Conn. city's 9/11 memorial will be a place to reflect
Those remembered include former Milford resident Avnish Patel
Christine Walsh
 
MILFORD, Conn. - The city is poised to break ground on a memorial to the 9/11 victims, which include former Milford resident Avnish Patel. The three-sided monument is slated to be built behind City Hall, near the city's waterfall and duck pond. Milford's Sept. 11 Memorial Commission plans to raise between $25,000 and $40,000 to pay for its construction. Joseph Della Monica Jr., chairman of the volunteer commission, said the monument's design was chosen out of 30 contest entries earlier this year. Plans call for a granite or marble three-dimensional triangle that is 4 feet wide by 6 feet high, said designer Jim Denno. Each side will bear a plaque memorializing a site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the field in southwestern Pennsylvania. Small lights will illuminate the plaques, which will be recessed into the monument, Denno said. The top of each side will proclaim, "Milford Remembers." A gazebo will cover the monument, and eight marble benches and plants will surround it. "I wanted something clean," said Denno, a Milford resident. "I wanted something that was respectful of the area. ... We wanted a place where people could go and be under cover while they're sitting, contemplating." Milford officials decided to build a 9/11 monument because of its close proximity to New York City (it's about an hour away) and its loss of three residents: Patel, Mike Miller and Seth Morris. Patel, 28, was working as a research analyst for Fred Alger Management on the 93rd floor of World Trade Center's north tower on Sept. 11, 2001. He moved to Connecticut when he was 13 and lived in Milford for several years. He loved living in New York City, but had a passion for exploring the rest of the world. He traveled to 20 or 30 countries, according to reports published after his death, and posted photographs of his adventures on his personal Web site. Current plans do not call for the Milford monument to specifically honor its three lost residents, but that could change. Della Monica said it's possible that donors will "buy a bench" and name it after one of them. "We'll get their names involved in it in some aspect," he said. So far, the commission has collected about $11,000 for the monument - and official fund-raising efforts have not yet begun, Della Monica said. The commission is hoping to complete construction by next Sept. 11. For Denno, the chance to design his first monument in more than 30 years in the business is exciting. "I love Milford, first of all, and I'm pretty passionate about my country," said Denno, whose current projects include a camp in Wyoming for inner-city children. "The opportunity presented itself and I was very eager to get working on it."


http://www.indianewengland.com/ME2/dirmod....A2181FE0D394908BC95

Bloomberg Flexes Muscle, Naming Four to Downtown Development Board

By JIM RUTENBERG and DAVID W. DUNLAP

Putting power and influence where his campaign pronouncements had been, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday named four top members of his administration and two executives to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board, ensuring a larger role for City Hall in rebuilding the World Trade Center site.

An hour or so later, Gov. George E. Pataki named two top members of his administration to the board, holding out the possibility of pointed monthly board meetings as the city and state pursue their sometimes competing visions for downtown.

The naming of the new directors resembled a game of one-upmanship. Officials on both sides agreed that Charles A. Gargano, the state's top development official, was to some degree appointed as a counter balance to Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff, whose reputation for charging hard is well known in the governor's office.

Officials on both sides said they had been in close contact concerning the appointments, and that Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Pataki were planning a private meeting today to discuss the future of the site.

The new appointments - representing half of the 16-member board - would bring new life and heft to an agency whose reason for existence was called into question recently after Mr. Pataki banned the International Freedom Center from the memorial quadrant, even as the corporation was reviewing the issue.

"This is a true reaffirmation of the rebuilding process," said Stefan Pryor, the corporation president. "We are extraordinarily grateful for the caliber of appointments that they have made."

For the same reason, civic organizations generally praised the choices, although Julie Menin, the chairwoman of Community Board 1 in Lower Manhattan, said she was disappointed by the absence from both lists of community representatives.

Mr. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, who now attends meetings as the mayor's representative, will become a director, as will Marc V. Shaw, the deputy mayor for operations. So will Amanda M. Burden, the chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, and Martha E. Stark, the finance commissioner.

Such a strong and senior bloc may shift the center of political gravity toward the city's side. But the corporation remains a state agency at heart, wholly owned by the Empire State Development Corporation and ultimately subject to the governor's control.

