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The Lessons To Be Learned


terror-afterThis has been a terrible week filled with horrific images. We have had to explain to our children things that are incomprehensible to us. The days ahead will continue to be filled with pain as we learn about the losses of friends, relatives and acquaintances. I am concerned about what follows then. It has been said on broadcast after broadcast that American life will never be the same again. Rather than waiting for the changes to happen to us, perhaps wehave an opportunity to choose the changes we would like to occur.

I am an educator, so I will talk about the schools. We have a moment in which we can choose the values we want our children to learn in their classes. Amid reports of Arab citizens or visitors being harassed, I would like my children taught about tolerance and the strength that diversity brings.

In a time when our television screens are filled with stories of heroic volunteerism, I would like my children to learn about altruism, and the responsibility of service. This is a good time for schools to add vitality to service requirements that have grown dusty and disconnected, to make service not simply an extracurricular activity but an active part of the curriculum.

In an age in which voting rates and participation in civic life has declined, I would like my daughters to learn about community. Never have there been more vivid demonstrations of the meaning of community than we are seeing on our television screens today. Schools have the opportunity to take that experience and translate into an education which helps students learn the ways and meanings of civic participation, the power of and the mechanisms for dissent, and the manner in which individuals and groups can constructively change our community.

In an era in which America is inextricably interconnected with the rest of the world, as September 11 painfully showed us, I would like my children to learn about the world in a manner we have never before accomplished. The canon of literature our children read should be expanded beyond western writings to include global works, not because this is politically correct, but because it is essential. For example, I can no longer imagine a great books curriculum that does not include the Koran. This is a work that has had a profound influence on our country; in fact, on every presidency since Jimmy Carter. It would be good to teach more about other nations, their languages, and the meaning of a global society. It would be practical to have our children spend time in other countries and to make a concerted effort to invite foreign students and teachers to this country -- even when there may be pressure to do exactly the opposite in the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster.

In our schools and even more so in our homes, the real challenge will be not to match the values with our words, but with our deeds. If there is any inconsistency, our words teach children the ideal and our deeds teach them how much one can safely ignore the ideal.

Arthur Levine is president of Teachers College, in Columbia University.

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Issues and Challenges


rebuilding-NYC

The events of this last week have forced government to focus on the urgent tasks of relief and the search for victims of September 11.

As things begin to get back to normal, however, government faces the new issues and challenges of planning for reconstruction. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has already asked displaced businesses what the city can do to help them rebuild and relocate in Manhattan. The Mayor and City Council Speaker announced plans to form a special commission responsible for rebuilding in lower Manhattan. The new commission could manage $40 billion in federal relief funds, and could have bonding authority that would allow it to finance reconstruction efforts, though this authority would have to be conferred by the state legislature.

The issues to be faced by the new mayor and city council are profound and have implications beyond lower Manhattan. They will affect the future of the city, the metropolitan region and cities throughout the country. Those charged with planning for reconstruction will have to balance concerns about public safety with the need to protect New York City's vibrant and open street life, great social diversity, mobility and access to public places.

  • Concentration or sprawl? New York City is one of the most densely populated cities in the country and Wall Street has a very dense daytime population. Federal policy for the last half century has favored low density, sprawled suburban development by subsidizing the interstate highway program and guaranteeing mortgage financing for single-family homes. The interstate highway program was originally named the Defense Highway system and one of its explicit purposes was to disperse the U.S. population and industry and make them less vulnerable to attack from abroad. In recent years over 15 states have passed "Smart Growth" legislation to encourage greater concentration, recognizing the economic, environmental and public health problems due to auto-dependency and suburban sprawl. Congress and the White House seemed to be moving towards greater support for such efforts. Will they now see an attempt by New York City to retain its higher density as foolish, unsafe, and unworthy of support? Will September 11 kick off a new anti-urban wave in Washington?

    Within New York City, the question may well arise about the wisdom of rebuilding on the World Trade Center site. Should federal, state and city governments invest extremely large sums to restore the infrastructure and density at the southern tip of Manhattan when the limited resources could have a greater impact and satisfy greater needs elsewhere? Would this be the most efficient and equitable solution given the enormous deficits in public expenditures throughout the city? Would it not make more sense to create public open spaces and low density mixed-use buildings on the World Trade Center site? A greater mixture of commercial and residential uses could further diversify lower Manhattan, which is still primarily a ghost town after business hours. Could development rights and opportunities for displaced businesses be created elsewhere in the city where they can stimulate and reinforce growing business districts - in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island?

