February 2004

Beautiful, But Temporary, Architecture Downtown - Feb 28, 2004
The PATH station at Ground Zero is not intended to be permanent. And it certainly was not intended to be gorgeous. But like much of the temporary cityscape of Lower Manhattan, full of ephemeral landmarks that will disappear by the end of the decade, the station can sometimes feel sublime. (New York Times)

Survivors, Relatives Of Victims Mark 1993 Bombing - Feb 27, 2004
Survivors and relatives of victims of the 1993 bombing on the World Trade Center Thursday marked the anniversary with a Mass, a moment of silence at Ground Zero and a preview of the temporary memorial planned to honor the six people killed in that earlier attack. (Newsday )

Emotion As Ground Zero Theft Trial Proceeds - Feb 27, 2004
A young Queens woman sobbed on the witness stand yesterday as - for the first time since 9/11 - she saw her charred World Trade Center ID badge, allegedly stolen from Ground Zero by a tragedy-obsessed ex-firefighter. (New York Post)

Deutsche Bank Will Be Demolished - Feb 27, 2004
Deutsche Bank reached agreement yesterday with the state, insurers and downtown rebuilding officials on the fate of a 40-story skyscraper near the World Trade Center site that still stands despite being badly damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks. The tower at 130 Liberty Street, which is draped in a black shroud to hide a deep 24-story-long gash in its northern facade, would be demolished, according to several executive and government officials who had been briefed on the negotiations. (New York Times)

9/11 Commission Urges Rice To Testify Publicly - Feb 26, 2004
The federal commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks expressed disappointment Wednesday with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for refusing to testify in public. (Associated Press)

Silverstein Has Already Spent $1.3 Billion Of Insurance Money - Feb 26, 2004
World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein has already spent about $1.3 billion of the insurance money he received to cover the destruction of the trade center complex, according to a published report. At least $623.7 million in business interruption insurance has gone toward Silverstein's debt service, legal fees and lease payments to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing court documents and people familiar with the situation. (Associated Press)

1993 Bombing Still Haunts Victims - Feb 26, 2004
Today is the 11th anniversary of the bombing, an event that will pass almost unnoticed in a city where time seems to have started anew on Sept. 11, 2001. But for the 32 kindergartners from Public School 95 in Brooklyn who endured that first bombing, the wounds are as deep and fresh as ever. (New York Daily News)

On Anniversary Of 1993 Attack, A Proposal For A Temporary Shrine - Feb 26, 2004
The memorial for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center was destroyed on 9/11. Come the 12th anniversary of the attack, its survivors may once again have a spot. Today, at their annual breakfast, the survivors and relatives will be shown a proposal by the Port Authority for an interim marker that would stand until the permanent memorial, "Reflecting Absence," is built. No definite location for the marker has been chosen yet. (New York Times)

FBI Agents Took Souvenirs From Ground Zero - Feb 26, 2004
Thirteen agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took mementos, debris or valuables from the Staten Island landfill that held the rubble of the World Trade Center, and the F.B.I. now plans to formally ban the removal of crime-scene items as a result, officials said on Wednesday. (New York Times)

Nationwide Anti-Terror Network Launched - Feb 25, 2004
Hundreds of federal, state and local intelligence and law enforcement agencies will be able to share threat reports, investigative leads and potential evidence instantaneously under a new counter-terrorism computer system announced yesterday by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. (Washington Post)

CIA Chief Defends Handling of Hijacker - Feb 25, 2004
The director of central intelligence on Tuesday defended his agency's handling of information it received about one of the Sept. 11 hijackers some two and a half years before the attacks, saying, "We didn't sit on our hands." (New York Times)

Couples Reject September 11 As Wedding Date - Feb 25, 2004
When Exeter resident Alison Antos began planning her September wedding, she found three Saturday dates open for booking. One of them she immediately rejected: Sept. 11. This year, for the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the anniversary will fall, inauspiciously, on a Saturday. Couples across the country have had to soul-search as they booked their big days in what has always been a popular wedding month. Should their day of bliss correspond with a date remembered for mass tragedy? (Mercury News )