Mr. Gargano, the chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation and vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site, will now join the Lower Manhattan subsidiary as a director.

The governor chose his senior adviser for counterterrorism, James Kallstrom, to serve on the board, at a time of great concern about designing attack-resistant structures.

The mayor's other appointees were William C. Rudin, the chairman of the Association for a Better New York, and Lawrence T. Babbio Jr., vice chairman and president of Verizon, whose headquarters will overlook ground zero.

The appointments marked the first major personnel move by Mr. Bloomberg since his re-election, and were in keeping with his campaign vow to play a stronger role downtown.

He appointed some of his most trusted deputies. Mr. Doctoroff and Mr. Shaw are among the handful of top officials in Mr. Bloomberg's administration, and, as one official put it, "This is the best thing he could do short of appointing himself to the board."

Mr. Doctoroff's style was on display during the mayor's failed pursuit of a West Side football stadium. In recent weeks, many of Mr. Doctoroff's outside associates have said they believe he would like nothing more than to put the failure of the stadium plan behind him with some notable successes, like pushing the mayor's agenda downtown.

Mr. Shaw is a far more low-key player. But he has spent a lifetime in government, and knows the ins and outs of Albany perhaps better than anyone in the administration. He also knows a thing or two about board rooms, having served as the executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Ms. Burden, the planner, is seen as the yin to Mr. Doctoroff's yang, with a more subtle approach. She also has deep ties to cultural elites who were alarmed by the governor's handling of the Freedom Center.

Ms. Stark, the finance commissioner, has a reputation as a no-nonsense numbers cruncher. But she is also known as an aggressive defender of city policy.

Two mayoral appointees, Stanley S. Shuman and Edward Lewis, have been replaced. The governor now has seven appointees on the board, with one more to be named.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/nyregion/17rebuild.html

New board picks signal renewed Ground Zero focus
 
BY DAN JANISON
STAFF WRITER

After drawing criticism in the recent mayoral campaign, Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wednesday signaled a renewed focus on Ground Zero as he appointed six new members to the corporate board that controls the site.

The new appointees include two of his deputy mayors, Dan Doctoroff and Marc Shaw, as well as his planning and finance commissioners, Amanda Burden and Martha Stark.

 The others are Association for a Better New York chairman William Rudin and Verizon Communications vice chairman and president Lawrence T. Babbio Jr. Two prior mayoral appointees, Carl Weisbrod and Robert Harding, remain on the board.

At a news conference earlier in the day, Bloomberg acknowledged, "The administration's interest may very well differ from others'." And, he warned, "we are going to be very vocal in trying to make sure that our interests are taken into account as well."

Gov. George Pataki, who has greater control of the 16-member board, is about to enter his final year in office, which could change the political landscape around the site.

He also filled two of his three vacancies on the board Wednesday. James Kallstrom, a Pataki adviser who is developing a security plan for the trade center site, was appointed along with Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., which is the parent corporation of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

Bloomberg has continually disagreed with the approach of the LMDC, which wants to develop primarily office and retail space.

While speaking of cooperation, Bloomberg said his LMDC representatives "will represent a unified position" in his administration that -- while respecting families' wishes -- will shape the impact on the whole city of the former World Trade Center site, he said.

He cited a need for jobs, tourism, housing and schools.

In the campaign, Democrats knocked Bloomberg's board vacancies as evidence of drift on a city and state level.

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyor...nheadlines-politics

Bloomberg Seeks To Exert More Influence Over WTC Site With New LMDC Appointees

For months, Mayor Michael Bloomberg left a number of positions open on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. But now that he's been re-elected, Hizzoner is trying to exert influence over the board that oversees the World Trade Center site. NY1’s Davidson Goldin filed this report.

Mayor Bloomberg wants more influence over the World Trade Center site, and he says his new appointees to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will push his agenda.

“They're going to represent a unified position,” the mayor said Wednesday.

Bloomberg is now putting some senior staffers on the board, including top deputy mayor Marc Shaw, Deputy Mayor for Development Dan Doctoroff, Finance Commissioner Martha Stark and Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden.

They'll help him with shaking up the planning process, a controversy the mayor started on the eve of the election when Bloomberg suddenly called for apartment buildings instead of more offices downtown.

