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Previous Features

September 6, 2004
Three Years of Rebuilding
A look at the issues that New Yorkers have faced over three years of rebuilding - and those we will face in the future.

August 27, 2004
Will NYC Get Its $20 Billion?
The Independent Budget Office writes that the federal government is "in the process of making good on the initial promise of $20 billion" in a new report; the City Comptroller, in his own report, fears that much of the aid will never reach the city. Read both reports (in pdf format).

August 20, 2004
Environmental Problems at Ground Zero
A Sierra Club report "explains how the federal administration's reckless disregard for the toxic hazards generated by the attack had disastrous consequences for many people who served on the front line of terror response and lower Manhattan's recovery."

August 13, 2004
Report On Post 9/11 Grants
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has established a system for distributing grants that lacks accountability and transparency, says developmental watchdog group Good Jobs New York in a recent report. Read the entire report.

July 22, 2004
9/11 Commission Report
The federal commission investigating the attacks of 9/11 published its final report on July 22. Read the entire report (in pdf format).

July 2, 2004
Economic Impact of 9/11
A recent federal study gives a borough-by-borough account of 9/11's economic consequences. (in pdf format)

June 28, 2004
Where's Our $21 Billion?
While President George Bush pledged $21.4 billion to New York City in post 9/11 aid, it is unclear how much has actually arrived. Representative Carolyn Maloney, who has been tracking federal rebuilding aid, writes about the differences between what has been said and what has been done.

June 17, 2004
9/11 Commission's Final Hearings
The 9/11 Commission's final round of hearings was held last week. Read the commission's reports -- Overview of the Enemy, Outline of the 9/11 Plot, and Improvising a Homeland Defense. All reports are in pdf format.

June 4, 2004
Memorial Center Recommendations
Part of the memorial design for Ground Zero is an underground museum dedicated to the 9/11 attacks. An advisory panel consisting of the families of 9/11 victims, survivors of the attack, and historians has issued its recommendations for what this center should look like.

May 28, 2004
Fulton Street Subway Station
The Fulton Street Subway Station, a huge glass dome rising from Fulton and Broadway streets in lower Manhattan, is the centerpiece of a major redesign of subway service in lower Manhattan. Click here to see a slideshow of the new station, which was presented publicly on May 26.

May 17, 2004
Revisiting 9/11, Reworking 911
Did New York City learn any lessons from 9/11? Almost three years after the attack -- and a week after emotional hearings by the 9/11 Commission -- many complain that the major problems with the city's response to emergencies remain unresolved.

May 10, 2004
Governor's Speech
Governor George Pataki wants to use federal rebuilding funds for a new tunnel under the East River, and says that construction on the Freedom Tower will begin July 4. Read the text of the Governor's rebuilding update, given last week to the Association for a Better New York (in pdf format).

April 26 - May 9
Ground Zero in Politics
Both the Republican National Convention and the 9/11 Commission are coming to New York in the next few months, and are likely to inspire questions about how September 11 will factor into the presidential campaign. What does Ground Zero symbolize? And how should it be used -- or not be used -- in politics?

April 17 - April 25
Housing in Lower Manhattan
In a report released last week , Rebuild Downtown Our Town stresses the importance of lower Manhattan's tradional pattern of mixed-income housing, and discusses ways to maintain it (in pdf format). [This week, the group issued a clarification on the report. To read it, click here.]

 April 11 - April 16
Condoleezza Rice and the 9/11 Commission
Condoleezza Rice, assistant to President Bush on National Security Affairs, testified under oath at a special hearing of the federal panel investigating the 9/11 attacks. Read a transcript of the hearing.

April 5 - April 11
Helping 9/11 Rescue Workers
Many Ground Zero rescue workers and residents of lower Manhattan continue to suffer from health problems related to 9/11. US Representative Carolyn Maloney describes her plan to aid those in need and continue to examine what the health effects have been.

March 29 - April 4
The 9/11 Commission
On March 26 and 27, the federal commission investigating the 9/11 attacks held hearings in which top officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations testified. Read the testimonies of Richard Clarke, Madeline Albright, Colin Powell, William Cohen, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, and Samuel Berger, or visit the 9/11 Commission's website about the hearing.

March 22 - March 28
The Last $1.2 Billion
$1.2 billion remains in a pool of federal rebuilding funds can be used for almost anything. Governor George Pataki seems to have his heart set on a rail link between downtown Manhattan, JFK and the Long Island Railroad. David Kallick of the Fiscal Policy Institute writes about other ways the money might be spent.

March 15 - March 21
City Planning Report
Last week the Department of City Planning issued an evaluation of the plan to develop Ground Zero. The illustrated report (in pdf format) calls for more open space, and more streets open to traffic.

March 8 - March 14
Ground Zero Environmental Impact Statement
New Yorkers have their latest chance to respond to the development at Ground Zero through the Environmental Impact Statement process. Read what people are saying.

 March 1 - March 7
A Year With Libeskind
It has been a year since Daniel Libeskind was chosen to make a master plan for Ground Zero, and his plan has changed significantly since then. But because Libeskind's role has never been clear, there is disagreement about whether these changes are a betrayal of Libeskind's plan, or a natural part of its evolution.

February 23 - February 29
5,201 Memorials
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation recently put all designs entered into the Ground Zero memorial competition on display. Click here to see them.

February 16 - February 22
Cultural Complex At Ground Zero
Fifteen museums, theater groups, and other arts institutions are on a 'short-list' of groups being considered to run the cultural spaces at Ground Zero. A recent report (in pdf format) lists the organizations and gives an idea of what the three cultural areas will be. Read more about culture at Ground Zero, and see the entire report

February 9 - February 15
Downtown Visions For The Arts
The Arts Advisors To The Select Committee, artists downtown who advise their councilmember on the role of the arts in the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan, have recently launched a website. Click Here to see the site.

January 30 - February 8
9-11 Commission Hearings
On January 26 and 27, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, a federal panel investigating the September 11 attacks, held public hearings, and issued several preliminary reports. Click here to read transcripts of the meetings.

January 23 - January 29
Permanent PATH Station
The plan for the permanent PATH station at Ground Zero, recently made public, is an oval-shaped structure of glass and steel with two "wings" rising from its spine. The retractable glass roof of the building allows daylight to reach the train tracks 60 feet below street level.

January 12 - January 22
Revising Absence
A revised design for the memorial at Ground Zero was recently made public. The design covers the austere plaza of the original design with trees, incorporates access to the bedrock level on the footprints of the Twin Towers, and adds an underground area containing artifacts from the September 11th attacks.

January 5 - January 11
Rebuilding in 2004

Reflecting Absence has been chosen as the Ground Zero memorial, the freedom Tower is slated to be under construction by mid-year , and a new transportation hub is scheduled to be presented this spring. A look at the eventful year ahead for rebuilding.

Reflecting Absence
Reflecting Absence, a minimalist design featuring two sunken pools on the footprints of the Twin Towers, has been chosen as the memorial for Ground Zero.

December 29 - January 4
Top Rebuilding Stories of 2003

In the past year, a plan for Ground Zero and a design for the Freedom Tower have been released, eight finalists have been selected in the memorial competition, and services, including a PATH train station at Ground Zero, have returned to Lower Manhattan. Read about the top rebuilding stories of 2003.

December 19 - December 28
The Freedom Tower

Released on December 19, the 1,776 foot tall Freedom Tower is the result of a fiery collaboration between two architects. It is said to have features that echo both the Statute of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. See the design.

A Good Work In Progress
Mark Ginsberg, the president of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, writes that while the Freedom Tower is a well thought out design with some exciting features, there are still issues that must be resolved for it be a success.

Stick With Libeskind
The design for the Freedom Tower brings David Childs' building more into line with Daniel Libeskind's vision, writes Beverly Willis, the co-chair of Rebuild Downtown Our Town. But it does not completely fulfill the necessary task of keeping to the Libeskind vision, and therefore poses a potential threat to the success of Ground Zero as a whole.

December 15 - 22
Towards the People's Memorial:

Imagine New York played host to a series of six public workshops in the week after the finalists in the memorial design competition were released. Over 300 people participated, and 2,800 more submitted comments on the memorial designs online. From this feedback, Imagine New York compiled a fifteen-page report, and submitted it to the jury to aid its members in making a decision. Read the report here (in pdf format).