Firefighter Accused Of Stealing From Ground Zero Kept A Collection Of Gory 9/11 Photos - Feb 25, 2004
A retired Manhattan firefighter, on trial for stealing grisly "souvenirs" from Ground Zero, kept a macabre collection of body-part photographs from the tragedy - including a gilt-framed portrait of himself holding a human hip bone. (New York Post)

Freedom Tower Observation Deck Will Be 1,500 Feet Above Ground - Feb 25, 2004
The planned Freedom Tower will have an observation deck near its spire standing 1,500 feet above ground zero, the lead architect said Tuesday. (Associated Press)

New Look For Wall Street Security - Feb 25, 2004
The double ranks of pickup trucks that now control seven intersections leading to the New York Stock Exchange will be replaced with retractable posts, wedgelike vehicle barriers and custom-designed barricades resembling small sculptural bronze boulders. These and other elements of high-security landscaping, which were approved yesterday by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, are intended to protect the exchange from terrorists without sacrificing the public realm to the almost warlike blockades, including the trucks, that have been in place since Sept. 11, 2001. (New York Times)

Museum Displays Painting Of Children Who Lost Loved Ones On 9/11 - Feb 24, 2004
Two-and-a-half-year-old Andrew Cappers yesterday showed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg where his hand, dipped in paint and pressed against a small piece of canvas, had left its mark in memory of his father, James C. Cappers. Andrew's handprint appears in one of scores of canvas panels now on display at the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West, in an exhibit of work by children who lost their parents in the Sept. 11 attack and in the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. (New York Times)

Trial Begins For Ex-Firefighter Charged With Stealing From Ground Zero - Feb 24, 2004
Jury selection began yesterday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan for the trial of a retired firefighter who is charged with stealing items from ground zero while working as a volunteer after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. (New York Times)

Federal Goverment Was Given Name Of 9/11 Hijacker Year Before Attack - Feb 24, 2004
American investigators were given the first name and telephone number of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers two and a half years before the attacks on New York and Washington, but the United States appears to have failed to pursue the lead aggressively, American and German officials say. (New York Times)

Roundup Of Public Comments On Ground Zero Environmental Impact - Feb 22, 2004
Community members spoke about the study, called the draft generic environmental impact statement, or d.g.e.i.s., at two public forums held on Feb. 18 at Pace University. More than 100 people attended the afternoon session, and 60 people testified at that session. Concerns were varied, and often contradicted one another. (Downtown Express)

As Donations For Statue Of Liberty Security Pour In, Estimate Of Cost Rises - Feb 22, 2004
First, the good news: $5.6 million in private funds has been raised to reopen the Statue of Liberty to visitors. Now, the bad news: The feds have revised their cost estimate upward and are saying it will take $7 million to redesign her interior for added security measures and exit routes. (New York Daily News)

Carrying On Projects Of Loved Ones Killed On 9/11 - Feb 22, 2004
They lost loved ones in the World Trade Center catastrophe, but within months of the towering act of hate and evil, their sorrow shifted to the resolution to do something positive. In the name of their father, brother, son or friend, they decided to build something or help someone, to give to the sick, the poor, the hungry and the needy. Through 9/11 benefits, fund-raising and other contributions, they carried on with the fallen ones' endeavors, or were inspired by them to find a new purpose. (New York Daily News)

Soldiers Make Homecoming Trip To Ground Zero - Feb 21, 2004
It was a homecoming of sorts Friday for 34 U.S. Army soldiers who took part in an informal tour of the area around Ground Zero. (Newsday)

Mayor Gently Criticizes Edwards For 9/11 Comment - Feb 21, 2004
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that Senator John Edwards was wrong when he suggested on Thursday that Republicans were holding their convention in New York to exploit the Sept. 11 tragedy, and that the city's economy was a shambles. But Mayor Bloomberg, a Republican, also softened his earlier criticism of Senator Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate from North Carolina, saying that his comments were "just political verbiage" and that he did not hold them against the senator. (New York Times)

New Spat Over Names On Memorial - Feb 20, 2004
Thomas Johnson, a member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s board of directors, said yesterday at the organization's monthly meeting that he is "working hard" with "lots of people" to alter the plan to present names on the 9/11 memorial. He wants to remove the special designation given to rescue workers. (New York Daily News)