Governor George Pataki said he was “perplexed” by the idea, and state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver called the concept “absurd.” But Bloomberg aides say they're moving forward.

The mayor is on board with the memorial, the Freedom Tower and the transit center, but he thinks plans for additional office buildings should be converted to apartments and a hotel.

In addition to appointing his aides, Bloomberg named Association for a Better New York Chairman Bill Rudin and Verizon Vice Chairman Lawrence Babbio to the board, while Pataki announced two new members as well, top state development aide Charles Gargano and state anti-terrorism advisor James Kallstrom.

Bur even as the mayor appointed new members to the LMDC, he said the governor shouldn't have created the board in the first place.

“I was never sure that the LMDC should have been created to begin with because it seemed that the state and the city could have worked together without it,” said Bloomberg.

We'll find out over the next few months whether the new appointees agree, agree to disagree, or fight over what happens at the World Trade Center site.
 
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=3&aid=55015

Mayor Tightens Control Over LMDC

Mayor Bloomberg is tightening his control over the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein has more.

Two deputy Mayors and the city's planning commissioner will now serve on the LMDC board. Deputy Mayors Daniel Doctoroff and Mark Shaw, and City Planning commissioner Amanda Burdon are among six new appointees Bloomberg announced yesterday.

In the past, tussled with the LMDC over its vision for downtown, often pushing the state authority to think more about street life, retail space, and the greater Lower Manhattan streetscape. For the first time since the LMDC was created, half of the board's appointees now owe their posts to Mayor Bloomberg.

The Mayor said yesterday the new board members would be "very vocal" if they felt the board was acting against the city's interests. During his campaign for re-election, Bloomberg promised he would focus more attention on rebuilding Lower Manhattan.


http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/54083

9/11 panel makes recommendations for DNA-based identification after mass disasters
Team effort identified 850 World Trade Center victims
BETHESDA, Md.
Only days after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ) convened a panel of experts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other institutions, asking them to serve as an advisory panel to develop a process to identify victims using DNA collected at the site of the tragedy. Today, in an article published in the journal Science, the panel reports that DNA-based efforts led to the identification of more than one-quarter of those reported missing. The article also makes recommendations to improve DNA identification in event of future terrorist attacks or mass disasters.
In their Science paper, panel members report that they have been able to identify about 850 of the 2,749 people reported missing after the World Trade Center attacks based solely on DNA results. In conjunction with New York City's chief medical examiner, the panel has determined that no further identifications can be made at this time using the DNA samples collected.

The Kinship and Data Analysis Panel (KADAP) included two senior investigators from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the NIH. Leslie G. Biesecker, M.D., a medical geneticist and the first author of the paper, provided expert advice about kinship analysis, communicating relevant information about genetic testing to the families, and human subject issues. Joan E. Bailey-Wilson, Ph.D., a statistical geneticist, furnished the team with the statistical expertise necessary to reduce the risk of misidentifications.

"This effort presented the group with some overwhelming challenges in the face of such an unprecedented tragedy, but they came together at this time of national crisis and developed a process that provided better results than many would have expected. We owe them a debt of gratitude for providing the scientific expertise and compassion needed to help families and friends identify their loved ones," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.

KADAP was organized and funded by the NIJ, the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, based on a request from New York City's chief medical examiner. The New York State Police Forensics Identification Center was responsible for analyzing any reference DNA samples and several private laboratories tested samples from the World Trade Center site. The final identifications were made by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of New York City. The panel included experts in forensics, bioinformatics, molecular and medical genetics, and statistical and population genetics.

"It was a significant challenge, but the group was dedicated to the difficult task at hand. Our motivation was to help the medical examiner return to the families physical remains of their family members who perished in the World Trade Center attacks to assist them in the long and difficult process of grieving," said Dr. Biesecker.

"I'm very proud of the NHGRI researchers who contributed their time and scientific expertise to this effort during our nation's time of need," said NHGRI Scientific Director Eric D. Green, M.D, Ph.D.

