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Rebuilding NYC - News
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Rebuilding NYC






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August 2002

Artist Publishes 9/11 Graphic Novel - Aug 30, 2002
One year after the twin towers came crashing down, French illustrator Sandrine Revell, who was visiting New York on September 11, distilled the cataclysmic events into her own language: the graphic novel. The finished product -- a slim, 48-page hardcover book -- appeared Thursday in stores throughout France. (Associated Press)

McGreevey Is Reported to Criticize Rebuilding - Aug 30, 2002
Gov. James McGreevey of New Jersey accused Lower Manhattan Development Corporation officials of ignoring the concerns of families of New Jersey victims of the World Trade Center attack. (New York Times)

Port Authority Changes Airport's Name to Newark Liberty - Aug 30, 2002
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved the terms of a lease yesterday to extend its operation of Newark International Airport to 2065, and agreed to rename the airport Newark Liberty International in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 attack. (New York Times)

More Human Remains Found Near World Trade Center Site - Aug 30, 2002
Three bone fragments found on a Lower Manhattan roof are human remains that may be from one or more victims of the World Trade Center disaster, the Medical Examiner's Office concluded yesterday. (New York Post)

International Airlines Cleared To Fly Over New York On 9/11 - Aug 30, 2002
The Bush administration yesterday appeared to back off a plan to restrict foreign airlines flying in and out of New York airports during the Sept. 11 anniversary, in the face of criticism from overseas carriers and concerns that such treatment would violate international treaties. (Newsday)

Judge Weighs 9/11 Suit Deadline - Aug 30, 2002
A federal judge will consider whether families of Sept. 11 victims can launch legal action against the Port Authority over the next 11 days without forfeiting the chance of receiving money from the government's victims compensation fund. (New York Post)

City Businesses Divided Over Opening on 9/11 - Aug 30, 2002
City businesses are sharply divided over how to mark the 9/11 anniversary - most will be open to show the terrorists they haven't won, while others will shut their doors to honor the fallen heroes (New York Post)

Foundation Creates its Own 9/11 School Guide - Aug 30, 2002
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, charging that schools are offering students overly politically correct lessons about Sept. 11 - has countered with its own essays by 23 educators and authors that single out "America's enemies." (New York Post)

9/11 Families Deride Gift of a Million Dollar Horse - Aug 30, 2002
The Saudi royal family's reported offer to give families of the 9/11 victims a million-dollar horse on the anniversary of the attacks is being greeted with derision by grieving family members. (New York Post)

Arab Journalists Get a Closer Look at Site - Aug 29, 2002
Last night, journalists from Tunisia, Algeria, Morrocco,Yemen, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon visited the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and viewed the World Trade Center site as part of a State Department effort to brief Muslim journalists on U.S. policy in the Middle East, Muslim life in the United States and American values. In the past, the development corporation has also hosted journalists from around the world, including Indonesia, Russia, China, Japan, Belgium, Holland and England. (Newsday)

WTC Designers Giving Up Rights, Money - Aug 29, 2002
Responding to thousands of unsolicited proposals for the World Trade Center site, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is asking people to give up any rights to their designs or any payment for their work. (Newsday)

Civil Liberties After Sept. 11 - Aug 29, 2002
Almost everywhere, governments have taken September 11th as an opportunity to restrict their citizens' freedom. A look at how civil liberties have been impacted around the world. (Economist)

Mayor Meets Victims' Relatives to Discuss Trade Center Plans - Aug 29, 2002
Mayor Michael Bloomberg told relatives of Sept. 11 victims that the Port Authority should not be involved in rebuilding Lower Manhattan, according to several people who attended a meeting with the mayor at City Hall yesterday. It was the first time since February that he had met with some of the participants, his aides said. (New York Times)

Proposals Pouring In For WTC Site - Aug 29, 2002
More than 2,000 ordinary citizens, artists and great architects have been inspired to put their ideas for the World Trade Center site on paper. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the Port Authority, and other government officials have received a wide range of proposals. Anita Contini, the corporation's memorial director, asked people to stop sending any more plans until criteria for the memorial are announced early next year. The agency won't consider any proposals already sent, said Contini, responding to questions at a GothamGazette.com online interview. (Newsday)

Caution Over NY Airspace - Aug 29, 2002
The federal government is expected to prevent foreign airlines from taking off or landing at metropolitan New York airports during certain periods around the Sept. 11 anniversary, under tough new flight restrictions to be announced this week, sources said. (Newsday)

A Staten Island Support Group's Powerful Bond - Aug 28, 2002
Cheri Sparacio, who lost husband Tom, has found support through fellow widows and widowers. In the months after the attack, a group grew in Staten Island. Maybe it could only have happened in a place like Staten Island, where the local politicians organized monthly meetings for the families and everyone read The Advance. (Newsday)

Some On City's 9/11 Missing List Are Alive - Aug 28, 2002
Several people who were listed as missing and presumed dead last week by the New York City medical examiner's office are now being removed from the list because they have turned up alive. One is George Sims, a sidewalk vendor who was listed as one of the missing but was found suffering from amnesia in a Manhattan hospital. (New York Times)

New York Announces Details of Greater 9/11 Business Aid - Aug 28, 2002
New York State and City gave details of their plans to increase aid to small businesses in Lower Manhattan that are suffering as a result of the terrorist attack last September. In the largest increase, small businesses that were in the World Trade Center or its immediate vicinity on the day of the attack are eligible for up to 25 days' worth of revenue losses, instead of up to 10 days' worth, as was previously the case. (New York Times)

Bonds for Downtown Favor Political Donors - Aug 28, 2002
Most of the $340 million in Liberty Bonds awarded for rebuilding lower Manhattan was given to major campaign contributors at the state and local levels, particularly to Republicans, Common Cause New York said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Book Project Preserves 9/11 Victims' Life Stories - Aug 28, 2002
The first in a series of tribute books documenting the lives of individual 9/11 victims by American Tribute Center, a nonprofit organization set up to produce free keepsake books for bereaved 9/11 families, was presented yesterday. (New York Post)

More Get 9/11 Aid, but Distrust of U.S. Effort Lingers - Aug 27, 2002
Since overhauling its programs in late June to assist New Yorkers devastated by the Sept. 11 attack, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has granted more money to nearly as many people needing help with their mortgage or rent as it did in the previous nine months. But for all the changes, FEMA is still plagued by problems that many worry may ultimately leave thousands of needy New Yorkers in the lurch. (New York Times)

Fitting Tribute As U.S. Open Begins - Aug 27, 2002
In a colorful show of patriotism, the U.S. Open began with a flourish last night as celebrities and officials paid tribute to the uniformed and civilian rescuers of Sept. 11. (Newsday)

9/11 Statue at U.S. Open - Aug 27, 2002
A bronze statue of a firefighter kneeling, air tanks on his back, one hand on his forehead, the other on his helmet, which rests on the ground, has found a temporary home at the U.S. Tennis Center, where it will remain for the next two weeks during the U.S. Open. (Newsday)