My Memorial
Mike Kuo, the head of Imagine New York, writes about his group's report -- and how working on it affected him personally.

December 5 - December 14
Transcript of Live Chat

Gotham Gazette held an online memorial chat with architectural experts Rick Bell and Fred Bernstein. Read a transcript here.

December 1 - December 5
Response by New York New Visions

"None of the memorial designs have achieved the level of artistic significance expected, nor have they, as yet, successfully addressed the complex challenge of integrating with the Libeskind site plan or the surrounding neighborhood context," New York New Visions writes to the memorial jury.(Read the entire letter).

November 21 - December 1
The Eight 9/11 Memorial Designs
Most incorporate water, all use light, and together they are evoking strong reaction. A look at details of the designs, the criticism, the process of choosing them, and what is likely to happen now.

October 11 - October 24
New Study of Rebuilding Funds
A new study (in pdf format) by the federal General Accounting office found that the city may never be able to determine how much of the $5 billion in Liberty Bond tax benefits, given as part of President George Bush's 9/11 aid to New York City, are ever used.

September 29 - October 10
A National Theater Downtown
Martha Hostetter on the efforts to create a new American National Theater at Ground Zero.

September 21 - September 28
The Revised Plan
Rebuilding officials have released a revised master plan for the World Trade Center site. A look at the changes, from slimmer towers to a new park.

September 13 - September 20
The 9/11 Health Registry
Sue Wilson on the new comprehensive survey to follow the health of those people most directly exposed to 9/11's World Trade Center collapse and the subsequent clean-up efforts.

The EPA Report
Sam Williams on the alarming report about the EPA's response to 9/11.

September 8 - September 12
9/11/03
New Yorkers are commemorating the second anniversary of September 11 this week, with a ceremony inside Ground Zero's huge construction site. But while the city pauses to look back, plans for lower Manhattan's future are moving forward. A look at where we are, issue by issue.

September 1 - September 7
The Inspector General's Report
In a new report, the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General found that the White House influenced the agency to tell New Yorkers that the air was safe after the September 11 attacks, even before the agency had fully monitored the air quality near the World Trade Center site. Read the full report (in pdf format).

Featured Links: The Port Authority's 9/11 Transcripts
The Port Authority has released 2,000 pages of documents from September 11 previously unseen by the public, largely transcripts of radio transmissions from people at the World Trade Center during the attacks. Newsday has collected a selection of excerpts from the transcripts, and the New York Times created an interactive feature.

August 25 - August 31
Lincoln Center's Lessons for Ground Zero
At the same time that Lincoln Center is "breaking up," there are plans to include a cultural center at Ground Zero. Martha Hostetter offers a list of mistakes made by Lincoln Center that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation can avoid.

August 18 - August 24
Commemorating 9/11
The second anniversary of September 11 will be commemorated by the return of the twin beams of the "Tribute in Light," and a ceremony at Ground Zero. Read a schedule of the city's commemoration plans.

August 2 - August 17
The Pentagon Memorial's Lessons for New York
By the time New York City's September 11 memorial jury narrows the Ground Zero memorial competition down to five finalists, the Pentagon will have already broken ground on its memorial - selected way back in March - for the 184 victims who died there on 9/11. What can New York learn from the other 9/11 memorial?

July 24 - August 1
The Congressional Report on 9/11
Read the report on 9/11, which found that the FBI and CIA failed to exchange important information about the hijackers before the attacks.

July 12 - July 24
A Resident's Hopes for the Memorial
As the 9/11 memorial jury prepares to sort through design applications, lower Manhattan resident Tim Lannan writes that he wants the chosen memorial to convey the special sense of community he felt downtown after the attacks.

June 27 - July 11
Competing to Design the 9/11 Memorial
Designers competing in the international 9/11 memorial competition were given until June 30 to figure out how to best memorialize September 11 and interpret the competition's guidelines, even as those closest to the tragedy disagreed on the details and concepts for the memorial.

June 16 - June 26
Perspectives on the Memorial
Anthony Gardner, whose brother Harvey Joseph Gardner III was killed on 9/11, argues that a bus garage and commercial stores do not have a place in the sacred space where most of the remains of those murdered on September 11 were found.

June 9 - June 15
Perspectives on the Memorial
In the first in a series of essays about the 9/11 memorial, retired firefighter John Finucane says that whatever design is chosen should list the names of the rescue workers together, with their name, rank, serial number and company.

June 2 - June 8
The Memorial Hearing
At last week's hearing about the 9/11 memorial, Chris Ganci, whose father, Fire Department Chief Pete Ganci, died on September 11, urged the jury to chose a design that shows that rescue workers "willingly gave their lives to help other people." Julie Boryczewski said that the design should show what happened on 9/11 "honestly and equally." Read transcripts of their testimonies, and others, from the hearing.

May 26 - June 1
Preserve Downtown's Historic Buildings
Roger Lang on why it is important to preserve historic buildings downtown, especially the 1889 Corbin building now slated for demolition by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

May 19 - May 25
Imagining Downtown Transportation
At last week's Imagine New York workshop about lower Manhattan transportation projects, over 100 people broke into small groups and weighed in on downtown's transportation future. Some argued that making a section of West Street an underground tunnel is absolutely necessary, while others said it would be an enormous waste of money. Some praised a one-seat ride to the airport, while others said that the city should build projects for residents, not for tourists.

May 12 - May 18
Transportation And Lower Manhattan: Where Do We Go From Here?
In 2015, if all goes as planned, people will be able to move easily to and from lower Manhattan by commuter trains and subways, and even take a one-seat ride to the airport. This vision of the future contrasts sharply with the realities of transportation in lower Manhattan today. Jeffrey Zupan explains what is planned and the decisions that must be made.

May 5 - May 11
Tribeca Film Festival
The second annual Tribeca Film Festival, started to boost a neighborhood damaged by September 11, is taking place this week. Nine different festival movies - features, documentaries and shorts - are about rebuilding New York. Some are funny, some are poignant, and others can only be called wacky.

April 22 - May 4
The Governor's Timeline
On April 24, Governor George Pataki announced what he called a "bold, daring and swift" schedule for rebuilding lower Manhattan and new transportation projects downtown. A look at what Pataki has planned for lower Manhattan, year by year.

April 14 - April 21
The Memorial Jury
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has selected the jury that will select a design for the 9/11 memorial. A look at the 13 jury members, and a timeline for the competition.

April 7 - April 13
The 9/11 Commission
Gotham Gazette columnist Julia Vitullo-Martin considers the public hearings on the 9/11 terrorism attacks, finally taking place 19 months after the fact; the case of the 9/11 killer; and the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's prescient comments on the pathology of government secrecy.

Also: A transcript of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's testimony before the commission.

March 31 - April 6
Rebuilding Jobs
Featured Report: The Labor Community Advocacy Network to Rebuild New York's new report (in pdf format) proposes that $1 billion in federal rebuilding funds be used for a jobs program putting 60,000 New Yorkers to work. This New Deal-like program would subsidize government and non-profit jobs, as well as jobs at companies affected by September 11.

March 24 - March 30
Security in NYC
As the United States invasion of Iraq intensifies, New Yorkers are faced with competing concerns. In Operation Atlas and the Security of New York, Julia Vitullo-Martin details the city's vulnerability to attack, and analyzes the efforts to defend it. (Also, in An Assessment Of The Threat From Al Qaeda, terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna summarizes the debriefing he gave to the New York Police Department.) In Special Registration, Chaleampon Ritthichai focuses on one security measure that critics say has gone too far.

LMDC President on What's Next
The new president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Kevin Rampe, delivered a speech about the next steps for the World Trade Center site at a Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association Forum on March 20. Read a transcript of his remarks.

March 17 - March 23
Report from Rebuilding Delegation to Europe
A delegation of rebuilding civic groups, victims' family members and planners traveled to Europe in order to learn from rebuilding projects and memorials in cities like Berlin, where they visited World Trade Center architect Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum, and Barcelona. A report of their findings (pdf format).