In addition to NHGRI, KADAP had members from NIJ ; National Center for Biotechnology Information, NIH; New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner; New York State Police; University of Central Florida, Orlando; Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, Va.; National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.; Carleton University, Ottawa; Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis; University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas.; Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; Myriad Genetics, Salt Lake City; Niezgoda Consulting, Annandale, Va.; Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; NewYork State Department of Health, Albany, N.Y.; and DNA Technology Consulting Services, Fairfax Station, Va.

Most of the identifications were made using a standard testing method used in forensic science. However, because some of the DNA samples were not in perfect condition, several technical improvements had to be made to provide more useful DNA samples. In addition, other methods of DNA identification were used to assist in the effort.

The panel also makes suggestions on how to improve DNA-based identification efforts in the event of any future mass disasters or terrorist attacks. KADAP members recommend that, based on their experience with the World Trade Center effort, similar panels should identify the criteria for determining when an identification effort should be concluded, especially if it is deemed that no further progress can be made. Other recommendations include: conducting more research to develop more sensitive forensic DNA typing systems; improving software to integrate analytical, database and workflow functions; and designing processes to test and validate novel identification procedures as they are being developed.

At the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, no infrastructure existed for the rapid identification of large disasters with more than 500 victims. Previously, many mass fatality identification efforts, such as those following airline crashes, began with a finite list of victims. However, in the case of the World Trade Center attacks, the exact number and identity of the victims was unknown.

More than 20,000 tissue fragments were collected at the site – all of which had to be catalogued and analyzed. Researchers found that the DNA derived from the tissue fragments was often mixed with inorganic building material. In addition, much of the DNA was compromised due to exposure to horrific conditions at the disaster site, including temperatures exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Complicating matters further was the need for reference DNA samples to compare with DNA from tissue found at the World Trade Center site. Panel members moved rapidly to develop the forms and kits needed to enable the medical examiner's office to collect reference DNA from victims' previously stored medical specimens, such as blood; victims' personal effects, such as hair brushes; or from the blood or cheek swabs of their next of kin. The kit included a brochure, "How DNA Can help Identify Individuals," which was developed by NHGRI and NIJ, and adopted as part of the President's DNA initiative, a five-year, $1 billion commitment to improve the nation's capacity to use DNA evidence. This brochure has been utilized by other state medical examiner offices and in foreign countries.

A new information technology infrastructure had to be established to optimize data transfer between the state police and medical examiner's office, as well as to interconnect the databases and analytical tools used by panel members. In addition, a data repository was established at the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., which could be used by analysts outside of the medical examiner's office. Software companies were hired to create new tools for matching the DNA fingerprints of victims' samples to those of next-of-kin or other reference samples. There was a low tolerance for errors and the group set stringent statistical thresholds to make the identifications with high confidence.

The NIJ plans to publish its own report outlining lessons learned from the work of the panel to serve as a model for other mass casualty DNA investigations. Authorities have already used the report to help identify victims of last year's South Asian tsunami and of hurricane Katrina.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-11/nhgr-9pm111705.php

Honoring Sept. 11 victims
Chamber of Commerce unveils memorial garden at library
 
The garden's center stone is inscribed with the names of North Bellmore and Bellmore residents who lost their lives on Sept. 11.
 