Rebuilt 1/9 Subway Line Almost Ready - Aug 27, 2002
The rebuilt portion of the 1 and 9 subway line will open for business on Sept. 15 - but tests with empty subway trains will begin on the tracks this weekend. (New York Post)

St. Paul's Opens To Public For First Time Since 9/11 - Aug 27, 2002
Saint Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan is open to the public for the first time since September 11. The chapel, once in the shadow of the World Trade Center, became a respite center for recovery workers after the terrorist attacks. Now after three months of renovation, Saint Paul’s opened to the general public on Monday. (NY1)

$500 Million Left in 9/11 Aid, but Small Businesses Don't Ask - Aug 26, 2002
Despite a recent drive to publicize the two major programs of government grants for small Lower Manhattan businesses struggling to recover — and often to survive — in the attack's wake, two-thirds of the two programs' total pot of $772 million is still waiting to be awarded. (New York Times)

Long Island Teen Creates 9/11 Memorial - Aug 26, 2002
Two Atlantic Beach residents who died on September 11 were honored yesterday with a memorial next to Atlantic Beach's new village hall. It was a memorial conceived and designed entirely by Zara Zimmerman, who will be a high school senior. It was Zimmerman's idea to honor the only two Atlantic Beach residents who perished on Sept. 11, and it was her idea to have two pieces of the World Trade Center included at the site. (Newsday)

Bloomberg to Release His Own Rebuilding Plans - Aug 25, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg will soon give development officials his overall "vision" for Ground Zero and lower Manhattan in a detailed plan as he tries to influence the rebuilding process, The Post has learned. (New York Post)

NYPD Gearing Up in War on Terror - Aug 25, 2002
Nearly a year after the World Trade Center attack, New York's anti-terror chiefs have launched an ambitious counteroffensive, deploying 900 cops who run down 50 tips a day with a military-style vigilance. (New York Daily News)

Covering the Terror, Again - Aug 25, 2002
Media coverage of the September 11 one-year anniversary will dwarf that of previous remembrances for the Oklahoma City bombing, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. (Newsday)

Firetrucks Still Have Toxic Debris - Aug 25, 2002
Firefighters are rushing to emergencies around the city in trucks still carrying remnants of toxic World Trade Center dust and debris nearly a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, The Post has learned. Of the 122 firetrucks involved in rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero, 93 have yet to be totally cleared of asbestos, Fiberglas, lead and other contaminants, FDNY officials have confirmed and lab reports show. (New York Post)

Cleaning Firm Has Difficult Task - Aug 25, 2002
A New Jersey-based firm, LVI Environmental Services of Clifton, was contracted to do the initial cleaning of Fire Department firetrucks coated with World Trade Center dust. Company president Frank Aiello said 29 trucks had been cleaned. He said priority for cleanups went to trucks that tested positive for airborne asbestos. (New York Post)

Cuomo: 9/11 Jab Backfired - Aug 25, 2002
After spending a night in a Brooklyn homeless shelter, governor candidate Andrew Cuomo yesterday admitted his criticism of Gov. Pataki's post-Sept. 11 leadership has hurt his gubernatorial campaign. (New York Post)

FEMA Gives NYC Millions For 9/11 - Aug 24, 2002
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday pledged more than $66 million to New York state as reimbursement for the cleanup costs linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The money will go to New York's Department of Sanitation, which provided labor and heavy equipment for removal of debris at the World Trade Center site. (Associated Press)

Toxic 9/11 Debris in Brooklyn - Aug 24, 2002
There is a critical flaw, experts say, in all the research, Environmental Protection Agency cleanup programs and federal services related to exposure to World Trade Center debris: The efforts are concentrated on Manhattan, but, except for the area immediately around Ground Zero, the plume did not spread around the borough. It went directly to Brooklyn. (Newsday)

1,600 Vie For 9-11 Pentagon Design - Aug 23, 2002
Some 1,600 people already have met Friday's deadline to register for a design competition for the September 11 Pentagon memorial, run by the Army Corps of Engineers. Proposals must be submitted by Sept. 11, with a winner announced on Dec. 23. Under the Corps plan, the winning design will occupy nearly two acres about 165 feet west of the point where American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the facade. The winning design cannot rise above 78 feet - the Pentagon's height - and cannot include restrooms, museums or staff. (Associated Press)

City Regulations Bar Free Lunches for 9/11 Heros - Aug 23, 2002
Two of New York City’s finest and most expensive restaurants, Danube and Bouley, are offering free meals all day on September 11 to the city’s firefighters and police officers and their families, but officials at both departments say they won’t be able to accept the offer. Official policy restricts both departments from accepting any gifts, even one as winsome as a meal that would run normal patrons about $100 a head. (New York Sun)

Victims' Fund Announces First Awards - Aug 23, 2002
The federal government yesterday announced the first awards to compensate the relatives of Sept. 11 victims, offering 25 families an average of $1.36 million, from a low of $300,000 to a high of $3 million. Of the awards announced yesterday, only nine families have so far accepted the amount disbursed. (New York Times)

More Aid Seen for Business Downtown - Aug 23, 2002
New York State and City are planning to increase financial aid to small businesses near the World Trade Center site that suffered financial losses stemming from the Sept. 11 attack. The increase would come after months of criticism from business people in the area that the amounts available in the World Trade Center Business Recovery Grant Program were too small to provide meaningful aid to small businesses that were forced to remain closed the longest and suffered the biggest losses. (New York Times)

Pataki, in Move Foes Avoided, Uses Sept. 11 in a Campaign Ad - Aug 23, 2002
A day after New York State Democrats abandoned plans for a television advertisement commemorating Sept. 11, Gov. George E. Pataki became the first political figure who was prominent in the attack's aftermath to address it in a campaign commercial. Against a black background above the chords of an inspirational adagio, the governor praises New Yorkers for their courage and compassion in the 30-second ad released yesterday. (New York Times)

Neighborhood of Memorials Ponders the 9/11 Addition - Aug 23, 2002
As the public wrestles over the design of a permanent 9/11 memorial, some downtown residents are worried that their community will be turned into a kind of "living graveyard." Battery Park City and adjacent Battery Park are already home to more than a dozen memorials and monuments. As the Sept. 11 anniversary approaches, some downtown residents are calling for a limit on the size of a permanent World Trade Center memorial. Other residents and family members of victims want a large memorial that they say will make a statement about the scope of the tragedy. (Downtown Express)

Struggling Chinatown Sees Rays Of Hope - Aug 23, 2002
A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, some businesses in Chinatown report sales being down as much as 40 percent from last year. Yet as the community struggles to mend itself, what's become apparent is that many of Chinatown's problems existed far before Sept. 11. And just as urban planners say the attacks created an opportunity for downtown to reinvent itself, they say Chinatown now has a chance to redefine its image and mission. Businesses that are not only surviving but thriving might provide a window into the Chinatown of the future. (Newsday)

Delegation Urges More 9/11 Funds - Aug 23, 2002
The New York congressional delegation intends to send a letter to President Bush today imploring him to hand over $90 million in federal funds to track the health of former Ground Zero workers. The money was part of a $5.1 billion spending plan Bush rejected last week. The President had to accept or reject the plan entirely. (New York Daily News)