March 10 - March 16
What's Next For Civic Groups
The many civic groups that have formed after September 11 say that even though a major part of the rebuilding process has come to a close with the choice of Daniel Libeskind's design for Ground Zero, they are not going away any time soon. Civic groups like Rebuild Downtown Our Town and the Labor Community Advocacy Network will be fighting to protect the design that Libeskind envisions, influence its details, and to capture unspent federal rebuilding aid for causes like jobs and affordable housing.

February 24 - March 9
The Winning Plan
The design by architect Daniel Libeskind featuring a 1,776-foot spire and an open pit where the twin towers once stood was chosen Wednesday night as the final plan for the World Trade Center site. The plan also features a museum at the site and structures that will create memorial spaces free of shadows each September 11. The single spire will be the tallest structure in the world.

February 17 - February 23
Transcript of Chat With Daniel Libeskind
Read a transcript of our recent online chat with World Trade Center site design finalist Daniel Libeskind, who compares his competitors' plan to "two skeletons in the sky" and says that his plan is estimated at between $200 and 320 million, the "bargain basement of all the schemes in the competition."

Chat With Tara Snow
Read a transcript of our recent online chat with Tara Snow, who coordinates public and government participation for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

February 10 - February 16
Living in Limbo
Some immigrant families who lost loved ones on September 11th are faced with the extra burden of worrying about being deported. State and federal officials are trying to present themselves as allies to these New Yorkers.

February 3 - February 9
Ground Zero Finalists
On February 4, rebuilding officials named two finalists to design the World Trade Center site. The selection committee chose architect Daniel Libeskind, whose design exposes the Twin Towers original foundations and leaves the hole at Ground Zero for a memorial, and the THINK team of architects Rafael Vinoly, Shigeru Ban, Ken Smith and Frederic Schwartz. Their World Cultural Center plan includes two open steel latticework towers with a museum, an amphitheater and other cultural spaces at different heights.

9/11 Money Troubles
As authorities draw closer to deciding on a final design for Ground Zero, some wonder whether there is money to make any of the lofty plans a reality. Despite federal aid, the money problems 9/11 created continue to multiply. Families of victims say the federal funds set aside to compensate them are being distributed unfairly. Downtown businesses say they have not received the help they need. Politicians fight over the rebuilding funds. Can the city untangle the confusion and get the money it needs?

Transcript of Chat With Steven Holl
Read a transcript of our online chat with architect Steven Holl, who created the "Memorial Square" design for Ground Zero. "I believe that this process was not run with the sophistication that for example a European architectural competition would be run," Holl said. "Respected architects should have been among the final decision makers."

January 27 - February 2
Transcript of Chat With Rafael Vinoly
Read a transcript of our online chat with architect Rafael Vinoly, a member of the Think team, which designed three new plans for Ground Zero. Vinoly said that he believes one of the new nine visions he and other architects have created will eventually be built, "even though they may have to evolve over time and as a result of the necessary public dialogue that has to take place."

January 20 - January 26
Public Hearings for Ground Zero
At last week's public hearings on Ground Zero, Bill McLoughlin called for a separate memorial space for rescue workers. John Dellaportas urged the agency in charge to rule out a wide promenade along West Street, and Sally Regenhard said that the city of New York, not the Port Authority, should have control over the World Trade Center site. Michael Kuo and Paul Epstein used their three minutes to ask for a better public discussion, saying that these types of hearings, where whoever shows up gets to give a short speech while everyone else listens, don't make sense. Read transcripts of what these five people - and many others - had to say about rebuilding downtown.

January 13 - January 19
Transcript of Live Chat with Barbara Littenberg
Read a transcript of our live chat with architect Barbara Littenberg of Peterson/Littenberg, which created one of the designs for the World Trade Center site and also produced the urban design concepts of the mayor's plan for lower Manhattan.

January 6 - January 12
Chinatown's Slowdown
Park Row is the only major road that remains closed after September 11th. Police say that a terrorist threat makes it necessary, but Chinatown's residents and business owners say that it's the closure itself that is threatening them.

Chat With Robert Yaro
Read a transcript of our live chatwith Robert Yaro, Head of the Civic Alliance To Rebuild Downtown New York. He talked about public participation in the rebuilding and what he thinks of the nine plans.

December 21 - January 5
Chat With Rick Bell
The day after architects unveiled nine new plans for Ground Zero, Gotham Gazette held an online chat with Rick Bell, Executive Director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He presented an overview of each of the nine plans and answered questions about public participation in the rebuilding, how the new plans would be funded and what criteria people should use to judge the plans. Find out what he had to say.

December 14 - December 20
Nine Plans
The nine new plans for Ground Zero include four that feature what would be the tallest buildings in the world, and two that create 16 acres of roof-top parks. Read an overview of the nine plans commissioned by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, including links to details on each design.

The New Plans for Lower Manhattan
Last week, the mayor outlined his vision for lower Manhattan, an ambitious plan that includes the creation of two new neighborhoods, a network of large parks and leafy boulevards and a one-seat ride to the airport. This week, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation unveils nine new plans for Ground Zero, which it vows this time around are "inspiring." The Port Authority is developing its own plan for the World Trade Center site. And the Civic Alliance, in something of a protest against the lack of public input in these other plans, is holding workshops this week to come up with their own designs. Will all these proposals fit together to form a master plan by the new official deadline -- January 31? Will the public have a real say in what gets built? Who will make the final decision about the future of lower Manhattan?

December 9 - December 13
The Mayor's New Plan
On Thursday December 12, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a speech to the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) at the Regent Wall Street Hotel at 55 Wall Street. The speech outlined an ambitious plan to rebuild lower Manhattan. Read a full transcript of his remarks.

Transcript of Live Chat About 9/11 Health Concerns
On Thursday, December 12 Gotham Gazette hosted a live chat with Dr. Jack Caravanos from Hunter College and Dr. Lung Chi Chen of the New York University School of Medicine. Read what they had to say about "World Trade Center cough," the potential environmental impact of rebuilding at Ground Zero, and concerns about air quality for students attending school downtown.

Rebuilding Delegation to Europe
52 New Yorkers -- both architects and planners, victim's family members and activists -- traveled on a delegation to visit Europe's reconstruction projects, development plans and memorials with New York in mind. A look at their findings.

November 16 - November 22
Will Two Big Projects Be Too Much?
Some worry that efforts to rebuild the World Trade Center site and lower Manhattan will be overshadowed by the city's bid for the 2012 Olympics. Development corporation official Roland Betts, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and many others are involved in both projects. Will two such huge projects stretch the city's resources too thin?

November 11 - November 15
NYC Memorials
In creating the over 2,000 monuments and sculptures in the city's public spaces, New Yorkers have long grappled with how to commemorate heroes or tragic events, and often came to very different conclusions. A new walking tour plans to visit some of the best. A look at some of the tour stops and other New York City memorials.

November 4 - November 10
Biotech: A Boon for Lower Manhattan?
A new plan to create a biotechnology hub in lower Manhattan aims to create 1,300 jobs and fill 300,000 square feet of office space vacated after the September 11 attacks. A look at the debate, the obstacles, and the details involved in bringing biotech downtown.

October 28 - November 3
Save West Street
"Downtown can be great again, without all the digging," argues Battery Park City resident John Dellaportas, who created a coalition opposing the plan to turn West Street into a tunnel. Dellaportas explains why transportation advocates, environmentalists, parents of schoolchildren and Battery Park City residents have come out against the tunnel plan.

October 19 - October 27
Five Ways to Help Small Businesses Still Struggling After 9/11
As of August, the grant program to keep and bring small businesses in lower Manhattan had only distributed about eight percent of the millions of dollars available. Ariel Goodman, whose small business was destroyed in the World Trade Center attack, gives five ways to improve this and other programs for business owners still struggling after 9/11.

October 13 - October 18
New Rules For Designing Ground Zero
The design teams chosen to create new plans for the World Trade Center site met for the first time near Ground Zero last week. In a day-long orientation program, rebuilding officials gave the architects and designers a new list of requirements to be included in the plans. See a slideshow explaining the new rules, with maps.