  • Auto access to downtown. Given the greater potential security problems that come with large numbers of private automobiles in Manhattan, city government has an excellent opportunity to promote alternative means of transportation. This makes sense for security purposes, but it will also ease Manhattan's chronic traffic mess, improve the environment, and keep people coming to the city. Measures that have been proposed by city planners for years but which now should be put back on the planning agenda include: 1) putting tolls on the East River bridges and using congestion pricing; 2) severely limiting on-street and off-street parking by revising parking requirements and increasing parking fees; 3) restricting times for daily deliveries by trucks; and 4) creating more auto-free zones. Limiting auto access would create opportunities to improve the infrastructure for mass transit, pedestrians and bicycles, which together move millions more people every day than do autos. Will the city work more closely with the MTA to expand bus service and create exclusive rights-of-way (and bus stops) for buses so they can operate on schedule? Will support grow for the Second Avenue subway line and extension of the #7 line to the west side of Manhattan? Will the city now widen more sidewalks, improve crosswalks, and slow vehicular traffic in areas with large pedestrian volumes? Will it make biking to work less risky for the tens of thousands who currently use this superb clean-air travel mode, and encourage more bike commuters by building safe bicycle ways and parking throughout the city?
  • Public places. New York City's streets are the backbone of its exciting network of public places. How can the vitality of its streets, parks and open spaces be preserved? Whereas limiting auto use can create a more secure environment, limiting access to public spaces by pedestrians can create dangerous and insecure places. No one likes an abandoned street or park. In the past, government's most important partners in making vibrant public places have been people who live and work in the city's neighborhoods. From block associations to business improvement districts, there is a vast network of civic and neighborhood groups concerned with issues of access, transportation and auto use. They know where the dangers are. Will the city work with these groups to improve public places? Or will the new security concerns lead to changes dictated by security-minded engineers that make public places desolate and uninviting, and ultimately more dangerous?

In facing these questions, there will be a strong draw toward technological fixes for the security problem: more sophisticated surveillance of public places by video cameras, more metal detectors, more barriers. By themselves, these do not make public places safer. One of the greatest assets of New York City, the advantage it enjoys over the sprawl and malls in the suburbs, is its rich, diverse and open environment. This is what has made it attractive to businesses, residents and tourists from all over the world. Ultimately it's the people, both in the business districts and the neighborhoods, that will guarantee a safe and livable environment. One would hope that the city's new commission and administration will work with all citizen groups as well as businesses to engage the public in an eminently public endeavor. Destruction of our great public life would be a second major blow to the open society.

Tom Angotti is a professor of urban affairs and planning at Hunter College and co-chair of Planners Network.

Spread The Wealth To The Boroughs

By Chris Owens

Embedded in this tragedy is an opportunity to "re-plan" New York City. I don't pretend to be an expert, but here are my thoughts:

1. We must disperse the "centers of intelligence" and "centers of business". While this may go against the trends of history, we must keep in mind that (a) terrorism is likely to occur again in New York City, (b) a natural disaster such as an earthquake is likely within the next 25 years, (c) modern technology allows distance to exist between "hubs" and should be exploited. In order to support this, our electrical power grid, our telephone grids and our transportation grids need to be reevaluated and potentially restructured so that damage to one part of New York City does not guarantee disaster for all. While some may say that this is the case now, I point to the fact that key businesses came to a halt, that the closure of bridges and tunnels and highways after this incident isolated many from their jobs (who were not in the Wall Street area), etc.

2. Other geographic areas of New York City warrant development. The "outer boroughs" have room for large businesses to expand - particularly upwards - and provide economic opportunities and a better quality of life for all. Accordingly, the transportation infrastructure should reflect this as well. It should be easy for Connecticut commuters to come to Queens and eastern areas of Brooklyn as well as the Bronx. It should be easy for NJ commuters to access Staten Island, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Where we have built cities of public housing to warehouse the poor we can also build midsize buildings to provide jobs and spur educational excellence (which, unfortunately, would also increase rents and housing prices ...)

3. The current World Trade Center site should become an expanded ferryport, conference center and park with a fitting, large memorial museum. Americans need to have access to every horrible aspect of this event to remind us and future generations just as we support the Holocaust museums and memorials. It would be both shameful and dangerous to simply "rebuild the Trade Center".