U.S. Announces New, Tougher Look Into Why the Towers Collapsed - Aug 22, 2002
Federal officials on Wednesday began a two-year, $23 million study of the 110-story twin towers at the World Trade Center to analyze how and why the twin towers and a third skyscraper collapsed in raging fires on Sept. 11. The investigation will recommend changes in how other high-rises are built to make them safer in a terrorist attack, an out-of-control fire or a natural disaster. (New York Times)

McGreevey Calls Trade Center Land Swap Unlikely - Aug 22, 2002
Gov. James E. McGreevey said yesterday that it was "relatively unlikely" that the land under Kennedy and La Guardia Airports would be swapped for the site of the World Trade Center. Such a proposal has been seen as a way to give New York City and State control over the rebuilding at ground zero. As governor of New Jersey, Mr. McGreevey essentially has veto power over the proposed land swap by the city and the Port Authority, which he and Gov. George Pataki of New York control. (New York Times)

9/11 Counseling Shunned - Aug 22, 2002
Project Liberty, an unprecedented federal counseling program designed to help New Yorkers traumatized by the Sept. 11 attacks is being faulted by some mental health experts for trying to treat millions who have no direct link to the tragedy. In May, the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave the state $132 million for Project Liberty. The grant was the largest of its kind in FEMA's history and came on top of a previous $22.7 million allocation. But through last week, only 220,000 people had reached out to Project Liberty. (New York Daily News)

Govs Urge Newark Airport Name Change - Aug 22, 2002
To honor the 9/11 victims, Newark Airport would be renamed Liberty International Airport under a proposal announced yesterday by the governors of New York and New Jersey. The governors said they would propose the name change to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. Authority approval is considered likely since its commissioners are appointed by the governors. (Newsday)

Memorial Wall's View of Tragedy - Aug 22, 2002
The first panel of a transparent "viewing wall" around Ground Zero was unveiled yesterday - a 13-foot-high wire mesh structure adorned with a picture of the fallen Twin Towers. The $6 million, L-shaped wall - running along Church and Liberty streets at the site's perimeter - will be finished by the end of the year. (New York Post)

In Hoboken, They Knew They'd Lost More on 9/11 - Aug 22, 2002
The most comprehensive tally yet of the victims of the Sept. 11 attack showed that Hoboken NJ had lost 39 of its 39,000 residents, giving it the highest death rate of any affected city when victims were tracked by ZIP code.As the first anniversary of the terror attack approaches, the still-evolving roll of victims has only confirmed a sad expectation that many in this city have held since they watched the dust of the twin towers' collapse creep across the Hudson: that Hoboken would suffer more than its share of loss. (New York Times)

City Schools Release Guide for 9/11 Anniversary - Aug 22, 2002
The Board of Education yesterday unveiled a guide for the remembrance of the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks - focusing on "hope, healing and heroism," and downplaying the evil of terrorism. (New York Post)

State Democrats Drop Idea of 9/11 TV Ad - Aug 22, 2002
With an assurance from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that Democrats will not be shut out of the city's Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony, the state Democratic Party said yesterday that it had dropped its plan to commemorate the terrorist attack by broadcasting an advertisement with elected leaders reciting the Gettysburg Address. (New York Times)

Program to Cover Psychiatric Help for 9/11 Families - Aug 21, 2002
The American Red Cross and the September 11th Fund said yesterday that they would underwrite the expense of extended mental health treatment for people directly affected by the terrorist attacks last year. The effort may be the most ambitious ever undertaken by charitable organizations to address the emotional needs of disaster victims. (New York Times)

Tense Exchange at Meeting on Memorial - Aug 21, 2002
Emotions were raw last night at a public meeting for a World Trade Center memorial as relatives of victims questioned the authority of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. A tense interchange occurred at the Staten Island meeting after victims' family members asked who would make the final decision on the memorial design. (Newsday)

Staten Island Victims' Families Angry at Search for Design - Aug 21, 2002
Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials ran into criticism last night over how they intend to select a design for a World Trade Center memorial. At the first of five public hearings, nearly 60 relatives of Sept. 11 victims accused the LMDC of giving higher priority to commercial development at the site than to a fitting tribute to the fallen. (New York Daily News)

Families Angry at WTC Hawking - Aug 21, 2002
To the disgust of the families of those killed Sept. 11, more and more street vendors are crowding sidewalks near Ground Zero, trying to make a quick buck off wide-eyed tourists. (New York Daily News)

Protecting Children on 9/11:Parents Should Monitor TV - Aug 21, 2002
Most children 4 and younger don't realize that it's a taped replay from Sept. 11 when television screens show the World Trade Center collapsing in a cloud of dust. They think it's happening all over again, said Harold Koplewicz, a psychiatrist and founder of the New York University Child Study Center. The hours of coverage planned for the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks could reverberate in unexpected ways. (Associated Press)

Theater Artists Commemorate 9/11 - Aug 21, 2002
One year after the terrorist attacks, nearly 150 theater artists will commemorate Sept. 11 with "Brave New World: American Theatre Responds to 9/11." The star-studded theater marathon, consisting of about 50 short plays and songs responding to the tragedy, will run Sept. 9 through Sept. 11 at the midtown performance venue Town Hall. (Newsday)

Mapping Sept 11 Victims By Zip Code - Aug 21, 2002
With the New York City medical examiner office's release on Monday of the most thorough list of victims, it is possible to chart September 11th's devastation by ZIP code. Plotted on a map, the toll shows dense clusters on both sides of the Hudson River and waves of destruction rippling out toward the suburbs. The ZIP code with the most victims turns out to be 10021, which covers the Upper East Side of Manhattan from 61st to 81st Street. (New York Times)

Mayor Promising Better Response to Catastrophes - Aug 20, 2002
Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged greater coordination between New York City's Police and Fire Departments on Monday as he released reports on Sept. 11. Bloomberg promised to make major changes in how the departments handle future catastrophes, including improvements in technology and basic emergency procedures. (New York Times)

Exodus of 9/11 Is Thing of Past Near Tower Site - Aug 20, 2002
After sitting nearly half empty in the wake of Sept. 11, the residential buildings that once ringed the World Trade Center are almost as full as they were before the terrorist attack, a survey of more than 7,000 units in the area by the Times has found. With deep discounts from landlords and government programs promising rebates, vacancy rates have fallen to slightly below 5 percent over all, compared with average highs of 45 percent in the months after the disaster. (New York Times)

9/11 Victims' Names to Fence in Memorial - Aug 20, 2002
The names of all the Sept. 11 World Trade Center victims will be displayed on a temporary memorial -- a fence around the site, downtown redevelopment officials said last night. The city medical examiner's office issued the first comprehensive list of the victims yesterday but cautioned that the 2,819 names may not be the final tally. (New York Daily News)

Families of 9/11 Emergency Workers Get 7 Times More From Charity - Aug 20, 2002
Stunned families of 9/11 victims yesterday said they were outraged by reports that survivors of emergency workers received seven times more money from charity than those of civilians killed in the World Trade Center attacks. Firefighters' families also joined in the chorus of criticism, saying charity had to be evenhanded. (New York Post)

