent.

How will the environment and political tension surrounding the mosque change our neighborhood’s safety? Sure, we don’t live on Ground Zero, but this is an area where we walk for our groceries, for our subways and in September, this is the route some of us take to bring our children to school.

I’m not sure if all in the community share the same concerns as some. If the plans for Park51 go through — and they are as iconic as the developers plan — will this mean we as a community should start to get used to constant protests? If so, how long will they last? Who will help to protect residents of Lower Manhattan from the national scrutiny?

These are questions I feel are not being asked enough. I hope that someone out there is concerned not with the political, or the religious, but the safety ramifications this might cause our community.

Ground Zero Mosque

Park51 Location Chosen By 19 Year old Francisco Patino

Ground Zero Mosque
The planned location of the Park51 Mosque a.k.a "The Ground Zero Mosque"

He was 14 at the time of the September 11th attacks, probably unaware that merely 5 years later he would be responsible for finding one of the most controversial developments in the nation.

According to reports published in the New York Daily News today, Francisco Patino was working for developer Sharif El-Gamal to help research and find an appropriate location for the Park51 development.

“I told him to go out and find available buildings for the project, and he did. He’s a phenomenal kid,” Gamal is quoted in the same article, “We were looking at buildings all over the area. I liked a lot of them but this was the one we ended up on. It was just meant to be.”

Patino, 23, currently works at Chase Manhattan Bank and has gained notoriety as a contestant on “American Inventor” a popular TV show that aired in 2006.

The article also mentions, “Patino was barely a man in 2006 and had only come to this country when he was 12. No young newcomer could be expected to understand the sensitivities beneath the contradictions.”

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at World Trade Center

Ground Zero Church Loses Ground To Mosque Attention

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at World Trade Center
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church destroyed on 9/11

With all the political and media attention turned to what has been dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque,” The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has accused officials on ignoring the reconstruction efforts of the church decimated during the September 11 attacks.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was a small building located within a parking lot area at the World Trade Center site. During the collapse of the Twin Towers, debris fell directly on the church destroying the entire structure. The congregation has been working with community groups to rebuild the demolished church.

The Port Authority and archdiocese have been in active negotiations until last year, and talks have not continued since.

“We have people that are saying, why isn’t our church being rebuilt and why is there.. such a concern for people of the mosque” according to Father Alex Karloutsos, to FoxNews.com. “Unfortunately, [the Port Authority] have just been silent — dead silent actually. They simply forgot about the church.”

According to the same article, “The archdiocese and Port Authority offer sharply conflicting accounts of where things went wrong. The Port Authority has previously claimed the church was making additional demands — like wanting the $20 million up front and wanting to review plans for the surrounding area. They say the church can still proceed on its own if it wishes.”

The church still reserves the rite to rebuild the church upon the property where the original church has stood. Representatives of the church have claimed the Port Authority has not sought to meet with church officials and has backpeddled on rebuilding the church.

As the church has not attracted the national media attention that Park51 has — it may be an upward battle to see the rebuilding of St. Nicholas back at the World Trade Center site.

A visual depiction of the world trade center site

World Trade Center Site to be Completed in “Five to Six Years”

A visual depiction of the world trade center site
An illustration of the WTC site

A once embattled World Trade Center developer, Larry Silverstein is praising the rate of construction at the World Trade Center.

So much so, that his optimism has predicted the World Trade Center site to be fully completed in the next five to six years, as reported by NY1.com.

“Here we are, after nine years of this, and this thing is now moving forward at a terrific pace, and we are thrilled with the acceleration and the reality of what’s transpiring before us on a daily basis,” Silverstein is quoted in the same report.

Silverstein’s relationship with the Port Authority in regards to the rebuilding of World Trade Center can be described best as contentious. Silverstein who developed the first tower to rise, 7 World Trade Center, has often complained over the speed of which it was taking the Port Authority to move ahead with the rebuilding of his other buildings, which include 2 World Trade Center, 3 World Trade Center and 4 World Trade Center.

In March, after 9 years of negotiation towards financing, Silverstein and the Port Authority finally reached a tentative agreement and commenced with construction.

According to the report. Tower 3 will get 5 stories of retail (do we smell a mall?)

Tower 2 will be built only to street level, deferring the air rights back to Silverstein if the economy should pick up.

Although Silverstein’s optimism is infectious for those long waiting for the rebuilding, Port Authority spokesman John Kelly was guarded in designating a timeline for completion,“We are continuing to work together to get the entire World Trade Center built and restored. That partnership has ensured that every project on the site is under active construction.”

What do you think about the rate of construction at the World Trade Center so far?