Chris Owens is president of the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History

Urban Life Will Change

by Peter Marcuse

We are all of course trying to come to grips with what the events of Tuesday mean, and will mean. It has been a terrible disaster, and the immediate loss of life is incredible.

But I think it will have a major long-term impact on life here, morally, economically, politically, urban life --- all for the worse There will be major impacts on New York City in particular, and perhaps high-density big cities generally, in the direction of decentralization and further divisions and walls. I would guess a reduction in personal travel, more emphasis on electronic communication. Employment patterns will change; hyper-concentrations of jobs in service-center-oriented office buildings (and both the high and the low-paying jobs associated with them) will shrink. The benefits of the agglomeration economies that have accounted for the strength of select financial centers will be counter-balanced by new political considerations. I suspect the global status of at least New York City but perhaps other global cities will change, as multinational businesses change their spatial strategies in the search for security in more outlying areas. The focus will initially be within the same metropolitan regions (which is what American Express and Lehman Brothers have done), but over time will lead to wider dispersal to other regions or urban enclaves. The construction of glamorous ever-higher trophy skyscrapers will stop; the towers in Kuala Lumpur and Frankfurt have already felt the threat, closing and evacuating the day after the World Trade Center collapse, and workers in the Empire State building are afraid to go up to their offices.

The social consequence will be to exacerbate polarization, with those able to move where they live or work out of town doing so, those unable to do so remaining behind. The difference between the two groups will be both income and race related. The polarization will be both between city and suburb and within the city, with the focus of upper-income disproportionately white households concentrating in more tightly controlled citadels and others more and more excluded and segregated, with sharper dividing lines between and among groups.

And "security" will become the justification for measures that can threaten the core of social and political life, even though one conclusion that might be drawn from what has happened is that physical measures can never provide real security in the presence of deep social, including international, differences. Despite that, surveillance will increase and the uses of public space will be more tightly controlled (Mayor Guiliani has pioneered this with his restrictions on assemblies near City Hall, and attempts to limit the use of streets for parades, in the name of security). And we may expect the almost unlimited funding that the FBI and CIA are likely to receive to result in massive invasions of privacy; Senator Trent Lott has already called publicly for a reduction in the weight given civil liberties in the interests of security. "Public space" will become less public; free access and free use will be severely limited. By contrast, controlled spaces, such as malls, will increase their attraction.

It doesn't look good.

What Can Be done at the City Level for New York City?

1. Avoid the hunker-down, fortress mentality, with police, check-points, metal detectors, limited access everywhere. Risk management suggests that the costs, in terms of everyday life, business activities, democratic conduct, must be taken into account in plans to avoid the dangers of terrorism. The quality of urban life is what brings people to cities and makes living there worth while; don't kill it.

2. Focus on improving education and economic conditions for the city's lower-income residents, as the mainstay of its population. The choice is between further exclusion, or real and steady improvement and connection with the city's mainstream economic, social, and cultural life. Exclusion, walls, separation cannot provide security; acceptance and shared fortunes can.

3. Make it clear the city is a welcoming city for all peoples, that we do not confuse culture with cause, that we are and will remain an international city and a multicultural city; brag about it.

4. Economic development policy must continue to be concerned with the needs of major transnational corporations, but attention must increase to the needs of smaller-scale businesses (local as well as nationally and internationally-oriented) that draw on the unique skills and talents of the city's actual residents, including creativity, imagination, hard work, and social commitment. The weight of subsidies should go to such locally-based activities.

5. Cultural work - artistic, literary, inventive, scientific, media, research, educational - should be supported as the motor of the city's economic and social life.

6. The attack will cause a major shift in private market real estate prices in downtown Manhattan and in office clusters throughout the city. Watch developments closely, and if excess profits are being made, if speculation threatens stable business activities, consider forms of control, from commercial rent regulation to speculation taxes on real estate profits to planning policies channeling growth.

7. Maintain mixes of uses and occupancy and building types, avoiding homogeneous concentrations of activities either at the high or low end of the economic ladder; avoid both attempting to maintain citadels and permitting ghettos, and encourage contact across social and physical dividing lines in the city.

8. Invest heavily in mass transit. The inevitable move of businesses from within to outside the city, with the attendant pressure for easier commuting, should be resisted - balanced against - the facility of moving about the city itself free of congestion, making staying in the city more efficient as well as providing environmental and tax benefits.

9. Make security for travelers and visitors as hassle-free as possible. Consider decentralizing airport check-in and security clearance to convenient multiple central locations, with direct secure transportation to flights. Make access to airports simple and clear, including direct access by mass transit. Make international visitors feel welcome once they have cleared security.