Community members sat silently outside the North Bellmore Public Library last Sunday morning as a bell tolled after the reading of each name of a Bellmorite who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
It was an especially poignant moment in a solemn ceremony held by the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce to unveil a monument honoring the Bellmore's 11 terror victims. A garden full of colorful flowers surrounds the monument.
The family of fallen New York city firefighter Manuel Mojica sat quietly at the front of the gathering. Mojicaıs widow, Anna, and their children, 12-year-old Stephanie and 9-year-old Manny. Sometimes [a ceremony] can really just get into everything all over again, which just brings you back. It can be hard, said Anna. But this was good, it was done appropriately, and it's a great spot. Manuel would enjoy it. He loved children, and he loved reading to them.
American Airlines Capt. John Ogonowski piloted Flight 11, one of the two jetliners that terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center. He had married Margaret LaValle, who was raised in Bellmore. The couple were wed at St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church in Bellmore and made their life in Dracut, Mass., where they raised three daughters.
Margaretıs parents, William and Elizabeth LaValle, who still live in Bellmore, attended the chamber's dedication ceremony.
My husband was a true country type; he was not fond of going into the city, Margaret said. My husband loved and cared for his farm. Weve lived there for so long, I feel a sort of disconnect to New York. Still, it's lovely to have his name on a memorial in the town I grew up in.
Marilyn Weinberg of North Bellmore lost her son, Kevin, in the attacks. Everyone lost a lot that day, and I like to know that the community remembers my son, she said.
The Weinbergs have lived in North Bellmore for 47 years. Kevinıs father, Len, said his son worked for Thomson Financial at the World Trade Center. Kevin, who was 41 when he died, had attended Jacob Gunther Elementary, Jerusalem Avenue Middle School, Mepham High and Syracuse University.
Marian Prior is the mother of Kevin Prior, a New York City firefighter and Bellmore fire volunteer who died while trying to save others on Sept. 11. Marian described the new memorial garden as just beautiful.
Carol Guilfoyle, Prior's aunt, added that itıs still difficult to deal with her nephew's death. Sometimes it feels like it happened yesterday, and sometimes it feels like 100 years ago,² she said. When I think back to that day, I think of the day that the world changed.
The garden, which is 20 feet in diameter, is in the patio area, on the east side of the North Bellmore Library, at 1551 Newbridge Road in North Bellmore. It consists of mum flowers, cabbage heads and benches that form a semicircle around the monument. A boulder inscribed with the names of the North Bellmore and Bellmore residents whose lives were lost Sept. 11 serves as its centerpiece.
To the right of the stone, a second stone is dedicated to the New York City emergency personnel who died. To the left, a third stone is dedicated to the everyday New Yorkers who went to work but never came home that day. Behind the center stone is a steel plate retrieved from the World Trade Center.
Joni Caputo, the Bellmore chamber executive director, said that the organization had in mind a peaceful garden where family members could sit and remember their loved ones.
Bob Schade, chairman of the chamberıs Memorial Committee, said that for two years the committee worked diligently on the design, funding and construction of the garden. In the end, the project cost reached about $20,000, and there is still more work to be done. The committee would like to plant perennials and finalize a maintenance plan for future upkeep of the garden.
Schade calls the memorial site the finest symbol of community service any individual or organization can accomplish. He defines community spirit as the way Bellmore citizens and members of the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores worked together in partnership to benefit all. Perhaps many years from now, as people stroll past our garden or rest awhile on one of its benches, they will not forget this senseless tragedy, said Schade.
Funds for the project were provided by a grant from New York state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., the North Bellmore Library, the North Bellmore School District and local residents who purchased the individual bricks that make up the walkway framing the garden.
The chamber has sold 106 bricks, which families have inscribed in memory of their loved ones. They sell for $75, and can be inscribed with up to three lines of 20 characters each. Merrick resident Barry Kogan had the names of his late parents and grandmother inscribed. Koganıs sister, Denise, joined him at the service to pay their respects to the Sept. 11 victims and to see their inscriptions for the first time.
Four years have gone by, but I look at the garden and, in a word, itıs beautiful, said Fuschillo. We are here honoring those who were taken from us on that day.

http://www.liherald.com/site/news.cfm?news...ept_id=477132&rfi=6

Illuminating 9/11 Memorial plan selected

Katie Nelson
The Arizona Republic


A committee charged by the governor with keeping Sept. 11 etched in Arizona's minds has found a way to do it by using a resource that's all Arizona: the sun.

The state's 9/11 Memorial Commission on Thursday picked the memorial design. The winning concept uses sunlight to illuminate phrases about the terrorist attacks of 2001 and how they affected people in Arizona.

The design is circular, with a solid concrete base. Above it is a steel visor with words cut into the metal. As the sun shines down, light will stream through, projecting the words onto the concrete below.

Different sections of phrases will come into focus at different times of the day and year depending on the sun's angle. And only on Sept. 11 each year it will fully illuminate an 18-inch piece of a steel beam from the 44th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. At 50 feet in diameter, the memorial will be big enough for a classroom of children to gather on the floor, the commissioners said.

At eight feet high and sunk three feet into the ground, it also won't dominate other memorials in Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.

"We love it because it's a simple but sophisticated use of the sunlight to tell this complex story of the Arizona experience in relationship to 9/11," said Gregory Sale, of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, who helped with the selection process.