October 6 - October 12
Housing Downtown
A debate is growing about what kind of housing should be built downtown. Washington gave the city $1.6 billion in bonds to spend on housing in lower Manhattan, and many say the aid should be used to counter New York City's affordable housing shortage. Gov. Pataki and others say requiring a significant percentage of apartments be set aside for low and middle income New Yorkers may mean nothing gets built.

Transcript of Live Chat About Housing
Read a transcript of our live chat with Ron Shiffman of the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development and Frank Braconi, executive director of the non-profit research organization Citizens Housing and Planning Council.

September 30 - October 5
The Six Teams
Many of the architects, artists and designers selected last week by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to create new plans for downtown are known for creating celebrated buildings around the world, such as the new glass domed Reichstag parliament in Berlin and the stark white High Museum building in Atlanta. See a slide show about the six chosen teams, with photos of their past work.

Transcript of Online Debate About Economic Rebuilding After 9/11
Read the transcript of the online discussion featuring Bettina Damiani of Good Jobs New York and Steve Malanga of the City Journal, where they talked about how federal funds should be spent for rebuilding downtown, whether or not there should be housing at Ground Zero, and other issues of economic rebuilding.

Street Name Tributes For Firefighters
The city plans to rename 81 streets in honor of firefighters, police officers and civilians who died on 9/11. A list of the new streets.

September 23 - September 29
The Fire Department's Lessons From 9/11
On September 11, 2001 the New York Fire Department was hampered by organizational and equipment failures, according to a report by McKinsey. A major point of the study was that the fire department's radios and other communications equipment did not work reliably. Last week commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told the City Council that it may take several years to fix the problem.

Monica Gabrielle of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, whose husband Rich died in the attacks, asks why the city has yet to address some of the simple lessons learned that day. Retired deputy fire chief Vincent Dunn details 12 ways he believes firefighters could do their job more safely and effectively.

September 16 - September 22
Transcript of Live Chat With Psychologists
In a live chat on the anniversary of the attacks, psychologists involved in September 11 crisis counseling talked about how New Yorkers can regain feelings of safety and security, the debate over the different types of therapy being used to treat 9/11 trauma, and more. Read a transcript.

September 9 - September 15
A Year Of Changes
More than a dozen articles -- covering topics from civil rights to housing to land use -- explore the tangible ways New York City has changed in the last year.

The Culture of 9/11
This week New York City commemorated the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in what has been called the "largest collective ceremony of remembrance in American history." Gotham Gazette offers a look at how the capital of media, art, and culture has been affected by, and shaped the understanding of, the events of 9/11.

Also, check out our lists of cultural works and exhibitions that were created in response to September 11.

September 2 - September 8
September 11 In Television
September 11 was a television event for most of the world and even many New Yorkers. A look at how television has changed since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, highlights of anniversary coverage by channel and an hour-by-hour TV schedule for September 11, 2002. For more on how September 11 has influenced art and culture, see our lists of books, theatrical productions, songs and film and video documentaries. A look at arts and museum exhibitions coming soon.

9/11 Anniversary
Find out about events and other information connected to the one-year anniversary of September 11, 2001-- including an hour-by-hour list of events on the day itself -- in our Anniversary section. (These lists will grow with your help: tell us about events you know about.)

August 26 - September 1
9/11 in Arts and Culture
Our focus on September 11 in art and culture begins with a look at September 11 songs and documentaries.

August 19 - August 25
Looking At Memorials
Anita Contini, who began her job as the person in charge of the memorial at Ground Zero this month, has a trip planned to help her figure out what her next steps should be. Her visits to the Oklahoma City memorial, the Vietnam memorial, a memorial to the victims of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan and others may have important lessons for Ground Zero.

Transcript of Live Chat with Anita Contini
Read a transcriptof our live online chat with Anita Contini, director of memorial, cultural and civic programs for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Find out what she said during our conversation as Contini fielded questions about the process of creating the memorial.

August 12 - August 18
What's the Formula for Prosperity?
The latest Bloomberg administration idea to attract jobs and investment to New York City is a land swap that would give up two city airports in exchange for city control of the World Trade Center site. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Daniel Doctoroff are also jockeying to play host to the Olympics and build a new stadium on the West Side. A look at the pros and cons of these and other Bloomberg administration moves to restore New York's economy.

August 5 - August 11
Rebuild The Towers vs. All Memorial
Preliminary results from Gotham Gazette's Ground Zero Planner show that over half the entries call for rebuilding the towers as they were, while a fifth insist all 16 acres should be a memorial. Also: what the experts make of these passionately-held, mutually exclusive views, and whether a real consensus can be reached.

July 29 - August 4
Talking About the Six Plans in Many Languages
How are people in New York's immigrant communities reacting to the six plans released this month by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation? Find out how Chinese and Spanish language papers, which serve two of the communities most affected by the attacks, covered the story.

July 22 - July 28
Rethinking The Six Plans
After the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation released six different designs for rebuilding the World Trade Center site, 5,000 citizens responded at a town hall meeting. This week find out why the public responded negatively to the plans and what issues the officials in charge of rebuilding must resolve to come up with a plan satisfactory for the people.

Transcript of Chat with Lou Tomson
Read a transcript of Wednesday's live online chat with Lou Tomson, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Find out what he said during our conversation as Tomson fielded questions about the six plans for the World Trade Center site.

July 15 - July 21
Is It Too Late to Listen to the City?
Find out how rumors about the six plans affected New Yorkers preparing for the biggest public meeting on rebuilding to date and the opening of a major exhibit of ideas for downtown.

Transcript of Chat with Madelyn Wils
Gotham Gazette held a live chat with Madelyn Wils, head of Community Board 1 and member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, on Tuesday July 16. Read a transcriptof our chat with her, and find out what she had to say about the plans released by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and what the priorities are for downtown residents.

July 5 - July 14
Three Alternative Views
Officials talk of an emerging consensus about what to rebuild downtown, but there are strong voices arguing for a different approach in many specific aspects of the reconstruction. Peter Marcuse, a planning professor at Columbia University, argues that improving transportation downtown should not be our first priority. Sharon Zukin, co-editor of After the World Trade Center: Rethinking New York City, examines the residential neighborhood that has developed in lower Manhattan over the past few decades and argues that the area is now ripe for cultural, not financial, businesses and institutions. Rick Bell, director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, talks about the reasons New York New Visions and other civic groups have supported building "green" at the World Trade Center site.

June 29 - July 4
Monica's Mission
September's Mission founder Monica Iken describes her ideas for a memorial downtown. She urges planners to make sure that everything built on the site reflects what happened on Sept. 11, saying, "the final resting place of our lost souls is not confined to the footprints of the towers."

June 24 - June 28
Mapping Ground Zero
Take a look at Gotham Gazette's collection of maps of Lower Manhattan, ranging from a map used by recovery workers to determine where Ground Zero fires needed to be extinguished, different diagrams of how a memorial might fit into the site's development, and a map that shows which businesses affected by Sept. 11 may qualify for aid.

June 17 - June 23
Nine Months Later, Top Rebuilding Players Look Ahead
On June 11, many of the lead decision makers in the rebuilding process talked about their plans for the World Trade Center site at the "Turning 9/11 Around" symposium downtown. Gotham Gazette takes a look at their ideas, including the Port Authority's designs for a viewing platform at Ground Zero during construction, and presents an edited transcript of the panel's answers to the audience's questions.

June 10 - June 16
A Conversation With Alex Garvin
Gotham Gazette's Rebuilding NYC had its first live online chat on Tuesday, June 11, as Alex Garvin, lead planner for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, answered questions about rebuilding downtown. Read the transcript from our conversation and find out what Garvin thinks rebuilding after September 11 resembles most in history. Also, read a profile of the Yale University planning professor and lifelong New Yorker who now wields considerable influence over what will be built at the World Trade Center site.

Consensus or Competing Visions?
Three articles explore the ideas of consensus and competing visions for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. In "Working In Coalition," Mike Kuo sums up the recent reports by five major volunteer rebuilding coalitions and finds their visions remarkably similar. In "Competing Visions" Laura Wolf-Powers supplies her own analysis of the recent coalition reports, emphasizing the ways that they differ. And in "Rebuilding by Consensus?" Mark Berkey-Gerard looks at the emerging differences of opinion among New Yorkers in general, and points out that many feel the basic questions -- about who makes the decisions, what should be built, and even what "rebuilding" means -- have yet to be answered.