10. Lobby for state and national legislation preventing fiscal competition among cities to attract businesses (a zero-sum game for cities, a transfer of wealth from public to private hands), akin perhaps to the European Union's anti-subsidy rules.

11. Rebuild the twin towers? Certainly not as it was (it couldn't be marketed anyway), or with even more beefed up security. What should be done at the site should not reflect the arrogance of power, but rather the sorrow of its history and the admission of human vulnerability, as well as the resilience of continued and vibrant life. Waiting and thought and public discussion are in any event necessary; recommendations for action after a great loss are always to let time go by and emotions settle. Planning for it should be a symbol of the very democratic processes that terrorism puts at risk.

Peter Marcuse is a professor of urban planning at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

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My Action Plan to Unite and Rebuild New York


Some 6,000 New Yorkers are missing or dead. The jobs of 100,000 New Yorkers are at risk. And our City has gone from a projected budget surplus to predictions of multi-billion dollar deficits.

In the aftermath of this human tragedy, we must protect New Yorkers against new attacks by terrorists and confront the economic and fiscal crisis that threatens our city. We must provide safety and security and rebuild our city and economy. If we succeed, our City will be stronger than ever and well prepared to take on the challenge of fixing our schools as well.

Over the last three weeks, I've outlined my plans to improve safety and security in our city in the face of terrorist threats and rebuild our economy. Today, I am detailing my plans for seeking the type of federal assistance that is absolutely critical to this effort.

Taken together, this is a comprehensive plan to meet the crisis before us. In this time of peril, we need action not studies. We need to improve security, not just talk about it. And we need an approach to Washington that will redeem President Bush's promise to "rebuild New York City."

And we can't afford to wait until next February to start. Not when our safety is at stake. Not when with every day that passes more firms look to leave our city. Not when tens of thousands of New Yorkers employed three weeks ago face a future of uncertainty and despair.

Make no mistake. There is no precedent in the history of our city for the complex issues that we face today. But with leadership, we can overcome these challenges and turn this crisis into opportunity.

Here's my plan:

To Protect New Yorkers Against Terrorism

  • Increase police presence and electronic and human surveillance of public transportation. Strictly prohibit unauthorized personnel from schools. Require checks or random searches of large bags in museums, stadiums and theatres.
  • Improve security for electric grids, bridges and tunnels, the water supply, waterways and the harbor.
  • Increase personnel assigned to counter-terrorism and designate a coordinator of all anti-terrorism efforts in the NYPD.
  • Create a regional security working group to share intelligence.
  • Improve investigation and prosecution of money laundering.
  • Implement restrictions on trucks and automobiles in certain areas that could be the subject of terrorist threats.

To Rebuild Lower Manhattan

  • Create a City-State, private-public, business-labor authority to develop a comprehensive economic revitalization plan. This new super agency, the New York City Emergency Redevelopment Authority (NYC-ERA), would be accountable to the Mayor and Governor and empowered by the State Legislature to quickly, efficiently move the revitalization effort forward.
  • Immediately begin to provide temporary space for displaced firms and tax incentives and low cost financing for firms willing to stay and rebuild.
  • Work with Washington and Albany to designate Lower Manhattan a "new kind" of empowerment zone, providing as-of-right benefits to firms that remain or relocate to the area.

To Use Federal Aid to Rebuild the City Economy

  • Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to fully assess not just the cost of recovery and clean up, but assistance for businesses and workers displaced, aid for victims and families, special assistance for firms and workers affected by tourism and air transportation job losses, repair costs, additional security costs and a comprehensive economic stimulus program.
  • Win additional emergency funding from the federal government and make New York's recovery a priority as federal agencies make discretionary grant decisions including:
    • Justice Department funding for crime control and Police Department anti-terrorism initiatives
    • Education Department funding for class size reduction and professional development
    • Transportation funding for economic stimulus projects like the Second Avenue Subway and the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel
    • Targeted Economic Development Administration funding for Lower Manhattan and other neighborhoods directly affected by the World Trade Center disaster
    • HUD funding for new housing initiatives
    • HHS funding create a seamless transition from federal welfare to State safety net programs
    • Labor Department funding for job training, workforce development and assistance to unemployed and dislocated workers

I. SAFETY AND SECURITY FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK

The number one goal of any mayor has always been public safety because without it not much else counts or works. That goal is now even more vital as the fact and threat of terrorism rises.