Makeshift Memorial Brings Event to Human Scale - Aug 19, 2002
David Cohen, the owner of Chelsea Jeans, a clothing store a block from where the World Trade Center used to be, created a preserved shrine leaving things as they were when the impact of the blasts ruined his store. Mr. Cohen's shrine was just one of the makeshift memorials that sprang up around the city after Sept. 11. Now, the process to design an official memorial has begun. (New York Times)

More Than 150 Sept. 11 Books to Hit Shelves - Aug 19, 2002
Ranging from glossy photography books to terrorism primers, more than 150 books about Sept. 11 and every issue surrounding it are flooding bookstores for the one-year anniversary. The publishers themselves admit there are too many books, and say they expect only mediocre sales. But bookstores, buoyed by strong sales from the earlier Sept. 11 books, are ordering nearly every book out there, even if only one or two copies. (Crain's New York Business)

World Trade Center Tourists Spend Time, Not Money - Aug 19, 2002
Ground Zero's tourist boom isn't stopping local businesses from going bust. Almost a year after Sept. 11, Ground Zero is teeming with visitors - about 1.1 million between January and June - making it the city's most visited site, tourism officials say. But few are buying anything. (New York Post)

A TV Rush, at Times Crass, Over Sept. 11 - Aug 19, 2002
With the first anniversary of the national trauma little more than three weeks away, news organizations are gearing up. Newspapers and news magazines are planning special sections or series. But it is broadcast journalists, whose medium demands immediacy, who may be feeling most competitive for access to the people they believe can help recapture the collective memory of last year's horror. (New York Times)

For Muslims, an Uneasy Anniversary - Aug 19, 2002
On Sept. 11, many of the city's Muslims will be grieving and seeking solace; but some say that they will feel resentment. Still others will fear an echo of anti-Muslim backlash. Some will look to prove they are good Americans. Others will bristle that such a thing should even be expected of them. (New York Times)

Wider Scope in New Plans for Rebuilding - Aug 18, 2002
Plans for the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, until now focused almost exclusively on the World Trade Center site, have for the first time expanded to encompass all of downtown, according to officials involved in the rebuilding process. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation hired urban planning firm Peterson Littenberg Architects & Planners last week and is working with the Bloomberg administration to plan a search for other firms to help remake neighborhoods from Chinatown to Battery Park, rebuilding officials said. (New York Times)

FDNY to Recommend Policy Overhaul - Aug 18, 2002
At least one of the Fire Department of New York's most senior officers should oversee large-scale emergencies from its remote operations center instead of the disaster scene, according to a five-month study of the department's response to the Sept. 11 attacks. (Associated Press)

Sept. 11 Makes Life Even Harder for Illegal Immigrants - Aug 18, 2002
Immigrants living illegally in this country have always faced uncertainty and hardship, but now many of them say that their lives have changed for the worse since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They have lost longtime jobs as employers increasingly check identity papers, and even those who are not Arab or Muslim say they have encountered more suspicion from bosses, co-workers and neighbors. (New York Times)

Site to Archive 9 / 11 Communications - Aug 18, 2002
Hundreds of e-mails, photographs and video images from September 11, 2001 are part of a virtual library of the attacks being compiled by scholars in Virginia and New York. The September 11th Digital Archive ``will serve as a new platform in which people can make their own history,'' said Jim Sparrow, one of the organizers of the project, which is accessible online at http://911digitalarchive.org/. (Associated Press)

Cameras to Record Ground Zero Rising - Aug 18, 2002
For at least the next seven years, a group of cameras that are focused on ground zero will take 288 photos a day, creating a historical record of the rebirth of the World Trade Center site. The planned result is an extraordinary historical record of the rebirth of the site, one that the effort's sponsors hope will be displayed continuously at a museum, perhaps even one that emerges on the site itself. (New York Times)

In 9/11 Art, Children Look Back and Ahead - Aug 18, 2002
Works of art about September 11 by local children are to be prominently displayed in 25 stores across the country from Sept. 6 to 12 as part of "Visions of the Future," a project created by Bloomingdale's. In New York, Bloomingdale's invited the Fresh Air Fund to participate in creating murals of hope and remembrance to be hung in windows around its flagship store on the Upper East Side. (New York Times)

Trade Center Leaseholder Braces for Battle - Aug 17, 2002
The Bloomberg administration has proposed giving the Port Authority the city-owned land beneath two airports in return for the now vacant 16-acre trade center site. The next step would presumably be to remove leaseholder Larry Silverstein so that the city could plan for future development without any encumbrances. But as much as Mr. Silverstein wants to avoid the idea of his elimination, the insurance carriers with whom he is battling in court have rushed to embrace it. (New York Times)

EPA Will Extend Cleanup Deadline - Aug 17, 2002
After much criticism of a federal plan to cleanup apartments in lower Manhattan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will extend the deadline for residents to request testing and cleanup , officials said Friday. The deadline to request testing or cleanup will now be Oct. 2. (Newsday)

Design Competition For 9/11 Memorial Starting Early Next Year - Aug 16, 2002
An international competition to design a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack of Sept. 11 is expected to begin early next year, with a winning design to be selected by the second anniversary of the attack, rebuilding officials said yesterday. Officials of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation said that it would conduct a public hearing in each of the city's five boroughs over the next three weeks to gather comments on the concept and design of the memorial. (New York Times)

Council Proposes Public Market on Site of Towers - Aug 16, 2002
If the City Council has its way, the World Trade Center site will become home to a public market, like Pike Place in Seattle, with organic produce vendors, fishmongers, artisans and performers.The market idea was part of the Council's report on recommendations for redeveloping Lower Manhattan, released yesterday. (New York Times)

Ground Zero housing aid now available - Aug 16, 2002
People who live near Ground Zero - or are willing to move there - can now apply for the housing grants announced in February. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. began distributing applications yesterday for the incentive money, designed to keep homeowners and renters downtown after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The program will dole out $281 million in federal funds through two-year grants and one-time payments. (New York Daily News)

Police Rally For Pay Raises - Aug 16, 2002
Thousands of cops and firefighters turned up the heat on City Hall yesterday, demanding a pay hike to match the sacrifices they made reducing crime and responding to the terrorist attack on 9/11. (New York Daily News)

Top Architects May Submit Resumes - Aug 16, 2002
Rem Koolhaas, Robert A.M. Stern and several other top architects told The Post yesterday they'd like a chance at designing the future of Ground Zero, and may answer a call to submit their résumés to development officials. (New York Post)

Judge: Government Can Withhold 9/11 Detainees Names - Aug 16, 2002
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Bush administration does not have to immediately reveal the names of those detained in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a stay of her earlier order to give government lawyers more time to appeal. (Associated Press)

Downtown Express - Aug 16, 2002
One year and a day after the horrific events of Sept. 11, the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center is scheduled to reopen. And right on time. Retailers are looking forward to the Sept. 12 opening. Most who have reopened in the World Financial Center say business remains down at least 25 percent. Many stores are expected to open throughout the fall months. (Downtown Express)

