Rebuilding, 50 Months Later
November 19th, 2005
It has been more than 50 months since terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, and the latest editorials connected to 9/11 offer a snapshot of how little progress has been made in rebuilding what is still called Ground Zero.
When Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed some of his most trusted aides (including Deputy Mayors Marc Shaw and Daniel Doctoroff) to the board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation this past Thursday , The New York Post offered up a “modified, limited atta-boyModified, because it is by no means clear that what Bloomy now says he wants for Downtown is what’s best for Downtown — or the city. Limited, because given the mayor’s astonishing lack of curiosity since 9/11 regarding Ground Zero recovery, it’s not clear that he has either the attention span or the staying power needed to finish what he seems to be starting. And an atta-boy, because if ever a quasi-public entity needed a swift kick where it hurts, it’s the LMDC — George Pataki, Proprietor. ”
Newsday today is less mitigated in its praise for Bloomberg’s reversal of “his minimalist role regarding Ground Zero,” and supports not just his new appointments but his recently expressed “strong preference for new housing” over office construction.
Michael of the blog you-are.us predicts that the biggest issue in Bloomberg’s second term will wind up being the “urban planning fight” over how much of rebuilt lower Manhattan will be residential rather than commercial. He also points out that the appointment to the LMDC board of Doctoroff, who headed the efforts to bring the Olympics to NYC, “forms an interesting bridge between the mayor’s botched and ill-advised plans for the West Side stadium and his new vision [for] the World Trade Center site and the whole lower Manhattan neighborhood.”
The Daily News, meanwhile, today attacks actions last week in both the House and the Senate that in effect reduce money for New York’s efforts at rebuilding and security: “Washington seems ever more determined to give it to New York on the chin when it comes to 9/11 funding.”
By Jonathan Mandell on November 19, 2005, 11:43 amIn category: Land Use | No Comments »