It's desirable and inevitable that officials review security measures in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack to better protect our City in the future. As one who both believes that safety and security must be our top priority and who's been a life-long civil libertarian, I know that our city can have both civil order and civil rights, that we can be more secure without sacrificing our liberties.

Terrorism is a crime. And the NYPD has clearly and unequivocally proven that the police can have a powerful impact on crime with the right strategies. In the last decade of the 20th century, New York City confronted a crime crisis that spread fear and despair throughout our neighborhoods. Many thought that violent street crime had become a permanent part of this City. Under the leadership of Mayor Giuliani and Commissioner Bratton, the NYPD proved those skeptics wrong and restored a sense of safety that this City had not enjoyed for over thirty years.

In the first decade of this century we face another crisis, a crisis that also fosters fear and, if unchecked, despair. But if we are willing to engage in the same bold thinking that led to the reduction of violent crime, we can check the forces that would deprive us of our security.

Due to the innovative leadership of the Mayor and Jerry Hauer -- as the City's first head of the Office of Emergency Management -- New York was already better prepared than any other city to deal with the crisis that we now confront. But we need to do more. While no one can have definitive answers yet, it is clear that there are a

series of areas that we need to consider as we begin the task of re-orienting our police and emergency services in light of the threat of increased terrorism.

The singular theme that ties together all of these efforts -- "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Increasing Public Safety

Any plan to respond to terrorism must begin with efforts to increase the security of the public. We need to increase security at venues where the public has traditionally enjoyed unfettered access including subways and subway stations, railroads, major terminals, buses, stadiums, cultural institutions, schools, libraries and hospitals.

Increased security will require increased electronic and human surveillance of public transportation, more police presence, and the strict prohibition of unauthorized personnel from schools. Required checks or random searches of large bags in museums, stadiums and theatres, while inconvenient, may become necessary.

Additional security will also be necessary for electric grids, bridges and tunnels, the water supply, waterways and the harbor. Obviously, the FAA must reappraise and strengthen the lax system of airport screening.

The Police Commissioner must also consider and implement restrictions on trucks and automobiles in certain areas that could be the subject of terr orist threats.

Police Operations The NYPD will have to enhance its focus on counter-terrorism. Commissioner Kerik has already announced that more resources will be devoted to this effort. We need to build on this important and laudable first step. A new position should be created inside the NYPD to direct and coordinate anti-terrorism efforts. This position must have sufficient authority and resources to maximize the intelligence gathering capacity of the NYPD and the follow-up investigations that will be necessary. Additionally, the NYPD must make sure that information is shared with other relevant authorities and that all activities are conducted with a careful eye toward civil liberties.

One way to increase the amount of intelligence that we gather is to train all police officers to be sensitive to information that may be relevant to terrorist activity and make sure that the NYPD has a mechanism to centrally gather and review the information.

Because of the myriad of governmental policing bodies in the tri-state region, we should establish a regional security-working group to coordinate and share such important information.

Moreover, we need to attack cyber-terrorism and increase funding to investigate and prosecute money laundering. Terrorist activities require financial support. Disrupting the flow of funding would be an important tool in reducing the ability of terrorist to mount their operations.

Preparedness

CompStat -- with accurate and timely intelligence, rapid response, effective tactics and relentless assessment and follow up -- has been a very successful management tool for the NYPD's crime fighting efforts. A similar model can be used to combat terrorism.

The scope of the attack on the World Trade Center demonstrates the need to plan for attacks and disasters of any size. The City needs to identify and prepare for new threats. Repeated and large scale, multi-agency drills will have to become the norm. We can never be too prepared or over-anticipate the scope of a disaster.

Technology

New technology will be an important tool in the fight against terrorism. Beyond establishing secure, independent and protected telecommunication capacity for our police and emergency services, we must also take advantage of emerging technologies that permit equipment to "sniff" for the presence of bomb making materials or biological elements.

Guarding Against Bias Incidents

While reducing the risk of future terrorist attacks, let's also reach out and protect communities and individuals that might be the subject of retaliation. It is important that all New Yorkers focus on who the real enemy is and not subject followers of certain religions or individuals of certain ethnicities to harassment or worse.

Conclusion

September 11 changed our lives forever and will require new strategies and tactics in public security and policing. But we must also hold dear the rights that we have as Americans and guard against allowing the terrorist attack to succeed in restricting them. In much the same way that we can have reduced crime while respecting constitutional protections, we can take significant steps to reduce terrorism without trampling on the Constitution.