June 3 - June 9
The Firm Of "Blah, Blah and Blah?"
This week, Gotham Gazette's Rebuilding NYC presents a profile of Beyer Blinder Belle, the urban planning and design firm selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. The firm is best known for renovating Grand Central Station during the 1990's. Will they be able to bring creativity and vision to their efforts to create a plan for the World Trade Center site?

May 24 - June 2
The First Public Hearing
"Given that this is the first public hearing, it is disappointing...that so many decisions have already been made," said Margaret Hughes, one of the dozens of speakers at the first public hearing about rebuilding downtown held by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Port Authority. Among those who testified were family members of victims, residents of downtown neighborhoods, architects, advocates, officials and the civic-minded. Edited transcripts of testimony about health concerns, the memorial, suggested designs, the reasons why some feel betrayed.

May 10 - May 23
Artists Talk About September 11
Five New Yorkers in the arts discussed life after September 11 in a panelthat was part of the Tribeca Film Festival. Moderated by talk show host Jon Stewart, painter Karen Batten, performance artist Spalding Gray, actress Susan Sarandon, and playwright Wendy Wasserstein talked about their personal reactions to the events of September 11th and how it has affected their work as artists.

Air Quality At Ground Zero
Eric Goldstein, Gotham Gazette's Environment columnist, takes a look at the Environmental Protection Agency's reversal of policy this week concerning indoor cleaning and testing for air quality. Is it too little, too late? Or a triumph for New Yorkers?

May 6 - May 9
Culture and the World Trade Center Site
Gotham Gazette's Arts columnist Martha Hostetter writes about ideas to make arts and culture a part of the new Lower Manhattan. Will cultural institutions be able to provide the initial shot of financial strength the area so desperately needs?

April 31 - May 5
The Importance of Transportation
Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall talks about the need for transportation in the future of rebuilding downtown. Also, see our page focusing on rebuilding infrastructure and transportation for more news and commentary.

April 24 - April 30
Labor Community Advocacy Network (LCAN) Rebuilding Statement
Few of the reports with recommendations for rebuilding Lower Manhattan have touched on the economic steps that need to be taken to revitalize the city, particularly for lower-wage workers and those left unemployed after September 11. This week, the Labor Community Advocacy Network tries to address these issues in their policy statement about rebuilding.
Download their report (PDF format)

April 15 - April 23
Principles For Development and Blueprint For Renewal
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation unveiled its set of principles to guide development of the World Trade Center site and a blueprint for renewal with a number of initial proposals. Take a look at the principles and the blueprint (PDF format).

April 8 - April 14
John Whitehead On The Present And Future Of Downtown
The Chair of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, John Whitehead, presents an update on the status of the recovery of Lower Manhattan and lays out his organization's plans for what will be done to rebuild downtown.

April 1 - April 7
Listening To The City: A Report
How do everyday New Yorkers envision the rebuilding of the city? Last week we showed you how Imagine New York is trying to find out with look at their first workshop. This week, a new report from the Civic Alliance (PDF format) shows how that coalition of civic groups tried to pinpoint some answers to that question at their "Listening To The City" event in February.

March 25 - March 31
Bringing Democracy To Rebuilding
While the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is in charge of rebuilding downtown, one voice that has not been heard as much is that of the public. James Wong writes about how a project called Imagine New York is trying to get everyday New Yorkers to discuss their thoughts on rebuilding. Meanwhile, Nancy Biberman writes about the need for democracy and public input as the city begins to rebuild.

March 18 - March 24
The Psychological Impact
Mental and emotional stress from September 11 is still a major issue for many New Yorkers. In our new section about the psychological impact you can find news and information about how New Yorkers are dealing with the stress even today and how they can find help.

March 11 - March 17
Six Months Later
The city has made an amazing recovery in the six months since the terrorist attacks. Ground Zero will soon be cleared of rubble. Subways, schools, and businesses have reopened. And two temporary memorials will be unveiled this week. But as New York moves to the next phase of rebuilding there are many unanswered questions about what to build, who is in charge, and how it will be funded. Gotham Gazette takes a lookat the status of recovery and rebuilding, how far we have come and where we are headed.

March 4 - March 10
Charities: Relief and Controversy
This week, the March 8 deadline approaches for those left unemployed by September 11 to apply for relief through some of the largest charities. Gotham Gazette brings you information about getting assistance and aid before the deadline, as well as how to donate your money or your time to helping those still in need. Our new Charities topic area also provides news about charities, including the recent flap over former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the Twin Towers Fund.

February 25 - March 3
Rebuild Downtown Our Town White Paper
Rebuild Downtown Our Town (R.Dot), a coalition of downtown residents involved in the rebuilding process, released its first white paper Tuesday on recommendations for rebuilding Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center site.

Archiving 9/11
Archeological artifacts, one-of-a-kind photographs of John F. Kennedy, original manuscripts by Helen Keller, and of course, millions of documents from businesses were lost when the World Trade Center buildings collapsed. In the months since the attack, historians and archivists have struggled to assess what has been lost. And now they face the task of sorting through the enormous amount of information documenting September 11.

February 15 - February 24
Profile of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
Good Jobs New York has produced the first comprehensive person-by- person profile of the eleven members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Find out who on the commission is a film financier; a community activist; the "ultimate power broker;" and a one-time dinner guest of a Taliban leader. (The report is in PDF format)

February 8 - February 14
Working Towards Recovery
Last week we featured the different coalitions working towards rebuilding the city. This week, former City Council candidate David Reiss and former assistant district attorney Matthew Kleiner lay out a four-part plan for how these different groups can work together for New York City's recovery and rebuilding.

February 1 - February 7
Coalitions For Rebuilding
Several groups have formed to come up with visions for a new downtown. These groups range from architects and designers to local residents and business leaders. Find out more about these coalitions for rebuilding with our summary of the largest coalitions.

January 25 - January 31
The "New" New York City Skyline
It took seven years to construct the tallest buildings in New York City. They were destroyed in a single day. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the New Yorker magazine, describes how this sudden change to the skyline has affected us all and suggests what should be built to heal the skyline.

Getting Back On Track (01/07/02)
Jeffrey Zupan, senior fellow for transportation at Regional Plan Association, says that transportation is key to any rebuilding effort, and the many new (or renewed) proposals will make travel easier and better than before the terrorist attack.

Eight Steps Toward Rebuilding Downtown (12/31/01)
Carl Weisbrod, the president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, answers Dick Netzer's argument in Gotham Gazette that we should rebuild "Fast, Not Fancy - And in Midtown, Not Downtown." Such a suggestion, Weisbrod writes, is "an insult to the thousands of people who are working around the clock to stabilize the area." Downtown must be rebuilt, he says, and he offers eight ways to do it right.

Living Near Ground Zero (12/10/01)
The only member of the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation who actually lives in Lower Manhattan, Madelyn Wils, blasts the city for its inaction in helping the residents living near Ground Zero. Etta Sanders asks the people living downtown what it has been like in the past three months. Ann Farmerlooks at the tenants who are still not permitted back into their building near the World Trade Center site, a building with the horribly appropriate name of Post Towers.

What Albany Must Do (12/10/01)
If downtown Manhattan is to thrive once more, the city and state have to work together, writes State Comptroller Carl McCall. But instead, he charges, Albany is undermining redevelopment efforts. The candidate for governor offers his plan for what state and city officials must do if we are to restore the financial district and move forward.

The Make-Up Of The Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (12/10/01)
A look at the new 11-member Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation -- "top-heavy," says Tom Angotti, "with business executives and City Hall insiders," and virtually void of people who live and work in the area -- or of the various victims of 9/11.

Awards and Alarms: (12/3/01)
America loves nobody more these days than a New York City firefighter. But the cheers at sports stadiums, the free trips and the bouquets cannot erase the difficulties confronting the department, writes David Schwartz and Christopher Stewart. The problems in some ways have just gotten worse. Many firefighters ache from the loss of so many "brothers" on September 11. Leaders with expertise and decades of experience lost their lives, and a nasty rift separates the commissioner from the rank and file. Meanwhile, as Jane Latour writes, the department remains overwhelmingly white and male, with fewer blacks than it had 36 years ago.
Also: What does it take to be a NYC firefighter? Find out the requirements in 2001 -- and 1887.