"It's very moving, from an emotional visceral point of view," added Donna Killoughey Bird, a commission member whose husband, Gary, died in the World Trade Center that day. Each proposal was thoughtful, creative and compelling, but, "this one was more."

A pair of Tempe artists and the staff at a Phoenix architecture firm produced the winning design. Matthew and Maria Salenger of coLAB Designs and architect Eddie Jones of Jones Studio Inc. were one of 16 groups to apply to create the memorial. They were one of five groups asked to come up with a proposal.

"The testimonials, facts, the feelings expressed are real teaching points and reminders of how 9/11 affected all of us," Matthew Salenger said of the phrases that will be used. "And sunlight is our best resource, so it made sense to utilize sunlight to get those messages across in a cohesive way."

The commission has spent the last three years raising more than a half-million dollars to pay for the memorial, which will also include an educational component at the request of Gov. Janet Napolitano. Scottsdale high school teacher Steve Speisman, whose brother Robert died on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, is helping create a curriculum for teachers to use on the Sept. 11 anniversary.

Many of the donors came together for "Dinner and a Movie with the Governor" on Wednesday night, before the winning design was picked. The donors sipped chardonnay and champagne and ate pasta at Caffe Boa in Tempe before taking in an Arizona-filmed movie, Tin Cup.

"This (the memorial) will not only commemorate the losses but reaffirm the history," Napolitano told the donors.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1117911memorial-ON.html

The Arizona 9/11 Memorial Commission chose this design.

Bloomberg, Pataki hold post-campaign meeting to discuss trade center site
 
By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki met Thursday to discuss the future of the World Trade Center site, a day after they both appointed loyalists to fill vacancies on the board overseeing the redevelopment.

Bloomberg and Pataki met at the governor's east side office and spent part of the afternoon talking about one of the issues that is at the top of the mayor's second-term agenda. The meeting was the most recent of many signals that Bloomberg is seizing more control in planning the redevelopment after largely letting Pataki take the lead since 2001.
 
 "The mayor's administration's interests may very well differ from others, and we're going to be very vocal in trying to make sure that our interests are taken into account," Bloomberg said Wednesday.

Bloomberg appointed six new members to the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. on Wednesday _ four of whom are top officials from his administration. Hours later, Pataki announced he was appointing James Kallstrom, an adviser who is developing a security plan for the trade center site, and Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., which is the parent corporation of the LMDC.

The mayor and governor are divided on some key issues of the plan.

Primarily, Bloomberg has questioned the pace of the progress and the plans for 10 million square feet of office space that developer Larry Silverstein wants to replace what was lost in the terrorist attack.

The mayor says residential space and even schools should be considered for the site, which he fears would turn "barren at night" if only offices were built there.

"Building a downtown, which some cities have tragically done, that empties out at five or six o'clock and there's nobody on the streets is not the road to having a successful city nor making the commercial space very valuable," he said Thursday.

When Bloomberg first made that suggestion a few weeks ago, Pataki said he was "perplexed" by the apparent change in direction.

Since the mayor floated the idea, opponents have said the move would require changing the charter that they say prohibits the site's owner _ the Port Authority _ from building anything but commercial space there. Bloomberg has dismissed that argument, saying a private developer could easily get around it.

Gargano indicated after the meeting Thursday that the governor might be willing to compromise and consider residential space on the site, and hinted that there is even backing for reforming the charter, if that is necessary.

"I would support the change," Gargano said on NY1's political program. "I don't think we should abandon commercial building on the site. I think we should have flexibility and there's nothing wrong with that."

A poll released Thursday found that a majority of New Yorkers think Bloomberg, not Pataki, should make the decisions about shaping ground zero. Respondents to the Quinnipiac University poll said they favored Bloomberg for that role over Pataki by 61 to 15 percent, and they support adding housing by a margin of 48 to 37 percent.

