Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 17:13:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: Louis Epstein
Subject: Timetables on WTC Redevelopment


My apologies for writing to the list again less than a day after
the last time (two addresses are new...don't worry,I always promptly
honor and confirm any request to be removed from the list) but I
got hold of some rather important information from the Whitehead
group's website (again,it's at http://www.renewnyc.com/ ) and wanted
to keep everyone up to date.

These things have to be downloaded as PDF files rather than being
readable as text in the site...they're not trying to make anything
easy for us.

I now have a copy of their full "Principles and Preliminary Blueprint"
(I had figured on picking one up at the public hearing on Thursday).
Also,their timetable...important dates...including the weeks of
all the other hearings...

May 27th,as noted yesterday,is the last day they'll take public
  comments on the PPB.

June 5th,they will issue a revised version of it...let's hope their
  revision will bend in face of substantial pro-Towers comments!

After this they plan some "outreach"...to carefully selected groups
  including their own advisory councils and a State Senate Majority
  Task Force...no mention of the State Assembly,which is not controlled
  by the party of Governor Pataki,who appointed them!

June 26th,as noted yesterday...last day of public comments leading
  up to the Phase I Request For Proposals.

Early to Mid July,they release Phase I with a summary of public comments.
  Let's make sure LOTS of those public comments urge a specification of
  twin 1368-foot-or-higher towers in the RFP...be warned that a blinkered
  insistence on the Yamasaki design would not be too helpful,let them
  feel you trust them to have some discretion subject to that requirement.

MID JULY...the comment period on Phase I itself opens.

THIRD WEEK IN JULY...is the event at the Javits,
	AND THEREFORE THE RALLY...if you want to volunteer for the
	rally email list...let me know if you haven't already!
	(Their "large-scale public forum" promises to be organized
	through their handpicked groups).

Late July,early August...more soliciting of input from handpicked groups.

FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST...PUBLIC HEARING ON PHASE I.

August 19...final day they'll take public comments on Phase I.
  Let's hope as many of them as possible tell them it HAS to
  include new Twin Towers at least as tall as the old...and all
  do our part to send such comments.(READ THEIR PHASE I FIRST,
  and react to it specifically without retreating from the
  basic point).

From then to mid September,they consider the public comments and
  hold discussions with their handpicked groups.

Mid-Late September...Release of Phase II,with summary of public
  comments.

September 30 to October 31...public comment period on Phase II.
  (No Twin Towers in the plan yet?...read Phase II,and reject
  their latest excuses).

Whole month of October...more soliciting input from their own
  advisory councils and handpicked groups.

FIRST WEEK OF OCTOBER...PUBLIC HEARING ON PHASE II.

SECOND WEEK OF OCTOBER...ANOTHER PUBLIC HEARING ON PHASE II.
  Will be curious if they discourage repeat attendance at hearings,
  we will get an idea of how they manage them at the first one
  Thursday.If their opening presentations tell Twin Towers
  advocates to shut up because they won't get anywhere...we
  can make hay with that with the press.

October 31...Comment period on Phase II ends.
  We need to make sure the frequency of pro-Towers comments
  does not slacken over time...let the other side show fatigue
  rather than us!

From then until December 19,they consider the comments and
  have more discussions with their handpicked groups.

In Mid December,they release the Phase III plan with a summary
  of the comments.

Next year they plan to do more outreach to the handpicked groups,
  hold more "public hearings and Forums",and..."Amend Phase III
  based on public comment".

Let's hope the Towers have been added by then!!

As to the Principles and Preliminary Blueprint document,
which they hope will drive discussion Thursday and which
they take comments on until May 27th if you can't be there,
as I wrote yesterday it's an exercise in vagueness.

Further,it is an exercise in contradiction.
Consider:

	"When New York City was attacked on September 11,2001,
	the United States and the democratic ideals upon which
	it was founded were also attacked....New York does not
	bear the loss alone.In the aftermath of September 11,
	the entire nation has embraced New York,and we have
	responded by vowing to rebuild our City--not as it was,
	but better than it was before.Although we can never
	replace what was lost,we must remember those who perished,
	rebuild what was destroyed,and renew Lower Manhattan as
	a symbol of our nation's resilience.That is the mission
	of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation."

Yes,indeed,we MUST "rebuild what was destroyed",and only by
doing so can the new buildings serve as "a symbol of our nation's
resilience"...structures no taller than those across the street,
invisible on the skyline,would be symbols of our nation's surrender.
How does this sit with the assertion that we "can never replace
what was lost"?

The Corporation has been shirking its mission ever since it
dropped the "Re" from the "Redevelopment" in its name to bias
perception against its reponsibility to restore the lost Towers.

They go on to say their "most important priority is to create a
permanent memorial on the World Trade Center site that appropriately
honors those who were lost,while reaffirming the democratic ideals
that came under attack on September 11".

(Hint...structures shorter than the old Towers can't do that!!!)

Immediately after this they cite huge tourist traffic expected for
the memorial as a reason to revamp the transportation systems in the
area...the Towers were a large tourist attraction,I don't see that a
memorial would be so for long.

Then they say they want "an inclusive and open public process"
and cite the handpicked groups they hold discussions with or organized,
but not the "nation" they say embraced the city and does not expect
its embrace to be answered with symbols of surrender...and say they
want "the creation of a vibrant,mixed-use community in Lower Manhattan".

Never mind if this wasn't there before,and the constituencies that
were there before the attack preferred to leave it as it was.

So much for the intro.

The "Principles" page doesn't say anything about what gets
built,beyond apparent desire to change the character of the
area while still preserving its function as financial district.

The Blueprint pages are longer but still say nothing about
exactly what gets built.Some of the items are concerned with
new transportation systems,not really an issue for us.

Of particular concern to us are items 3 and 8.
Item 3 concerns breaking up the superblock,with a complaint
about the Towers and plaza being a "world apart" and wanting
to "reintegrate the former World Trade Center site with the
rest of downtown".They promise as impact "Human scale will
be re-established"...sorry...this is a place for heroic scale!!!

Item 8 pledges to "expand the residential population to create
a strong sense of community"...wanting to house "a wide variety
of income levels",and create "a critical mass of residents".
Right now,anti-skyscraper neighbors are few...so they want to
import some!!!

The Towers must return.Only people who want to live near them
should live in the area.

If you'll be there Thursday...I'm sure broadcast and print
media will be there too.Let's be available for good interviews
and quotes.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.