Just as the attack on the World Trade Center compels us to rebuild Downtown, it requires that we rethink security measures drafted in a more tranquil time. I know that New York and New Yorkers will again rise to the occasion and respond with the right mix of smart, innovative policies.

II. STATE CITY EMERGENCY REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

State-City "Emergency Redevelopment Authority"

The criminal attack on the World Trade Center has caused both a human and economic crisis for our city. This was an attack not just on the World Trade Center but on world trade itself - an attack apparently waged by people who reject the freedom and opportunities generated by the extraordinary marketplace of human creativity, energy and ingenuity known as New York.

Terrorists attacked New York City precisely because it represents the best of our nation and the free world. Therefore, our nation and allies must not allow these criminals to terrorize our City's ability to compete in and lead the global economy in the generation to come. For when New York City comes back, it will be a victory for America and the World.

Mayor Giuliani has done an extraordinary job in leading our city in these difficult times. He has embraced a city as it grieves and led a heroic effort to rescue the victims, comfort their families and begin to return our city to normalcy. He has earned the deep gratitude of every New Yorker.

Today, I want to outline my thoughts on what our city will have to do to return to normal . . . to rebuild Lower Manhattan, our economy and our confidence.

This unprecedented attack will require unprecedented emergency efforts to rebuild Downtown and preserve its strength as a center of commerce as a residential community for thousands of New Yorkers. In recent years, the extraordinary vitality of our city and regional economy has been fueled by the so-called FIRE sector - finance, insurance and real estate. And all three components of the FIRE sector have been directly assaulted by the terrorist attack. Beyond the immeasurable human suffering there is an economic crisis, one that threatens our city with significant potential job losses, corporate flight, and reductions in tax revenue that may jeopardize our city's fiscal balance and our ability to make essential investments.

Surviving and surmounting this criminal attack with our economic strength intact will be a challenge. But if the last ten days have proven anything, it is that our City can and will respond to even the greatest challenges. Since September 11th, I've met and spoken with leaders of business and labor and elected officials at the local, state and federal level about the steps we must take to reconstruct our local economy.

Step one is a comprehensive plan for economic revitalization and a City-State, private-public, business-labor authority to execute the plan. Serious crises require serious solutions, and the City of New York cannot effectively address this crisis without massive federal and state aid and the emergency redevelopment powers that only state action can provide.

That's why I am today calling for the creation of a new State/City entity with the extraordinary powers that will be required to respond effectively to this extraordinary crisis -- one single, superagency that can transcend turf battles and cut red tape to get this job done quickly, efficiently and comprehensively.

The Mayor and the Governor should create a New York City Emergency Reconstruction Authority (NYC-ERA), empowered by the State Legislature to get projects done on time and in budget. NYC-ERA should have the power of eminent domain and the ability to override time-consuming land use rules. It should be able to contract for the best quality work and negotiate with labor and business to do so at the lowest cost. And while it should be open to the advice and recommendations of all interested parties, it must be clearly accountable to the Mayor and the Governor.

NYC-ERA must develop and implement a plan to retain those businesses that have been displaced or directly affected by the World Trade Center attack. We need to move quickly to provide interim temporary space to displaced firms, and then the City, State and Federal governments must provide tax incentives and low cost financing for public and private development for firms willing to stay and rebuild. And the City should also work with Washington and Albany to designate Lower Manhattan as a new kind of enterprise or empowerment zone, providing as-of-right benefits to firms that remain or relocate there.

The $20 billion in federal disaster relief assistance that Washington has already promised is only the beginning of what our City will need to recover from what the President has correctly called an act of war. Once the recovery and clean up is complete, we will redevelop and rebuild those blocks in and around the World Trade Center that were destroyed. We must complete on a fast track projects already in the pipeline that will generate growth for Lower Manhattan as well as pursue a series of housing, transportation and education projects that are vital to our City's economic competitiveness.

All of this will require the cooperation and assistance of many in and beyond our City, most notably the Governor and State Legislature, Congress and the President. We must transcend politics as usual. There is enough work for everyone.

Our City was targeted precisely because we are a symbol of Western freedom and prosperity, so the nation and the world look to us to rise from the ashes and prove that terrorism will fail. A City that built an Empire State Building in fourteen months during the Depression can and will renew and rebuild.