Worldwide Competition Launched to Redesign Downtown - Aug 15, 2002
The agency overseeing the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan announced yesterday that it would conduct "a worldwide design competition" to hire as many as five licensed architecture or planning firms to offer new ideas for the site of the World Trade Center. To incorporate the new ideas as well as expected changes in how much office, retail, residential and cultural space will be included on the site, the officials extended the schedule for the process, allowing three new designs to be completed by the end of the year and a final design selected in the first half of 2003. (New York Times)

WTC Vacuum Trucks Used Wrong Filters - Aug 15, 2002
Earth Technology Inc., a private contractor hired to clean up asbestos-tainted dust near Ground Zero in the days after Sept. 11 failed to use required filters on its vacuum trucks, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report. (New York Daily News)

Report Decries Immigrant Detentions - Aug 15, 2002
The U.S. government has misused its powers and marred its investigation into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with arbitrary detentions, due-process violations and secret arrests, according to a report to be released today by the international human rights group Human Rights Watch. (Newsday)

Role Seen for Newark Airport in Land Swap - Aug 15, 2002
Newark International Airport should be included in a proposal to swap ownership of the World Trade Center property for the land at La Guardia and Kennedy Airports, Gov. James E. McGreevey said in remarks published today. (Associated Press)

Political Ad and 9/11 Speech May Be an Unwelcome Mix - Aug 15, 2002
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg expressed concern yesterday about a plan by the New York State Democratic Party to offer its own rendition of the Gettysburg Address in a television ad honoring the Sept. 11 dead. (New York Times)

New Rules Debated On Building Safety - Aug 14, 2002
The debate over changing the city building code after the Sept. 11 attack is centering on whether to require existing buildings to add safety features such as sprinklers and harden stairwells and elevator shafts. In a daylong hearing yesterday, Buildings Department officials heard two dozen witnesses offer myriad suggestions for changing the code to improve safety in new and existing high-rises. (Newsday)

Seeking Firms to Pitch New WTC ideas - Aug 14, 2002
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is launching a worldwide search for five more firms to produce new designs for rebuilding at Ground Zero, sources said last night. Each of the new firms picked will be given specific criteria to meet, but many of the rigid constraints put on the first six designs will be gone. (New York Daily News)

Democrats Also Plan to Read Gettysburg Address for 9/11 - Aug 14, 2002
It now appears that the dead of Sept. 11 will be honored with not one but two recitations of the Gettysburg Address, one for each political party. The televised anniversary ceremonies will include President Bush and other prominent Republicans, including Gov. George Pataki. Now the State Democratic Party is preparing a television advertisement that will include a reading by more than two dozen party figures, including the two candidates for governor. (New York Times)

Smithsonian Struggles With 9/11 - Aug 13, 2002
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's cell phone and baseball cap, a stairwell sign from the World Trade Center, a piece of limestone from the Pentagon, a uniform from a Navy officer who rescued a Pentagon victim. Those are some of the items that will be on display when the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History opens its exhibit, "September 11: Bearing Witness to History," on the anniversary of the attacks. (Associated Press)

Money for Just Some of a Transit Wish List - Aug 13, 2002
Federal, state and city officials gathered at the rim of ground zero yesterday to celebrate their cooperation in securing $4.55 billion in federal money to overhaul and update the tangle of subway stations, commuter terminals and other transportation outlets in Lower Manhattan. But the money still falls short of the $7.5 billion that officials overseeing the rebuilding have long said would be needed to complete crucial transportation projects, leaving questions about which projects might be scrapped or scaled back as the rebuilding effort progresses. (New York Times)

Poll Backs Lower Manhattan Cultural Sites - Aug 13, 2002
Most people who live and work in Lower Manhattan say they would be likely to go to any new museums and other cultural and entertainment attractions in the area, according to a new poll. The random survey found that 9 out of 10 residents south of Chambers Street and 8 out of 10 people who work in the area favored such attractions. The 800 respondents were surveyed from July 29 to Aug. 2 for Wall Street Rising, a nonprofit group working to rejuvenate the financial district. (New York Times)

Palms Return to Winter Garden - Aug 13, 2002
Palm trees stood tall in the Winter Garden once again yesterday. And for the first time in 11 months, it seemed that life itself had returned to the celebrated 10-story glass dome. As tourists ascend the newly restored grand marble steps after the planned reopening in September, the Winter Garden will become an unofficial public viewing balcony for the trade center site. (New York Times)

Groups Support Plan to Cut Office Space at Site - Aug 12, 2002
Sept. 11 survivors' groups and Lower Manhattan residents cheered reports yesterday that the amount of office space slated to be built at Ground Zero could be cut by as much as a third. (Newsday)

$4.5B to Be Used for a Ground Zero Rail Hub - Aug 12, 2002
Billions of dollars in federal money will be used to build a new transit hub near Ground Zero, linking the PATH with subway lines in lower Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg is set to announce today. The federal government has agreed to give the city $4.5 billion for the rail center. (New York Daily News)

WTC Families Leery of Bloomberg, Port Authority - Aug 12, 2002
Whom do you trust more: the Port Authority or City Hall? The answer isn't easy for the families of those killed in the World Trade Center attacks. With the Bloomberg administration pursuing a deal to swap city land beneath Kennedy and LaGuardia airports for the Port Authority-owned Trade Center site, victims' kin differ on who should control the fate of Ground Zero. (New York Daily News)

Families Concerned About Transit Plans - Aug 12, 2002
Nearly a year after Sept. 11, victims' relatives and observers are concerned that plans for creating the Ground Zero memorial are in limbo - with transit projects beneath the site driving the process. The transit issue is one of many concerns related to the permanent memorial that 9/11 relatives detailed during meetings with Gov. Pataki and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani last week. (New York Post)

Families Plan 9/11 Walks in New York City, Virginia - Aug 12, 2002
Family members will carry photographs of loved ones who died in the Sept. 11 attacks during two "remembrance walks" in Virginia and New York next month, organizers said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Brooklyn Tribute on Waterfront - Aug 12, 2002
More than 2,000 people are expected to pack the 69th Street pier in Brooklyn to honor the World Trade Center victims on the Sept. 11 anniversary. (New York Post)

Residents Grill E.P.A. Over Cleanup - Aug 11, 2002
A presentation last week on the Environmental Protection Agency's ongoing cleanup efforts near ground zero left some observers unsatisfied.An agency representative fielded questions at a Community Board 1 Quality of Life Committee meeting about plans to clean the apartment of any resident who wants it below Canal St, but many at the meeting were still frustrated. (Downtown Express)

Plans for WTC Site in Disarray - Aug 11, 2002
As the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedy approaches, plans for the World Trade Center site are in disarray, tainted by criticism that they're boring and small-minded. The negative feedback, especially from the loved ones of survivors, has the attention of state and city officials, who say they will pursue more creative alternatives to plans put together by the prestigious architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle. (Associated Press)