John Edwards Accuses President Of Exploiting 9/11 With New York Convention - Feb 20, 2004
Democratic underdog John Edwards kicked off the battle for New York yesterday with A-Rod quips and a charge that President Bush is trying to "exploit" the 9/11 tragedy at this coming summer's Republican convention here. (New York Post)

5,201 Memorial Designs Displayed On Internet - Feb 20, 2004
All 5,201 of the entries that the jury sifted through went on display at www.wtcsitememorial.org yesterday. Visitors to the site who signed on to second-guess the jury Ñ "How could they have overlooked that?" Ñ probably left with a new respect for the jurors' devotion and patience in going through the entire lot without pay. Visitors may also have left with a sense that the world cared, no matter how clumsy or inartful the expression. (New York Times)

Criticism For Ground Zero Development At Envirornmental Impact Hearing - Feb 19, 2004
Critics sharply attacked a draft environmental impact statement concerning the rebuilding at Ground Zero yesterday, challenging the report's main conclusion that the project poses no adverse effects. (Newsday)

Memorial Contestant Accuses Jury Of Fraud - Feb 19, 2004
One of the 5,200 losing competitors in the World Trade Center memorial design competition has filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission alleging fraud and impropriety in the selection process, the Daily News has learned. (New York Daily News)

Mixed Reactions At Ground Zero Environmental Impact Hearing - Feb 19, 2004
The controversy that has surrounded nearly every aspect of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site spilled over to the project's impact on the environment yesterday as New Yorkers had their first chance to express concerns publicly about traffic, air pollution and the availability of public space. (New York Times)

Some Families Still Not Happy With Order Of Names On Memorial - Feb 19, 2004
It matters how large the voids will be that mark the twin towers. And it matters how the grounds will be landscaped and how the horror will be evoked by crushed fire trucks and twisted steel columns. But no issue at the World Trade Center memorial will be so vexing - perhaps even irreconcilable - as the smallest and most personal. The names. (New York Times)

Rumsfeld, Tenet To Testify Publicly For 9/11 Commission - Feb 18, 2004
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet will testify publicly next month in a federal commission probe into who should be held accountable for the Sept. 11 attacks. (Associated Press)

New School On Wall Street A Sign Of Neighborhood's Revivial - Feb 18, 2004
In the latest sign that downtown is bouncing back, the Wall Street area near Ground Zero is getting its first elite private school - just steps from the New York Stock Exchange, The Post has learned. (New York Post)

Federal Government Should Pay For Statue Of Liberty Security, Says Congressman - Feb 17, 2004
Rep. Anthony Weiner slammed President Bush yesterday for not including $5 million in his new $2.4 trillion budget to reopen the interior of the statue, which has been closed to visitors since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. (New York Daily News)

As State Security Agency Gets On Its Feet, Some Question Whether It Is Necessary - Feb 17, 2004
Set up by Gov. George E. Pataki in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to reassure a jittery public and shape the state's response to terrorist threats, the still-evolving state Office Of Public Security passes along to localities hundreds of millions in federal aid intended to shore up the nation's defense against terrorism. Yet more than two years after it was formed, few state legislators or members of the public know exactly what it does or how it operates, and some question whether it is even necessary. (New York Times)

A 9/11 Memorial For Hoboken - Feb 16, 2004
Two Downtown designers who have made their mark in Lower Manhattan are among the four finalists to design a memorial to the 57 Hoboken residents who died in the Sept. 11 attack. (Downtown Express)

College Acquires New Space, To Replace Building Damaged On 9/11 - Feb 16, 2004
The Borough of Manhattan Community CollegeÕs Fiterman Hall is still severely damaged from 9/11, but across the street, the school has just signed a 10-year lease so their students can move from temporary trailers back to regular classrooms this summer. (Downtown Express)

For Second Consecutive Winter, Pedestrian Bridges Aren't Up To Par - Feb 16, 2004
Despite Governor George Pataki's assurance that everything is being built on schedule at Ground Zero, people in wheelchairs and pushing strollers have no reliable, car-free way to cross the six-lane highway on West St. highway, for the second consecutive winter. (Downtown Express)

Plans For The Lobby At Seven World Trade - Feb 16, 2004
A computerized rendering of Seven World Trade Center, prepared by architects for WTC developer Larry Silverstein, shows a high-tech lobby of polished limestone and marble and shiny stainless steel columns, with revolving doors on Greenwich Street. (New York Post)