III. THE FEDERAL ROLE IN NEW YORK CITY'S RECOVERY

Terrorists attacked our nation on September 11th. They struck at our economic and cultural heart: New York City. They killed thousands of our most productive and creative citizens, law enforcement officials and rescue workers. They temporarily closed the City's theaters, schools, tunnels and bridges to the outside world. Terrorists attacked New York City precisely because we represent the best of our nation and the free world.

For our nation to heal, we must not only provide support and prayers for victims and their families, clean up and rebuild our financial district, our downtown neighborhoods, subway system and streets, but we also must restore New York City to its full glory as a vital international center for business, culture, humanities, science, medicine, and the arts.

But New York City cannot do this alone. The rescue and recovery operation at the World Trade Center, the rebuilding of vital transportation and other infrastructure, necessary assistance to victims and families, displaced businesses and displaced workers will total as much as $60 billion. But real recovery will require more. It will require unprecedented investment to rebuild stimulate our local economy.

New York needs federal funding to pursue the most aggressive building program since the Great Depression. Investment will create immediate jobs in construction. And it will create long term economic competitiveness.

Just two weeks ago, President Bush told the nation and the world, that "as a symbol of America's resolve" his Administration would "show the world that we will rebuild New York City." That pledge offers our City and all New Yorkers a unique opportunity for real partnership with Washington to remake our city as the world's capitol.

To be blunt, New York's recovery will depend on sustained and massive federal assistance.

Step 1: Conduct a Comprehensive Needs Assessment

As Mayor, I would continue the efforts of the City and State to develop a comprehensive needs assessment to use in our effort to win federal aid. We are beginning to understand some of the costs. Just cleaning up the estimated 1.2 million tons of rubble left by the destruction of the World Trade Center is expected to take up to a year and cost $7 billion.

But economic recovery will require more than just site clean up. There needs to be a bi-partisan, State-City effort to develop a plan and assess the cost of:

  • Assistance for businesses and workers displaced by the collapse of the World Trade Center;
  • Aid for victims and families;
  • Assistance for businesses and workers displaced as a result of significant downturns in tourism and air travel;
  • Infrastructure repair costs;
  • Additional security and emergency response system costs;
  • Counseling and other mental health related services;
  • Economic stimulus initiatives to retain and create new jobs.
  • Lost revenues for the City.

Step 2: Win Additional Emergency Funding from Congress

President Bush and the Congress have acted quickly to make emergency funding available to help New York handle this disaster. Using special emergency authority under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, Congress quickly passed a law that provides $20 billion now, and promises $20 billion later to pay for disaster relief.

While New York City needs and will receive a sizeable share of this federal assistance, it will have to compete with many agencies in the federal government and many other local entities that also need emergency funds -- to strengthen our nation's intelligence and security, investigate the terrorist incidents, rebuild the Pentagon, and toughen the security at our nation's airports and ports. The $40 billion emergency funding provided by Congress is intended to support the full range of federal, state and local recovery, security and rebuilding efforts not only in New York, but also in Virginia, Pennsylvania and across the nation. Without a sustained effort, there is no guarantee that funds that should go to New York, will go to New York.

The comprehensive needs assessment will bolster the City's case for federal aid. So will a demonstration that the City and State intend to cooperate rather than squabble over the distribution of funds and that federal funds will be well spent. That's one reason that we need to create a City-State, private-public, business-labor authority New York City Emergency Redevelopment Authority (NYC-ERA), empowered by the State Legislature to get projects done on time and on budget and clearly accountable to the Mayor and Governor. All federal funding for economic revitalization in New York City should be coordinated through this new authority.

Step 3: Make New York's Recovery a Priority for Every Federal Agency

Every year, federal agencies provide billions of dollars in grants to state and local governments and to private institutions to support programs from community policing, new highways, and welfare reform measures, to arts and humanities, school construction and scientific research. Often, it is the agency head or another executive branch official, who can decide how to allocate a sizeable portion of these funds. Now more than ever, New York City must take full advantage of this funding -- especially where the federal agency has some discretion in setting its spending priorities.