The same poll also found the mayor's highest approval rating ever _ coming off his re-election high. A record 75 percent of New Yorkers approve of the way he is handling his job. The survey questioned 895 registered voters from Nov. 10 to Nov. 15, and has a plus or minus 3.3 percent margin of error.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/new...ny-region-apnewyork

Trade Center Plan Needs Re-Negotiation

The chairman of the Port Authority says the plan for a new World Trade Center needs to be re-negotiated to pick up the pace of development. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: The lack of progress at Ground Zero has irked Mayor Bloomberg and the Port Authority. Today the agency's chairman, Anthony Coscia, said it may take a whole new agreement between the Authority, which owns the land, and Larry Silverstein, who has rights to develop the site, to get things moving.

COSCIA: Perhaps it would be in everyone's interest to negotiate an agreement that reflects the reality we have which is that there isn't 10 million square feet of space at the site and there isn't a retail devleopment yet.

REPORTER: Such a renegotiation could shift the building plan away from one dominated by office space toward one that included more residential and retail uses -- along the lines suggested recently by Mayor Bloomberg. A spokesman for Silverstein said the developer was working in good faith from the original agreement.

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/54130

Local Boy Scout Designs 9/11 Memorial

A local teenager has designed one of the region's first memorials honoring the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Alex Garneau, a high school senior from Malone, is trying to become an Eagle Scout, the Boy Scout's highest honor.

To do that, he had to complete a community service project.

"I was talking to a friend and they mentioned Sept. 11, and I was like, 'I could do a 9/11 memorial. That'd be really possible,'" Garneau said.

Garneau started working on the project in January.

He raised more than $6,000 and received help with the design from a local architect.

Ten months later, the memorial -- a 3-D replica of the World Trade Center towers -- is complete.

Malone held a dedication ceremony in a village park last week.

"Neighbors came. Friends came. It was like a family gathering. It really felt good," said Garneau's father, Anthony.

The high school senior said he's thinking about becoming an engineer, but his father said he'd like to see his son put his leadership skills to work in a different way.

"Congress," said Anthony Garneau. "I'd really like to see him in Congress."

http://www.thechamplainchannel.com/news/5354175/detail.html

P.A. chief pushes for agency's return to Ground Zero

NEW YORK -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey likely will return to the former World Trade Center site in 2009 or soon afterward as part of the ongoing redevelopment of Lower Manhattan, the agency's chairman said yesterday.

"I'm in favor -- as I know a number of board members are -- (of) returning this agency to that site," Anthony Coscia told reporters after the Port Authority's monthly meeting. "I've specifically said that I believe the right place for that is in Towers 3 and 4 to help anchor 400,000 to 600,000 square feet of retail development."

The Port Authority holds the rights to redevelop retail space at Ground Zero. Officials say the earliest a third or fourth tower could be completed is 2009 as part of the site's overall master plan.

Coscia said he did not expect the Port Authority would relocate to the 52-story World Trade Center 7, a building that Ground Zero site developer Larry Silverstein expects to open early next year, or the tract's proposed signature 1,776-foot Freedom Tower.

In May, Coscia and other high- ranking agency officials resisted a request from New York Gov. George Pataki to move 2,000 agency employees into WTC 7, saying it did not make economic sense and would be too traumatic for employees.

The Port Authority, which owns Ground Zero and leased the Twin Towers to Silverstein, lost 75 employees and nine contract workers in the 9/11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the complex.

Coscia's comments come as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken a more aggressive role to hasten rebuilding following his resounding re-election victory and Pataki's decision not to seek a fourth term as governor next year.

Both men share control of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which is responsible for charting Ground Zero's future. Coscia's remarks also follow longstanding tensions between the Port Authority and Silverstein over rebuilding.

The chairman said he believes "it's unreasonable to think" agency employees who were there on 9/11 will ever forget the pain.

"But at some point, the agency as a whole does feel an obligation to return to the site," said Coscia.

Coscia also said he "wouldn't rule out the possibility" of some residential development on the tract, as Bloomberg has suggested. But he said he believes the focus should be on commercial building.

"I think it's important to restore Lower Manhattan as a central business district because I think it's important to future growth," he said.

Silverstein has the right to rebuild office space at Ground Zero under the terms of his 99-year lease with the Port Authority, which was signed just two months before 9/11. But Port Authority officials have haggled with Silverstein over numerous aspects of the redevelopment and are exploring a restructuring of the lease to regain the rights for the agency or another developer to rebuild Towers 3 and 4.