President Bush To Give Limited Testimony To 9/11 Commission - Feb 16, 2004
The White House said yesterday that President Bush plans to meet only with a limited number of representatives from the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, despite a statement issued Friday that suggested he would meet with the whole panel. (Washington Post)

Mexican National Vanished In Late 2001, But Was He Killed On September 11? - Feb 15, 2004
From the World Trade Center files, consider the confounding case of Arturo Alva Moreno, first listed as killed on 9/11, but then removed from the list of victims, despite the fact that he has vanished without a trace. Moreno did not leave enough footprints to prove that he was even in New York City, let alone at the trade center on the day of the attacks. It is one of six cases involving Mexican nationals, which are in similar circumstances. (Newsday)

Federal Government Stiffing New York On Funds For Police Communication, Says Senator - Feb 15, 2004
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused the federal government yesterday of once again stiffing New York City out of critical security funds, this time money needed to upgrade communications between the Fire and Police departments. (New York Daily News)

Police Department Prepares For Catastophe - Feb 15, 2004
The New York Police Department, working with city health officials, federal authorities and other agencies, has been preparing for a possible attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, perhaps the most daunting threat facing municipalities in a post-9/11 world. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Station Is PATH's Busiest - Feb 13, 2004
Exceeding early expectations, the World Trade Center PATH train station is now the busiest in the system, averaging more than 30,000 weekday riders since last month. (New Jersey Journal)

Flexing Muscles, City Calls Special Ground Zero Planning Meeting - Feb 13, 2004
The Bloomberg administration is reasserting itself into the rebuilding at Ground Zero, setting a special city planning session next month. The hearing is significant because it's one of the city's only chances to play a formal planning role in the World Trade Center site - which is owned by the Port Authority and under the sway of Gov. Pataki. (New York Daily News)

New Staten Island Ferry To Be Named 'The September 11' - Feb 13, 2004
One of the three new Staten Island ferries will be named The Sept. 11, Mayor Bloomberg announced last night. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Commission To Seek Bush Testimony - Feb 13, 2004
The federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks will soon ask President Bush, former President Clinton and their vice presidents to testify in public about possible warnings they might have received from U.S. intelligence sources before the attacks. (Associated Press)

Rebuilding Officials Say That World Trade Center Site, But Not Structural Remnants Of Buildings, Is Historic - Feb 13, 2004
The struggle between preservationists and rebuilding officials over ground zero escalated this week with a preliminary finding by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation that the site's location, setting, feeling and association - not the structural remnants of the World Trade Center - render it historic. (New York Times)

Memorial's Pools May Not Be Exact Outline Of Tower Footprints - Feb 12, 2004
Of all the symbolic designs at the World Trade Center site - the Wedge of Light, the 1,776-foot skyscraper, the birdlike PATH terminal - the most straightforward seemed to be the idea of pool-filled voids that would demarcate the outlines of the twin towers. But at ground zero, nothing is ever quite what it seems to be. And it appears that the voids will be smaller than the tower footprints they are supposed to represent. (New York Times)

Bloomberg: We Should Be Proud Of Being The World's Number One Terrorist Target - Feb 12, 2004
Congratulations, New Yorkers! We're the No. 1 target for terrorists - a distinction that should make us "proud," Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

All 5,200 Rejected Memorial Designs To Be Displayed Online - Feb 12, 2004
The 5,200 Ground Zero memorial-design entries eliminated by a jury in favor of "Reflecting Absence" will be displayed on the Internet as early as next week. (New York Post)

9/11 Commission To Get Greater Access To Documents - Feb 11, 2004
The federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks will get greater access to classified intelligence briefings prepared for President Bush under an agreement announced Tuesday with the White House. (Associated Press)

Wife Of Man Who Made 9/11 Claim Alive In Florida - Feb 11, 2004
Donna Laskowski's name appears on the most recent list of victims whose relatives are seeking money from the federal September Eleventh Victim Compensation Fund. The problem is that 57-year-old Laskowski is alive in central Florida. (Associated Press)

15 Institutions Stay In Running For Arts Hub At Ground Zero - Feb 11, 2004
The Museum of the City of New York, the New York City Opera, the New-York Historical Society and the Signature Theater Company are among 15 cultural organizations that are the top contenders to inhabit a performing arts center at ground zero, or help create an interpretive museum there that will describe the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 200.1 (New York Times)