Proposals Could Expand Memorial Site - Aug 11, 2002
Officials are discussing options that would reduce by nearly one-third the amount of office space that would have to be built at ground zero. Among the possibilities being considered is the purchase of the severely damaged Deutsche Bank building by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. (New York Times)

Schumer Wants Part of 9/11 Aid for Police and Firefighter Raises - Aug 11, 2002
Senator Charles E. Schumer yesterday called on President Bush to allow New York to use about $500 million in federal disaster aid to give police officers and firefighters raises comparable to the 22 percent received by city teachers. The money would come from the $21.4 billion promised for recovery from the Sept. 11 attack. (New York Times)

9/11 Rent Subsidy Program May Not Be Tax Free - Aug 11, 2002
Homemakers lured to lower Manhattan by promises of up to $14,500 in post-9/11 federal grants may find a tax bill on the subsidy. The $300 million rent-abatement program has been touted in recent months as the main reason for a 91 percent occupancy rate across downtown neighborhoods affected by the events of Sept. 11. But the Internal Revenue Service is yet to declare the grants non-taxable. (New York Post)

Some Lower Manhattan Residents Make Plans to be Elsewhere - Aug 11, 2002
While the city busies itself with ceremony schedules, some Lower Manhattan residents are making plans to be elsewhere on Sept. 11. (New York Times)

No Sept 11 Funds For Path Exits in Village - Aug 11, 2002
The Port Authority won't get federal Sept. 11 relief money to build two new PATH train exits in the West Village. The authority has given up its behind-the-scenes efforts to get $29.6 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Christopher Street exits - a plan that outraged the neighborhood. (New York Post)

Stone Statues Honoring 9/11 On Shoreline - Aug 10, 2002
Three months after the Sept. 11 attacks, New Jersey artist Stephen Shaheen set out to build a stone monument dedicated to the victims of the attacks, dubbing it The Memorial Project. Last week, he finished the two main sculptures, 13-foot-high statues. (Associated Press)

Role in Oscars Is Sought for New York - Aug 9, 2002
A group of New York entertainment executives, celebrities and government officials has begun working to persuade the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to move a significant part of the Academy Awards ceremony to New York next year to help the city in its effort to recover from the attacks of Sept. 11. (New York Times)

City Won't Let Airports Go - Aug 9, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that the city should not relinquish total control of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports as part of a proposed land swap for the World Trade Center site. He stressed the importance of the airports to the city's long-term financial health as his administration officially entered into talks about trading city land beneath JFK and LaGuardia to the Port Authority for Ground Zero. (New York Daily News)

A Hard Year for 9/11 Victims' Children - Aug 9, 2002
With the coming anniversary of the day the world fell down, some in the adult world will try to have Sept. 11, 2002, signify the date on which life moves on. But for the children who lost a parent, sometimes two parents, or for those who never found the parent's body, some fear that the confusion has left some unmedicated sores that will fester. In the long term, child psychologists foresee anxieties, irrational fear of death, aggression, attachment disorders. (New York Times)

Settlement Offers Fail to End Trade Center Insurance Battle - Aug 9, 2002
Larry Silverstein, the developer, and Swiss Re, a major insurer of the World Trade Center, submitted settlement offers to a federal judge yesterday and then resumed their battle over insurance coverage of the trade center. According to people on both sides of the dispute, the offer from Swiss Re was $1.8 billion, after depreciation and other deductions. That was nearly $4 billion less than the $5.7 billion offer from Mr. Silverstein. The two sides are so far apart that neither one expected the court-ordered settlement effort to be successful. So they are girding for a jury trial, which is scheduled for November and will determine how much money Mr. Silverstein will get for the trade center. (New York Times)

Victims' Families Avoid Aid Fund - Aug 9, 2002
The vast majority of families of 9/11 victims are still too traumatized or suspicious of the government to apply for compensation for their suffering, even though million-dollar-plus packages are already in the mail. Only about 650 out of about 3,300 victims eligible, or about 20 percent, have applied for compensation. (New York Post)

Officials to Tour Federal Plaza for Street-Level Look at Security - Aug 8, 2002
The debate over bolstering security around Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan moves from the conference room to the streets this morning, as city and federal agencies tour the blocks around Duane and Reade Streets, seeking to balance safety and accessibility. While the federal General Services Administration, which oversees the buildings, favors tight security, the city has objected to blocking the downtown streets, fearing that would slow reaction to emergencies and increase traffic congestion. (New York Times)

Family of 9/11 Victim Accepts $1.04 Million in U.S. Compensation - Aug 8, 2002
The family of a financial services employee from New York City who died on Sept. 11 has become the first to acknowledge accepting an award from the federal Victim Compensation Fund. (New York Times)

State 9/11 Bonds Fund Luxury Apartments Near Ground Zero - Aug 8, 2002
In a meeting called on just 24-hour public notice, the board of the state Housing Finance Agency yesterday formally approved $300 million in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds for the construction of three luxury apartment buildings in lower Manhattan. (Newsday)

WTC/Airport Landswap Creates Economic Development Conflict - Aug 8, 2002
The deal to swap Ground Zero land for the two airports—proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s city development czar, Daniel Doctoroff—is being greeted with cautious optimism from Albany to the New York Times editorial desk. But behind the scenes, the swap proposal has raised the stakes in a rapidly escalating battle between Mr. Doctoroff and Port Authority Vice Chairman Charles Gargano over who will control development at Ground Zero and beyond. (New York Observer)

Doubts Arise in Trade Center Land Swap - Aug 8, 2002
Despite public expressions of enthusiasm about the plan to trade World Trade Center land for city-owned land beneath two airports by various officials since it first came to light, a small number of officials and urban planners are beginning to question the economic wisdom of trading 5,610 acres beneath the airports in Queens for the 16-acre trade center site in Lower Manhattan. (New York Times)

City Wants Large Compensation in Land Swap - Aug 8, 2002
City Hall is looking for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in a one-shot payment from the Port Authority as part of any land swap for the Trade Center site. Facing a $3.7 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year, the Bloomberg administration may ask the Port Authority for retroactive rent payments from the authority's leases for managing Kennedy and La Guardia airports, sources said. (New York Post)

Civic Coalition Calls for New WTC plans - Aug 8, 2002
The Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, the coalition of civic groups that held a citywide forum at which WTC rebuilding proposals were widely criticized called yesterday for the designs to be scrapped and for planners to start from scratch. (New York Daily News)

Cop Can Sue City on Ground Zero Injuries - Aug 8, 2002
A Manhattan judge refused yesterday to let the city block a notice of claim by a police officer injured at Ground Zero - a decision that could affect hundreds of other ailing cops and firefighters. (New York Daily News)

Remembering Sept. 11 in a Personal Way, or Maybe Ignoring It - Aug 8, 2002
The Times asked 20 New Yorkers how they plan to observe the anniversary of Sept. 11, and got at least 10 different answers. While some plan to stay at home and remember Sept. 11 with their familes, others said they had had more than enough remembrance of Sept. 11 already. (New York Times)

NYPD Plans WTC Service - Aug 8, 2002
The Police Department will hold a separate memorial for its officers killed on Sept. 11th. (Newsday)