Under such an arrangement, Silverstein still could retain control of WTC 7 and the Freedom Tower.

But movement has been slow.

"I'd say discussions with Silverstein Properties are ongoing every day," said Coscia. "In certain areas, there's been progress. But overall, progress has not been significant. We still have major unresolved issues."

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index...45114480.xml&coll=1

Downtown progress is real and steady

By John P. Cahill


I am happy to take this opportunity to update you on the status of our ambitious goals for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. After an extensive public planning process, Governor George Pataki laid an aggressive timeline in April of 2003 and he told you then, what I will tell you now, that “rebuilding Lower Manhattan cannot be an elusive promise reserved for another generation or for a distant tomorrow. It is our honor, our obligation to deliver on this promise. Our place in time demands that we be bold and daring and swift.”


In four short years, we have restored Downtown and created a plan to realize our vision for a renewed Lower Manhattan. Whether it is the newly designed Freedom Tower, creating a fitting memorial to honor our lost heroes, or ensuring that Goldman Sachs remains in Lower Manhattan, no task is too daunting, no task can be ignored, all tasks have been met head-on and we are moving forward and continue to meet all our major milestones.


In the next few months, nearly $10 billion of construction — over a dozen high-impact projects that will transform Lower Manhattan — will be underway. Our commitment is clear; these projects are to be completed in the shortest possible time period, while maintaining the quality of life of workers, residents, businesses and visitors, and the Construction Command Center will ensure that we meet that goal.


This summer, we, along with our partner, Mayor Bloomberg, commenced construction on two grand transportation hubs, creating a 21st century transportation network which will be critical to the future success of Lower Manhattan as a premier central business district. By 2009, we will have two world-class stations that will rival any in existence. The hubs will serve the permanent PATH station, nearly a dozen subway lines and provide links across Lower Manhattan — from the Hudson ferries to the Fulton subways— and within the next decade, to Long Island and the world.


We were also pleased that one of Lower Manhattan’s legendary firms, Goldman Sachs, has committed to build its world headquarters across the street from the World Trade Center Site and serve as a critical anchor to our revitalization efforts. Goldman’s $2.4 billion investment will offer a total economic benefit to the city and state expected to exceed $33 billion. Unquestionably, having Goldman Sachs’ world headquarters in Lower Manhattan is a great victory for all of New York.


In a matter of months, we will begin work on one of the tallest towers in the world, the Freedom Tower. There is no greater symbol of New York’s resilience against terror or America’s commitment to freedom than the inspirational new Freedom Tower. Along with this creation, is the creation of a world-class security plan for the World Trade Center site that will be fully integrated into the N.Y.P.D.’s plan for all of Lower Manhattan.


We are also attracting new retail tenants to serve the fastest- growing residential market in New York City and further transform Lower Manhattan into a vibrant 24/7 community. The first phase, nearly 200,000 sq feet of retail space in and around the Calatrava Station, will be built expeditiously by the Port Authority and we have also asked the Port Authority to rapidly advance retail development along Church St. to help restore vibrancy to our community.


Most importantly, we are committed to ensuring that nothing stands in the way of constructing a fitting memorial to honor the heroes we lost that fateful day. The memorial is on schedule. There is no task more important than this one. Descending from the tree-lined memorial plaza will be the memorial, which will allow future generations to see first hand where the towers stood and recount all 2,979 names of our lost heroes — no one will be forgotten. Construction on the memorial and the memorial museum will begin early next year, and will conclude by September 11, 2009, as the original timeline dictated.


Each day our progress continues, each day, business people of all kinds locate shops and stores Downtown. Our goal is a bold new World Trade Center with a grand, fitting memorial at its heart, while restoring our commercial and retail core and creating vibrant, life-affirming cultural facilities.


We certainly have invested in Lower Manhattan and it is the best investment our state and city have ever made. Our vision is clear. The foundation has been laid, the funding has been secured, and we have the will and the momentum to see this

through. Step by step, we’re fulfilling our vision of a better and brighter Lower Manhattan for the 21st century.
When all our work is done, the history of Lower Manhattan will have been written not by the terrorists who attacked our city, but by the millions of New Yorkers who worked to rebuild it.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_132/downtownprogressis.html