Dying On The Job (11/26/01)
Immigrant construction workers face dangerous working conditions.

Two Views on How to Rebuild (11/26/01)
1. Make it fast, not fancy, Dick Netzer says, and in midtown, not downtown.

2. We must pause and reflect, says Nancy Biberman, before trying to build anything on the hallowed ground.

A Rocky Season (11/19/01)
This is may be the season for giving thanks, and for giving, but it is "A Rocky Season" for New York's nonprofit agencies, as Linda Ostreicher explains.

911 For Charities (11/19/01)
Despite the generosity of the country, many nonprofit agencies are "Down and Out," -- reeling from the aftermath of 9/11, according to Dr. Megan McLaughlin, director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. The resources of many agencies are being strained by the increasing need for services by the various victims. At the same time, the agencies' normal contributions are being diverted -- to newly created 9/11 charities.

Not Always As Sweet (10/29/01)
Debbie Almontaser is an Arab-American who wears the hjiab or head-covering of a devout Muslim. She is also a schoolteacher and a mother whose son is a soldier standing guard at Ground Zero. Above all, she is a New Yorker.
Also: A brief look at the history of Arabs in New York City

Danger In The Air? (10/22/01)
1. The Anthrax Scare
Does anthrax pose a serious threat, or will the panic over a few cases be what threatens an already overburdened and under funded public health system? A much greater risk than anthrax, Maia Szalavitz argues, may be panicking over bioterror and trying 'quick fix' solutions that won't ultimately protect people from either terrorists or natural diseases.
2. The Environment Near Ground Zero
The hundreds of government scientists who have been testing the air in lower Manhattan have reported that there is little to worry about. Yet in the last two weeks it has become increasingly apparent, Michael Burger charges, that the scientists are not looking for precisely the right thing -- or, if they are, they are not releasing that information to the public.

Two Views Of The Twin Towers (10/15/01)
As New Yorkers debate whether to replicate the World Trade Center, few have asked why the complex was built in the first place. Was it both the symbol and reality of global finance, as economist Rosemary Scanlon argues? Or was it just an elaborate scheme to bail out mid-century downtown business interests, as Robert Fitch maintains?

Fund City (10/08/01)
The month after the attack on the World Trade Center saw the largest outpouring of charity in history. But the many millions of dollars donated by the many millions of people throughout the nation and the world have already had some unintended consequences. There is growing concern about fraud and improper use of funds. There is a question as to who will oversee all of this money. And some say other charitable causes and nonprofits may suffer because so many have given so much to this one disaster.

What We Will Do (10/08/01)
We asked the candidates who will be in the Democratic runoff this Thursday, October 11th, for their plans on rebuilding the city. Betsy Gotbaum and Norman Siegel, facing each other for the Democratic nomination for public advocate, both address what their role in the rebuilding should be. Fernando Ferrer and Mark Green, facing each other in the runoff for mayor write follow-up essays to those they wrote earlier, which offer more specific details about their plans.

What You Should Do (10/08/01)
Rebuilding New York City includes restoring New Yorkers' psyches. Maia Szalavitz talks to one of the world's leading, and most opinionated, experts on post-traumatic stress disorder.

A History Of Crisis And Recovery (10/01/01)
In the very first week after the attack, the mayor looked to history for comfort and instruction in how New Yorkers could respond. The historical event he focused on was the blitz of London during World War II. But, as New Yorkers can discover in hundreds of history-related events starting this week, there is comfort and instruction as well in the long series of crises and recoveries that make up the history of New York City.

Rebuilding NYC (9/20/01)
The mayor and the speaker of the City Council have announced plans to form a special commission for rebuilding lower Manhattan. They are talking about creating a new Marshall Plan, which rebuilt Europe after World War II, for New York City. But what will the city look like? What should it look like? Three opinionated New Yorkers, two of them professors of urban planning, give their views, in the first of what will become a continuing series.

The Lessons To Be Learned (9/17/01)
We have had to explain to our children things that are incomprehensible to us, writes Teachers College President Arthur Levine.

A Question Of Recovery: (9/14/01)
While the city is mourning the loss of human life, of our sense of security, and of a piece of our skyline, small signs of recovery are beginning to show. Most schools have reopened, businesses are cleaning the dust from their window, and many subway lines are running. "We're going to come out of this stronger than we were before," Mayor Giuliani has vowed. "Emotionally stronger, politically stronger, economically stronger." But even to the city's greatest boosters, it is painfully clear that the challenges ahead are staggering, the questions overwhelming. A first glimpse of what may lie ahead.

The Fight Against Terrorism In New York: (9/12/01)
If there is any room for irony at the moment, there are two supreme examples. Two years ago, the mayor created an emergency management command center whose walls could withstand 200 miles-per-hour winds, and whose ventilation system was designed to blow out chemicals or germs in case of a germ warfare terrorist attack. The center was in the World Trade Center. It went down, along with everything else. Just weeks ago, a mayoral commission decided to put on the November ballot a proposal connected to the Office of Emergency Management. A look at the city's history of dealing with emergencies, especially terrorist attacks.

The Twin Towers Attack: The First Hours (9/11/01)

Where's Our $21 Billion?


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Several months after September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush detailed $21.4 billion in pledged federal aid to New York City to help rebuild after the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Three years later, New York is still grappling with the serious and lasting impact of the attacks. But because of the Bush administration's vague accounting, we do not know how much money we have actually received to date. The total amount of money we will eventually receive is also far from clear.

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Unfortunately, it is clear that New York State's own poor decisions have made it even harder for New York City to get what it needs from Washington.

SHORTFALLS IN 9/11 AID

The Bush administration is required by law to produce a full accounting of this 9/11 aid. Why it has failed to do so adequately is extremely difficult for me to understand. Along with members of the New York Congressional delegation, I have urged the administration on seven separate occasions to detail when and where recovery funds have been used and to clarify what has not been sent to New York from the President's initial pledge.

In late May, the White House Office of Management and Budget finally produced an attempted accounting document, but it can be called an "accounting" of 9/11 aid only by Enron standards. There is inadequate detail on where specific funds went for what purposes. In several instances, we don't know when, if ever, these funds were used.

The document does not address the $268 million lost to wrongful taxation of 9/11 aid to downtown businesses. It also fails to explain how the administration intends to respond to billions in losses to our region that, at present, remain totally unaddressed. For example, city and state tax revenues lost as a result of 9/11 are estimated at $8.8 billion, for which the federal government has provided no assistance.

Nor does it account for a shortfall of about $2.6 billion in "Liberty Zone" Tax benefits.

"Liberty Zone" tax benefits made up fully one-fourth of the overall aid package, or about $5 billion, earmarked for New York's recovery by President Bush. These were intended to stimulate economic activity in Lower Manhattan. Now, most officials agree that $2.6 billion Liberty Zone benefits will go unused if Congress and the President fail to extend the deadline for when these benefits can be used, or alter how New York City can take advantage of the funds.

Significant gaps in the federal response have made achieving a full economic recovery for New York a serious challenge. From the widest perspective, costs and losses from 9/11 total between $80 billion and $100 billion while federal aid designated for the region remains under $20 billion and insurance payments are estimated to be between $30 billion and $40 billion. This leaves New York alone to shoulder the burden of between $20 billion and $50 billion in losses, in addition to ongoing costs for anti-terrorism security measures, unanticipated long-term health costs from the disaster and increasing costs for rebuilding projects in Lower Manhattan.

NEW YORK STATE'S POOR DECISIONS

The city's financial problems go beyond those surrounding the president's $21.4 billion, however. Seeking additional help from Washington is made more difficult by poor decisions on the use of existing funds by New York State.

For instance, rather than using current Liberty Bonds for their intended purpose, to help downtown redevelopment, Governor Pataki's administration is diverting $400 million for a power plant in Queens that is opposed by the community. This, even though Congress has said specifically that "public utility property and residential property located outside [Lower Manhattan] cannot be financed with the bonds."