Memorial Run Set for Sept. 14 - Aug 8, 2002
The victims of the Sept. 11 attacks will be remembered next month with a four-mile memorial run along Manhattan's West Side, from which the twin towers were once visible. (Newsday)

Sept. 11 to Be Marked With Music and Tributes - Aug 7, 2002
New York City will be transformed into a state of perpetual commemoration on Sept. 11, with readings, concerts and odes to the dead, tributes that in many cases grew out of ideas from people around the world. The business of the city of New York will not cease, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday, in detailing the city's plans to mark the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Rather, it will yield to various events in all five boroughs, beginning with a march into ground zero led by bagpipers and including a visit from President Bush and a reading of the names of every person who died in the World Trade Center attack. (New York Times)

Schedule for the Ceremony - Aug 7, 2002
A full schedule for the Sept. 11 commemoration, beginning with five bagpipe processions in each of the five boroughs. (Newsday)

Some Prefer to Mourn Privately - Aug 7, 2002
With the city's plans for the anniversary tribute finalized, hundreds of Sept. 11 victims' relatives are facing a new decision: whether to take part in the ceremony at the World Trade Center site or grieve in private. (New York Post)

New York City Facing Exodus of Firefighters - Aug 7, 2002
Scores of New York City's Fire Department supervisors, including some of its most senior surviving commanders, have retired since Sept. 11, and hundreds more have notified their union that they expect to leave in the next year. At the same time, the department's front-line firefighters are retiring at more than double the usual rate, according to fire officials. The expected retirements, when combined with those commanders killed at the World Trade Center 11 months ago, mean that the department will soon have lost roughly one-quarter of its entire supervisory staff. (New York Times)

U.S. to Test for Contaminants in 250 Downtown Apartments - Aug 7, 2002
The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced plans yesterday to test for dioxins and toxic metals in a sampling of Lower Manhattan apartments whose interiors were coated with ash and dust from the World Trade Center's collapse. The agency said the testing, along with the asbestos cleanup and testing program announced in May, will be the largest cleanup in its history. (New York Times)

Settlement Offers Are Due on Trade Center Losses - Aug 7, 2002
In the most significant moment yet in the insurance battle over the World Trade Center, lawyers for Larry A. Silverstein, the developer, and Swiss Re, the lead insurer, are to make settlement offers to a federal judge in Manhattan tomorrow. If they agree on an amount, it will determine how much money Mr. Silverstein will have to rebuild the trade center and, more broadly, how much influence he will have over the future of the site and the character of much of Lower Manhattan. (New York Times)

Artists Meet Frustration at Ground Zero - Aug 7, 2002
New Yorkers have needed a memorial since day one. Indeed, by September 12, they were everywhere—those spontaneous heartfelt shrines. Artist Mary Miss and two collaborators found inspiration in those clusters of candles and flowers. They conceived of "Moving Perimeter" last October as a temporary piece, meant to address that need for ritual and a gathering place. Despite a base of support and a great deal of attention from the media, the temporary memorial did not happen. (Village Voice)

Land Swap Proposal Offers Much To Consider - Aug 6, 2002
On one level, the city looks like a winner in the Bloomberg administration's proposal to swap the city-owned land under two big airports for the World Trade Center site. By taking over the trade center site, the city would gain access to the $120 million in annual rents paid by Silverstein Properties at the center. But the warm reception given the idea by the Port Authority and, yesterday, by the governor of New Jersey, makes it appear that the benefit would at least be mutual, with the authority able to own land that pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue. In the end, the land swap might cost the city a bundle, depending mostly on what the city plans to do with the site - retain the commercial space of Silverstein that brings in revenue, or building something with less office space but more popular among the public. (New York Times)

Design Ideas Pour Into Office Of Rebuilding Agency - Aug 6, 2002
More than 2,000 unsolicited proposals for a Ground Zero memorial have been sent to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation since it was established at the end of last year. The corporation, which is charged with overseeing the permanent Sept. 11 memorial, is in the midst of setting up a process for designing the tribute, most likely through an international design competition. The new executive in charge of the project, Anita Contini, started her job only yesterday and has been getting familiar with the issues. Many of the submitted designs will likely be entered into the international competition, LMDC officials said. (New York Post)

Broadway Shows To Be Closed September 11 - Aug 6, 2002
Many Broadway theaters will go dark on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Traditionally, theaters offer matinee and evening performances on Wednesdays. The following shows have announced there will be no performances that day: "Aida," "Beauty and the Beast," "Chicago," "42nd Street," "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," "The Graduate," "Into the Woods," "Les Miserables," "The Lion King," "Mamma Mia!," "Noises Off," "Oklahoma!," "Rent" and "Urinetown." (Newsday)

Names of 9/11 Victims To Be Read On Anniversary - Aug 6, 2002
The names of every person killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center will be read at the first anniversary ceremony of the tragedy, relatives of the victims were told last night. While plans for the commemoration are not complete, the family members also were told that bells around the city would be rung at the exact time the Twin Towers were struck - 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. - and at the times they collapsed - 9:50 a.m. and 10:29 a.m. Definitive plans for the ceremony are to be announced today by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki, who plan to participate. (Newsday)

Fight Over World Trade Center Insurance Continues - Aug 6, 2002
The two sides in the World Trade Center insurance battle appear to remain far apart as efforts continue to resolve the dispute out of court. Larry Silverstein, who owns the 99-year lease on the demolished Twin Towers, has submitted expert reports, which he contends back his claim that he's entitled to $7.1 billion in insurance proceeds. Silverstein claims that the terrorist attacks represented two separate incidents, and, as such, entitle him to two separate payments of $3.55 billion for a total of $7.1 billion. Insurers insist the incidents were a single event coordinated by terrorists, thereby limiting the maximum payout to $3.55 billion. The bottom line, says one of the insurers, is that they only insured the towers for $3.5 billion - and that includes both the cash value of the destroyed towers and business interruption payments. (Newsday)

Leaseholder Would Consider Proposal to Let City Own Trade Center Site - Aug 5, 2002
Larry A. Silverstein, the developer who holds the World Trade Center lease, has an open mind about the city's tentative plan to take over ownership of the site, his spokesman said on Sunday. The spokesman, Howard J. Rubenstein, said that Mr. Silverstein had not yet received any details about the city's tentative proposal, but added that "he's certainly open to a discussion." (New York Times)

Swap Plan Emerges As Rebuilding Process is in Flux - Aug 5, 2002
City Hall's decision to dangle a potential land swap for Ground Zero in front of the Port Authority raises questions about what would happen to the rebuilding process while a deal is discussed. The Bloomberg administration's idea of trading the city's airports for the entire World Trade Center site surfaced as the rebuilding process is in flux. (New York Post)

Bloomberg Likes Idea Of WTC Land Swap - Aug 5, 2002
Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday said a land-swap deal with the Port Authority, which would give the city control of the World Trade Center site and the Port Authority the land at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, is an innovative idea in its early stages that makes sense. (Newsday)