Stewardess Identified Hijackers Early, Transcripts Show - Feb 11, 2004
The politically divided 9/11 commission was able to agree on a public airing of four and a half minutes from the Betty Ong tape, which the American public and most of the victimsÕ families heard for the first time on the evening news of Jan. 27. But commissioners were unaware of the crucial information given in an even more revealing phone call, made by another heroic flight attendant on the same plane, Madeline (Amy) Sweeney. They were unaware because their chief of staff, Philip Zelikow, chooses which evidence and witnesses to bring to their attention. Mr. Zelikow, as a former adviser to the pre-9/11 Bush administration, has a blatant conflict. (New York Observer)

College Wants To Demolish Building Damaged on 9/11 - Feb 11, 2004
Through much of the Ground Zero precinct, hope is measured in promise of construction. At Fiterman Hall, hope will take the form of demolition. (New York Times)

New York Police Department Sends Team To Moscow After Subway Bombing - Feb 10, 2004
This is not the first time the New York Police Department has sent units outside of the United States, as part of recent counter-terrorism efforts. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, New York police have traveled to Britain, Canada and Israel. The New York Police Department (NYPD) said in a statement that the team's mission is to "observe and gather information on the Moscow subway bombing." (Baku Today)

Interview With Michael Arad, Memorial Designer - Feb 10, 2004
Michael Arad was helping design one of the world's tallest buildings when the September 11, 2001 attacks hit New York. An Israeli who grew up in Jerusalem, London, the US and Mexico, Arad watched firsthand as the Twin Towers collapsed and nearly 3,000 people perished. Soon after, before a design competition was announced, he began formulating a plan for memorializing the dead with a set of inaccessible, empty spaces on the Hudson River. (Jerusalem Post)

Interview With New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta - Feb 10, 2004
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta took command of New York City's 11,500 firefighters at a turbulent time. The department had suffered grievous losses on 9/11 when 343 firefighters perished. The people of New York have always had a special affection for the men and women of this department. After the World Trade Center attack, they were clearly New York's heroes. But ironically, recently, the department has been making another kind of news. A brawl in a Staten Island firehouse resulted in severe injury to one firefighter and charges that a superior officer tried to cover up the incident. A few days ago, a fire lieutenant and a captain were suspended for downing free drinks at an East Village bar. (WNBC)

New Proposal Would Move 9/11 Remains To Ellis Island - Feb 10, 2004
Some 9/11 victims' families are exploring a proposal to move the incinerated remains of their loved ones from a Staten Island garbage dump to a permanent burial site that would be created on Ellis Island. (Star Ledger)

Insurers Say Fax Proves That 9/11 Was A Single Event - Feb 10, 2004
On September 12, 2001, with four of his colleagues missing and presumed dead, Silverstein Properties insurance manager Robert Strachan faxed a letter to lenders and the Port Authority. From the start of the court case over how much insurance money Larry Silverstein is entitled to, the lead lawyer for the insurance companies, centered on the Strachan fax. (Newsday)

Ground Zero Photographer Sues After Falling Off Garbage Truck - Feb 10, 2004
A freelance photographer who suffered brain damage after falling off a garbage truck he climbed atop to take pictures of Ground Zero is suing the carting company for $50 million. (New York Daily News)

An Emotional Start To World Trade Center Insurance Battle - Feb 10, 2004
A lawyer for Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein choked up yesterday as he described the impact of the 9/11 attacks in front of a federal jury, accusing the Twin Towers insurers of "trying to rewrite history" to escape a nearly $7 billion payout for the disaster. (New York Post)

Court Case On Trade Center Insurance Opens, With Billions At Stake - Feb 09, 2004
Opening statements are expected to begin today in the long-brewing court battle between the developer Larry A. Silverstein and two dozen insurers over how much money will be available for rebuilding the vast commercial complex at the World Trade Center site. (New York Times)

Calatrava Receives Star Treatment At Community Board One - Feb 08, 2004
Community Board 1 has seen a number of celebrities over the years, but probably none of them received the amount of star-treatment afforded to renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, who politely signed a few autographs Wednesday after presenting his plan for the World Trade Center train station. (Downtown Express)