Because the Governor has left us no choice, I have joined several elected officials in a lawsuit challenging this misuse of the Liberty Bonds. Federal legislators from around the country will be much less likely to support future requests to help New York's recovery if we don't spend existing resources the way they were meant for use by Congress.

THE FUNDS WE HAVE GOTTEN

Billions of dollars have come in for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center Site and transportation projects throughout New York City. But a significant portion of the pledged funding that we received has only come after a tough fight by the New York congressional delegation. The good news is that after our sustained efforts, there are a number of successes to report:

  • $90 million for the health screening of sick and injured Ground Zero responders
  • $80.5 million for New York's school system to make up for lost instructional time resulting from the terrorist attacks
  • $33 million for the mental health needs of students affected by the disaster
  • $10 million in federal aid for universities damaged by the attacks
  • The extensive reform and expansion of Federal Emergency Management Agency's emergency response programs, leading to thousands more New Yorkers made eligible for individual grants and housing assistance after 9/11.

Hopefully, our continued advocacy in Washington for New York's remaining recovery needs will lead to additional successes, but we will need a united front, including the governor and the mayor, to achieve much needed and more positive results.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney represents the 14th District in New York, which includes parts of Manhattan and Queens.

Revisiting 9/11, Reworking 911


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The 9/11 Commission's Report on Emergency Response, with links to testimony of 13 witnesses in the hearing.

Testimony, Questions and Answers:
Michael Bloomberg
Rudolph Giuliani
former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, former Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, former Office of Emergency Management Director Richard Sheirer

Related Article:
Emergency Communications Systems And Equipment by Laura Forlano

Just days before the 9/11 Commission came to New York to examine how the city responds to emergencies, smoke began to rise before dawn from the subway station at Bowling Green, not far from Ground Zero.

Soon the sounds of sirens and helicopters broke the early Sunday morning calm, as hundreds of rescue workers strapped oxygen tanks on their backs and dashed into the station, responding to a report that there had been two explosions. Police officers stalked the streets with automatic weapons and dogs; firefighters rushed people from the station into waiting ambulances.

This was only a drill. But two things happened that had not been planned for -- and that inadvertently illustrate some of the core challenges facing the city's system of emergency response: A fight reportedly broke out between a firefighter and a police officer. And an actual suspicious package was found in the subway.

The call went out: Stop the drill. Police officers from the bomb squad investigated what turned out to be a pile of old clothes.

Almost three years after New York City suffered the worst attack in American history, some basic questions remain unsettled: Could some of the death and destruction have been avoided? Will anything be different if and when there is another emergency of such magnitude?

9/11 COMMISSION IN NEW YORK

rudy.184.1.650b"Catastrophic emergencies and attacks have acts of great heroism attached to them. They have acts of ingenious creativity attached to them and they have mistakes that happen." — Rudolph Giuliani, 9/11 Commission testimony, 5/18/04

The answer former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gave to the first question, when he testified in front of the 9/11 Commission, was no. He began his testimony by asking the commissioners not to blame anyone for the deaths on September 11 but the people he said were solely responsible for them -- Al Qaeda, the terrorists.

Yes, the mayor conceded, mistakes happened, as they would in any catastrophe, but his testimony, which was largely an account of his personal experience on September 11, sought to emphasize the heroism of the rescue workers. His eloquence neutralized the commissioners, whose subsequent questioning veered toward the reverential.

This did not sit well with some family members of firefighters killed on 9/11 who were in the audience at the New School. Several people, offended that the commission wasn't being tough enough on Giuliani, jumped to their feet and began yelling, interrupting the hearing.

There was some irony in this. The hearings the previous day had elicited the exact opposite response, critics saying the 9/11 Commission had been too combative, when it harshly grilled three of Giuliani's former commissioners.

One of the members of the 9/11 Commission, John Lehman, called the city's system of emergency response "dysfunctional," "a scandal," "not worthy of the Boy Scouts, let alone this great city." Another member, Timothy Roemer, asked how the Office Of Emergency Management could possibly have been put in the World Trade Center itself,"where the terrorists had struck in 1993. Why put it in one of the most likely places [for terrorists to] come back and hit us again?"

"We have to ask hard questions," a third member, Jamie Gorelick, said, "...because if we don't we cannot ensure greater safety from this day forward."

It is hard to detach from the emotional recollections of the past in order to piece together a hard-nosed assessment of what went wrong on 9/11, determine how well those problems have been fixed in the three years since, and thus predict whether or not New York is better prepared for another large-scale emergency.

Based on the reports and testimony from the 9/11 Commission, as well as testimony, investigations and critiques over the past three years, there are four areas most in need of attention:

1. How effective are skyscraper evacuation plans?

2. How well do emergency response agencies in New York coordinate with one another?

3. Have barriers to communication between rescue workers been eliminated?

4. How can New York get adequate funding to prepare itself for future emergencies?

1. SKYSCRAPER EVACUATION PLANS

For fires and other catastrophic events in skyscrapers, common practice has long been to tell people elsewhere in the building to stay where they are. The reason for this is that, in the past, evacuations often wound up injuring more people than the fire itself. The disorderly evacuation of the World Trade Center in 1993 after it had been bombed by terrorists was just such a case.

9/11: Evacuation Plans For The Twin Towers

After 1993, the Port Authority looked to improve its drilling and evacuation procedures at the World Trade Center. It enjoyed a certain amount of success: most people interviewed by the 9/11 Commission said they felt more prepared for an emergency in 2001 than they had been in 1993.

On 9/11, people in the World Trade Center were told to stay put. Others who had begun to evacuate were ordered to return to their desks.

But the emergency plan for the World Trade Center had several gaps. In the 1993 bombing, a helicopter had rescued people from the roof of the towers. New York City’s rescue workers, however, had ruled out such rooftop rescues in the future. The problem was -- nobody ever told the occupants of this change in procedure.

Those who were trapped above the fire on September 11th may have headed towards the roof, only to find the doors locked. And while the Port Authority had ruled out rooftop rescue, it did not have an alternative for those who were trapped on the floors above where the planes hit.

It is unclear that any emergency plan could have prevented many deaths in a situation as severe as 9/11. But several members of the 9/11 Commission lamented that, because federal intelligence agencies didn't communicate the threat of an airborne attack to those planning safety measures for New York City's high-rises, no one even attempted to find a way to deal with such an event.

SINCE 9/11: In Evacuation Plans, Little Has Changed

Allan Reiss of the Port Authority testified (pdf format) that little had changed in nationally accepted evacuation standards. He complained that standard evacuation plans throughout the country still do not advise skyscraper tenants never to flee towards the roof in an emergency.

For emergencies smaller than the three five-alarm fires that burned in the World Trade Center on September 11, it still makes the most sense to have people stay at their desks, according to several of those who testified last week.

But Reiss said that watching the Twin Towers collapse had made people react differently to all emergencies. Evacuations plans should take into account how people will realistically react in an emergency situation, he said. And the collapse of the Twin Towers has changed that.

“Everyone including myself, and we’ve had a couple of fires in the building that I’m now a tenant in; that fire alarm goes off and you smell smoke you’re down those stairs instantaneously,” he said. “The codes need to recognize it.”

2. COOPERATING OR COMPETING? INTERAGENCY RIVALRIES

The ‘Battle of the Badges’– the rivalry between New York City’s Fire and Police Departments – has existed for decades.

The heads of the departments have tried to explain the rift as nothing more than isolated conflicts between individual “knuckleheads” at emergency scenes. The occasional fistfight, they insist, does not indicate a larger dispute between the agencies themselves.

But others concede that a power struggle between the fire and police departments has hampered emergency operations in the past. The police department’s Emergency Services Unit, which carries out functions that in other cities would be handled by the fire department, has increasingly encroached on the fire’s department’s ground.

Jerome Hauer (testimony in pdf format)was appointed by Mayor Giuliani as the first commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management, established largely to find a way to solve battles between the police and fire departments. The office was credited for other programs, but it did not manage to create a way to bring the two agencies together.

9/11: Separate Command Posts

The Office of Emergency Management faced an immediate, and ultimately insurmountable, obstacle on September 11: its headquarters on the 23 floor of Seven World Trade Center had to be evacuated. The building later collapsed. Largely as a result, the newly homeless agency was ineffectual during the rescue at the Twin Towers.