9/11 Survivors Take on Mission of Remembrance - Aug 5, 2002
A new breed of activists have transformed the pain of losing a loved one on Sept. 11 into a shared quest to accomplish something lasting. They are homemakers, electricians, insurance executives, retirees and teachers who have joined forces to change laws guiding building construction and put their stamp on redevelopment plans for downtown. (New York Daily News)

Schumer Bill Would Allow 9/11 Victims' Fund Lawyers To Collect Fees Up To 12 - Aug 5, 2002
Senator Schumer is drafting legislation that would let attorneys collect between 8 and 12% of a family’s payout from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, a victims’ advocate said. The Schumer plan is a compromise between Senator Nickles, who did not want lawyers to take any money from the fund, and the trial lawyers themselves, who want no limit on their contingency fees. (New York Sun)

Skyscrapers of New York: A Special Report - Aug 5, 2002
When they toppled the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, terrorists also threatened to rob New York of its century-long passion for tall buildings. Would anyone want to live or work in a skyscraper again? New York still may be in a state of semi-shock following the September attack, and there is no way of knowing what would happen to the high-rise market if another tall building took a hit. But as early worries ease, the future of the skyscraper seems assured. (Newsday)

Advance Broadway Sales Have Plummeted - Aug 5, 2002
Since Sept. 11, Broadway producers say, advance sales for some of the top shows have plummeted, and the downturn could have a serious effect on the city's live theater.A recent survey by the League of American Theaters and Producers found that 37 percent of theatergoers were buying tickets at least a month in advance, down from 50 percent. (New York Post)

Port Authority Says It Would Consider Land Swap - Aug 4, 2002
A proposal that would give New York City and New York State control of the rebuilding process in Lower Manhattan deserves serious consideration, officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said yesterday. Under the proposal, put forward by city officials, the Port Authority would give the city ownership of the 16-acre World Trade Center site in exchange for the land beneath La Guardia and Kennedy Airports. (New York Times)

City's Swap Shaky - Aug 4, 2002
As quickly as it was floated, a trial-balloon notion of the city surrendering its Queens airports for control of the World Trade Center site may be getting shot down, insiders said yesterday. Under a plan initiated within the Bloomberg administration by Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, the city would let the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey own the land under LaGuardia and Kennedy airports in exchange for the control of the lower Manhattan site. (Newsday)

Cases Seen as Guide to 9/11 Fund Payouts - Aug 4, 2002
Kenneth Feinberg, the special master of the federal victims' compensation fund, will soon release his first round of payment calculations for the families of those killed and injured on Sept. 11. Lawyers advising victims and their families on whether to apply for the fund are watching the decisions closely. (Newsday)

Rebuild Plans Could Dislocate Residents - Aug 4, 2002
Residents of the area near Ground Zero are worried to see, in place of their homes, plans for a museum or other projects in the six proposals for rebuilding the 16-acre World Trade Center site. A spokesperson for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. denies that the agency favors dislocating people in the neighborhood of Ground Zero, but would not discuss specifics of the redevelopment plans. (New York Post)

City Proposes Swapping Land to Control Trade Center Site - Aug 3, 2002
New York City officials have proposed a swap in which the city would take over the World Trade Center site in exchange for giving the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey the land beneath La Guardia and Kennedy Airports, an official involved in the rebuilding effort said yesterday. (New York Times)

Silverstein Raises Estimate on Trade Center Losses to $8.2 Billion - Aug 3, 2002
Silverstein Properties, the real estate company that controls the lease on the World Trade Center site, said yesterday that its losses related to the Sept. 11 attack on the trade center totaled $8.2 billion. (New York Times)

Bush to Mark Sept. 11 With Visits - Aug 3, 2002
President Bush will mark the Sept. 11 terror attacks anniversary by visiting New York, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 crashed. (Associated Press)

Bush May Refuse Health Funds for Ground Zero Workers - Aug 3, 2002
President Bush's refusal yesterday to quickly approve $90 million in funding for monitoring the health of Ground Zero workers could lead to another showdown with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. (New York Post)

Airlines Cancel Sept. 11 Flights From Europe - Aug 3, 2002
Several European airlines have canceled flights to the United States on Sept. 11, saying fewer people plan to fly on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. (Associated Press)

Mayor Says He's No Fan of Corporate Tax Breaks - Aug 3, 2002
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday he's not a fan of corporate tax breaks - even though his firm sought a $14 million incentive last year - as he dismissed threats by the New York Stock Exchange to move some of its operations out of town. (New York Post)

Feds Threatening To Sue New York Over Security - Aug 2, 2002
The federal government is threatening to seize streets and sidewalks in Lower Manhattan because, officials say, the city has stalled plans to protect two large federal buildings from terrorists. A federal agency wants to erect retracting barriers at the entrances to Duane Street, Reade Street, and Elk Street, and build low posts on the sidewalk around the buildings to block truck bombs. (New York Sun)

Sept. 11 Provokes Code Overhaul for High-Rises - Aug 2, 2002
New York City officials are creating a sweeping plan to change the codes that govern how all high-rise buildings are protected against fire and structural damage and how they are evacuated in an emergency. The plan is one of the first concrete signs that the fiery collapse of the World Trade Center is going to transform the construction and operation of high-rises around the nation. (New York Times)

Stock Exchange Abandons Plan to Build New Headquarters Across the Street - Aug 2, 2002
The chairman of the New York Stock Exchange said yesterday that the exchange was abandoning plans to build a new headquarters building across the street from its historic site at 11 Wall Street, effectively ending a deal that was aggressively pursued by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. (New York Times)

9/11 Anniversary Fear - Aug 2, 2002
New Yorkers - and the rest of the country - are getting the Sept. 11 jitters. Airline bookings for Sept. 11 are down by as much as a third, and city hotels still can't fill available rooms around the anniversary. (New York Daily News)

Tenants Across from Trade Center Hope to Return - Aug 1, 2002
The dust-choked apartments of three buildings on the south edge of ground zero don't look much like home. But building residents have been fighting contamination and structural damage to return for nearly 10 months. Now the tenants are worried that their homes may be razed as part of the Downtown rebuilding plans. (Downtown Express)

Rebuilding Leaders say Chinatown is Part of Plan - Aug 1, 2002
John Whitehead, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation chairperson, came to Chinatown last week to say that his organization "will not forget Chinatown as our plans for lower Manhattan proceed." (Downtown Express)

Possible Plan for Sept. 11: Tributes in Each Borough - Aug 1, 2002
Simultaneous tributes in parks in each borough will unite New Yorkers on the evening of Sept. 11 as part of the official plans for commemorating the city's darkest day, officials said. Mayoral spokesman Ed Skyler refused to comment on official plans, saying Mayor Bloomberg would announce them publicly soon. (New York Post)

Museums Exhibit Artifacts of WTC - Aug 1, 2002
Physical reminders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, such as pieces of an airliner fuselage, half a phone handset and computer disks melted into a glob, now have a second life as bits of history. They go on display Thursday at the New York State Museum in Albany, one of the handful of institutions gingerly beginning to exhibit artifacts from ground zero (Associated Press)