Residntial Liberty Bonds Close To Being Used Up - Feb 08, 2004
City and state officials said last week that the residential allotment of Liberty Bonds designed to rebuild Lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack would likely run out by the programÕs original Dec. 31 deadline. (Downtown Express)

Debating The Options For Downtown Rail Links To Long Island - Feb 08, 2004
Downtown can count the last time it saw a new train service in terms of decades, nearly $3 billion has already been allocated in post-9/11 transportation projects and there is no definite plan to bring any new rail service to Lower Manhattan Ð at least not yet. State and city officials released four ways to build a link to the Long Island Rail Road and J.F.K. Airport on Wednesday and say they will come up with a plan and a way to pay for it by this April. (Downtown Express)

State Comptroller To Audit PATH Construction Costs - Feb 08, 2004
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi will audit the Port Authority's $566 million World Trade Center PATH station construction job to see whether cost overruns were justified and whether the project had proper oversight, his office says. (New York Post)

9/11 Commission Meets With Condoleezza Rice - Feb 07, 2004
The independent commission reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks met with Condoleezza Rice President Bush's national security adviser Saturday in an interview commissioners described as candid and productive. (Associated Press)

Ground Zero Merits Historic Status, Say Redevelopment Officials - Feb 07, 2004
History does not have to wait its customary half-century. Even now, the World Trade Center site merits inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a determination made on Friday by three government agencies. (New York Times)

The Workings Of The 9/11 Commission - Feb 05, 2004
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice has agreed to be interviewed by the bipartisan 9/11 commission on Feb. 7, after weeks of resistance from the White House to the bipartisan panelÕs requests, The Observer has learned. (New York Observer)

Families Of 9/11 Victims Unsatisfied With Extension Of Commission's Deadline - Feb 05, 2004
Bowing to pressure from a Sept. 11 survivors group, President Bush agreed yesterday to extend the deadline for the federal 9/11 commission report - but not as long as many wanted. Bush agreed to give the panel 60 extra days, until July 26, but relatives of victims killed in the terror attacks, and some members of Congress, wanted the extension to stretch beyond the elections. (New York Daily News)

Jury Set For World Trade Center Insurance Case - Feb 05, 2004
A Manhattan federal judge yesterday named five women and seven men to a jury in the $7 billion legal fight between developer Larry Silverstein and his Twin Towers insurance companies. (New York Post)

Four Options Presented For Airport Rail Link - Feb 05, 2004
In a presentation that was high in lofty ambitions but short on important details, officials unveiled four options yesterday for a rail link to connect Lower Manhattan to Kennedy Airport and Long Island. (New York Times)

Bush, In Reversal, Supports More Time For 9/11 Commission - Feb 05, 2004
The White House reversed itself on Wednesday and said it would support a request from the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks to extend its deadline until late July, even though that would mean the panel's final report would be released closer to the height of the presidential campaign. (New York Times)

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Board Member Takes Job With Tribeca Film Group - Feb 04, 2004
She is on so many boards focusing on Lower Manhattan that it may seem like she has always had a fulltime job, but Madelyn Wils has just been hired by Robert De Niro and his film partners to become president and C.E.O. of the Tribeca Film Institute, and in February, she will start collecting her first regular paycheck in three years. (Downtown Express)

Several Options Considered To Bring Airtrain To Manhattan - Feb 04, 2004
Long-awaited plans for a train that would whisk airport travelers and suburbanites to lower Manhattan will be unveiled today, and officials vow they won't railroad subway riders. (New York Daily News)

Judge Says Bank Robber's Crimes Stemmed From 9/11 - Feb 03, 2004
A female bank robber dubbed "The Blond Bandit" landed just four years behind bars yesterday - after a judge ruled she has mental problems stemming from her volunteer work at Ground Zero. (New York Post)

Antiterror Budget Rises, But Critics Say System Still Shortchanges New York - Feb 03, 2004
The budget President Bush proposed on Monday would nearly double the pool of money that the federal government would set aside for the 2005 fiscal year to help defend New York City and other localities considered vulnerable to terrorist attacks. But his proposal did not include a major change that New York lawmakers had been demanding in the federal budget: a strict limit on the number of cities entitled to the money. (New York Times)