But it is unclear whether the Office of Emergency Management was prepared to play a significant coordinating role on 9/11, even if had not been sidelined by the destruction of its headquarters.

Nor were police and fire departments willing to work within such a structure. Indeed, the police and fire departments set up separate command posts on September 11, and operated largely independently of one another. Lead officials from each agency insisted that, while technical problems at times hampered communications, the lack of coordination had no concrete effect on 9/11.

Still, the lack of an effective way for rescue agencies to work together on major emergencies has been singled out by members of the commission and experts in the field as the major shortcoming in the city’s emergency response.

SINCE 9/11: A New Attempt At Unified Emergency Response

Eight years after the creation of the Office of Emergency Management – and four days before the 9/11 Commission arrived in New York – Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented his plan for coordinating the emergency response efforts of fire, police and other rescue agencies.(in pdf format).

For small incidents, the plan designates a lead agency. For larger emergencies, it lists several agencies that will work together. Instead of naming one agency to take the lead, it calls on each one to focus on its “core competency.”

Critics have complained that this plan ducks the real issue that needs to be resolved: who is in charge in a large-scale rescue effort? Additionally, it lessens the power of the Office of Emergency Management to make the decision when agencies disagree over who should do what.

Many have described the plan as incomplete.

“They obviously didn’t want to sit at the commission and say ‘we still don’t have one,” said Peter Vallone, head of the City Council’s public safety committee. “That’s a large part of why they got it done [now], and I hope it’s a work in progress.”

Vallone has called for City Council hearings to review the plan on June 2.

SINCE 9/11: Persisting Overlaps in Jurisdiction

The reason that the city has not been able to decide how to divide control over large emergencies is that the police department and the fire department are competing to carry out the same tasks, according to many experts. In this regard, New York is unique among large American cities.

Until this is resolved, they say, the city will not be able to accomplish the kind of sensible command system that Mayor Bloomberg had hoped to create with his recent plan.

“It’s a large problem because when you have two different agencies doing the same things, it is certainly not efficient, and not cost effective,” said Glenn Corbett professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “And more importantly, it’s an impediment to a really well-defined incident command structure.”

Corbett, and Hauer, among others, agree that the best way to resolve this problem is to strengthen the Office of Emergency Management so that it can dictate to the competing agencies exactly which tasks fall into whose jurisdiction. Others have suggested creating a public safety czar with similar powers.

Dennis Smith (testimony in pdf format), author of Report from Ground Zero, told the commission that he believes the conflict between fire and police has become unmanageable without more drastic action. He suggests removing the rescue functions from both agencies and creating a separate Rescue Emergency Services Department.

3. COMMUNICATION FAILURES

In large rescues, different agencies come together with crowds of civilians. Being able to communicate is critical. Communications between rescue workers, and between rescue workers and civilians, were hampered both by inadequate technology and by problems in the way that communication for emergencies was planned.

9/11: Rescue Workers Didn't Communicate Well With 911 Dispatchers

When they arrived at the Twin Towers on 9/11, rescue workers decided to evacuate the buildings almost immediately. Because intercoms in the buildings were disabled from the impact of the planes, firefighters and police officers in the lobby could not communicate directly with people on upper floors. As a result, the only way that many people in the towers could get information was by calling 911.

Dispatchers, unaware of the evacuation plan, told callers to stay put, keeping in line with the pre-existing evacuation plan. Firefighters and police officers on the scene did not contact dispatchers to let them know of the evacuation plans; dispatchers did not grasp the unique nature of the situation.

SINCE 9/11: Better Links For Dispatchers, But Still Just One-Way Communication

911 dispatchers have also been brought closer to rescue teams: Police commissioner Raymond Kelly testified (testimony in .pdf format) that today, a platoon commander monitors information from various sources and instructs dispatchers how to respond.

As several commissioners pointed out during the hearings, the dispatchers could have also received valuable information from those calling 911 about the situation on floors high in the towers. Because there was no plan to use 911 to collect information, rescue workers did not know what was happening above them.

The commissioner’s goal of using 911 as an interactive communication source, however, has not been realized.

9/11: Rescue Workers Couldn't Receive Information

Rescue workers, notably firefighters in the North Tower, said they had no idea of what was going on around them.

“People watching on TV certainly had more knowledge of what was happening a hundred floors above us than we did in the lobby,” said Joseph Pfeifer, an assistant deputy fire chief working in the North Tower.

Rescue workers faced several challenges in getting information:

  • Overworked Radios – Radios were overwhelmed with the volume of calls being made. While both police and fire experienced problems, it was the firefighters who had the most problems.
  • The “Repeater Channel” – The Port Authority installed an extra radio channel especially for the Twin Towers after firefighters had faced overloaded radio frequencies in 1993. But the fire department was unable to use this “repeater” channel. Although the channel was working, Pfeifer’s team mistakenly believed it was not, and turned it off. It is not clear what led to this mistake.
  • Lack of Interagency Communication – A police helicopter warned police officers that the North Tower was going to collapse 18 minutes before it did. Because the interagency radios were not working, firefighters did not receive the warning; 121 died when the building fell.

SINCE 9/11: Communication Improvements

Since 9/11, the fire and police departments have worked to close the gaps in the communications, and to upgrade the technology that failed on 9/11. (See also Gotham Gazette's tech topic page update looking atemergency communications systems and equipment)

Structural Changes to Improve Communication Across Agency Lines

Today, an FDNY battalion chief reports every day to police headquarters, and a firefighter flies with each police helicopter. Similarly, a police captain spends his days at the Fire Department.

Technical Upgrades

Firefighters have received new radios that allow for higher call volume; police officers have installed video feeds in their helicopters to allow people on the ground to observe their own situations from a wider perspective.

The city also recently tested a computer-based interagency radio, which will allow all city agencies to communicate on the same frequency. While his agency has only recently begun to use the radios, Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Bruno said that they seem to work well.

4. FUNDING

When testifying at the commission, current New York officials took pains to direct the panel’s attention to an issue that did not exist on 9/11: Homeland Security Funding.

New York State receives less Homeland Security funding per capita than every state but California; the amount of money that New York City receives is set to drop from $188 million in fiscal year 2003 to $96 million in fiscal year 2004.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg reminded commissioners that New York State received $5.47 per capita in homeland security grants last year. Wyoming received $38.31, and American Samoa brought in over $100 per person.

Mayor Bloomberg described this as “the kind of shortsighted ‘me first’ nonsense that gives Washington a bad name. It unfortunately has the effect of aiding and abetting those who hate us and plot against us.”

New York has fared so poorly in relation to other areas of the country because only 20 percent of the funding available is given out according to the threat that a specific area is under. Originally, New York was one of seven cities in the high threat program; it received about one quarter of funding with that program. Since then, the number of cities has grown to 50, and 30 transportation systems have been added. Now New York receives less than 7 percent of the total.

Changing the Formula

Several efforts to change the way Homeland Security grants are given are in the works, including a bill in the House of Representativesand the president’s proposed budget for 2005 that would distribute more than half of Homeland Security Funds according to threat levels.

But Bloomberg and other city officials do not think that this is enough; they believe that diluting this money among 80 recipients automatically means that New York will receive too little.

One commissioner, Bob Kerrey, agrees that New York City may not be able to ever get the resources it needs through Department of Homeland Security programs that take the entire country into account.

The former Senator noted that it might be time to give New York special treatment because it is the country’s primary target; he spoke of having Congress allocate a portion of the nation’s budget directly to a fund for New York’s public safety.

LESSONS LEARNED?

The 9/11 Commission has returned to Washington. In July, it will include what it has learned last week in its final report.

Meanwhile, the city continues to drill. Its police and fire departments cooperate or clash, depending on whom you ask; the Office of Emergency Management is still testing the city's new radio capabilities, and refining its coordinated emergency response plan.

After its headquarters in the World Trade Center were destroyed on 9/11, the emergency agency has moved to new headquarters, under the Brooklyn Bridge. The police department uncovered a plot to destroy that bridge last year. But officials say this is not a sign that nothing has been learned. They have backup headquarters in an undisclosed location, they say, and they intend to move the headquarters of the Office of Emergency Management into a new permanent location, in Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza...in late 2005.



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