As Mayor, I would seek a commitment from the White House that makes New York City a priority when it comes to the distribution of funding from federal agencies. This would not require new federal funds. It would instead require the White House to commit its full support to the City's economic recovery through the following existing grant programs:

Helping Victims and Keeping our Neighborhoods Safe: The Department of Justice has over $4 billion in grant programs to support community crime control efforts nationwide. As Mayor, I would work with the Department's Office of Victims of Crime to ensure that it continues to provide substantial assistance to victims of the World Trade Center disaster. In addition, we would ask the COPS Office to provide new levels of funding to support local anti-terrorism plans and assist the Police Department's continuing efforts at crime control in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Educating Kids: The US Department of Education moved quickly to provide $4 million to New York City to support grief and trauma counseling and other services for students and teachers in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. President Bush's proposed budget for next year includes $44.5 billion in discretionary programs at the Department of Education. These higher levels of federal funding for primary, secondary and higher education and for other educational programs will be essential for our City as New York faces its own budget shortfalls as a result of the tragedy.

Repairing Our Streets, Subways and Transportation Systems: The Department of Transportation Federal Highway Trust Fund provides over $6 billion in funding to improve transit systems and an approximately $30 billion investment in our nation's highways. Not only do we need to rebuild transit infrastructure directly affected by the attack, but we need new investments to improve the City's economic competitiveness. As Mayor, I will seek additional funding for the Second Avenue Subway and the Cross Harbor Rail Freight Tunnel.

Redeveloping the Financial District and other Affected Areas: The Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration is, according to a statement by its Director, committed to supporting New York City recovery efforts. I will ask this agency to direct a portion of its approximately $350 million grant program toward our efforts to plan and rebuild the financial district in New York, and to assist us city-wide, as communities face the economic consequences of the attack in terms of loss of business and loss of jobs.

Keeping New York Businesses in Business in New York: One of the first tasks for the New York City Economic Redevelopment Authority, which I have proposed, must be to develop and implement a plan to work with those businesses that have been displaced or directly affected by the World Trade Center attack. We do not want these businesses to move out of the City. But if they are going to stay, they will need very quickly temporary space, tax incentives, low cost financing for public and private development, and, in the case of small businesses, truly workable loans from the Small Business Administration. As Mayor, I would pledge to work with Washington and Albany to designate Lower Manhattan as a new kind of enterprise or empowerment zone, providing as-of-right benefits to firms that remain or relocate there -- and to seek the federal funding and incentive packages that are targeted to these areas.

Neighborhood Rebuilding: The Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Community Development Block Grants Program (CDBG) provides approximately $10 billion dollars in funding on an annual basis to support community development efforts nationwide. I will ask that a portion of these funds -- beyond those to which the City would ordinarily be entitled -- be directed to our neighborhood rebuilding efforts. We will also look to HUD for financial help as we work to incorporate affordable housing needs into our rebuilding plans.

Aid for New York's Families: The Department of Health and Human Services has responded quickly to the attack on our City by providing mental health and public health assistance, and a range of other help for the City and for our victims. As Mayor, I would continue to work closely with the US Department of Health and Human Services to secure all available grants for health services and family assistance. I will work especially hard -- together with HHS -- to ensure the smooth operation and full funding of New York's Safety Net program, a program that is particularly significant in light of the September 11th disaster and the ripple effects it will have on needy families throughout our City.

Getting New Yorkers Back to Work: I will seek funding from the approximately $7 billion Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration programs. These funds include a specific allocation to assist unemployed and dislocated workers -- and to get them retrained and re-employed as quickly as possible.

Supporting Arts, Science and Culture in the City: As Mayor. I'll also work to secure funding from the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities, and the National Institutes of Health for our City and for local artists, art organizations, musicians and writers because these cultural institutions have an important role to play in helping our City heal. We must also strengthen our academic institutions so that New York City continues to be a strong and important force for advancement in science, medicine, academia and the humanities. In addition, President Bush has proposed significant increases in funding for science and medical research in his FY 2002 budget proposal. New York should continue to be a hub for this scientific innovation.

Step 4: A Voice in Washington

This is a crucial time for our City. We are fortunate in New York to have exceptional representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the Senate. They are forceful advocates for our City.

The City needs to makes its case loud and clear. Under a Green Administration, the Mayor will be the City's chief lobbyist in Congress. We'll work closely with the Congressional delegation, business and labor to mount a bipartisan and convincing campaign for federal assistance.

Conclusion

During the Great Depression, the partnership between Mayor LaGuardia and President Roosevelt lifted our city out of an economic crisis and built so much of the infrastructure that we see around us today.

In the 1970s, Congress's eventual willingness to provide loan guarantees to the City ultimately helped to stave off bankruptcy.

Our City again needs to again turn to Washington for help. The act of war against our nation was an act of war against our city. We already have the pledge of the President to rebuild our city. Under a Green Administration, we'll have a plan to get it done.



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