Four of the nine proposals included skyscrapers which would be the tallest buildings in the world. Two of the plans leave space for 16-acre rooftop gardens. One plan, by German firm Studio Libeskind, has a memorial 70 feet below the surface at the center of Ground Zero. Another, by Foster and Partners Architects, features two intertwining towers, which would be "the safest, the greenest and the tallest in the world."

All of the plans add a new element to the city's skyline and reserve the space where the Twin Towers stood, the "footprints," for a memorial. Each plan provides for construction to take place over several years. And all of the new designs include about the same amount of office and commercial space that existed at Ground Zero before September 11. Some critics of the new designs feel that they are simply more aesthetically appealing versions of the original six plans.

While the public had to wait about six months between the first set of plans and these new designs, they will now only have to wait six weeks to see which of the designs, if any, become reality. An exhibit at the Winter Garden will showcase all of the plans through January. A public hearing will be held January 13 at PACE University for people to express their opinions about these new plans. Then the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Port Authority will create a single master plan for the sixteen acres by January 31.

First, the mayor outlined a plan to improve transportation in order to connect lower Manhattan to the rest of the city and region. Bloomberg proposes "one-seat airport access," allowing passengers to travel by subway directly to Newark and Kennedy airports, and possibly LaGuardia as well. A system of ferries would connect lower Manhattan to all five boroughs.

The new plan also calls for the building two new neighborhoods south of Chambers Street. One would be called the Fulton Market Square and would be located east of Broadway on Fulton Street. Another new neighborhood would be called Greenwich Square and would include a new park on a deck over the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

Finally, the plan would create a series of public parks throughout lower Manhattan. This would be a continuous ring of green spaces, including the transformation of West Street from a highway into a boulevard lined by 700 trees, similar, Bloomberg says, to Paris's Champs-Elysees. Green spaces would also be created throughout lower Manhattan, including along Water Street. Battery Park would be turned into a large destination park, "similar to Sheep's Meadow in Central Park."

Some public officials criticized the plan, saying that the $4 billion cost of connecting lower Manhattan to the airports was simply too much, and that Chinatown and the Lower East Side should be incorporated into the plan as well. Others praised Bloomberg's proposal for its ambition in attempting to revitalize downtown.