July 2004

Nina, the Brainy Libeskind - Jul 30, 2004
Imposing, somehow, at just a smidgen over five feet tall, with a black-on-black wardrobe, a grayish brush cut of military precision and beyond-nerdy specs, Nina Libeskind seems a female photocopy of her husband, Daniel, architect of the master plan for the reconfigured World Trade Center. Taken together - and they usually are together - they're living proof that cutting edge can come in small packages. Matching packages. But the resemblance ends at the resemblance. (New York Times)

White House to Direct $2 Billion to Rail Link - Jul 30, 2004
The White House has agreed to let New York use $2 billion in Sept. 11 aid to help build a $6 billion rail link connecting the World Trade Center site to the Long Island Rail Road and Kennedy International Airport. (New York Times)

Spitzer Warns GOP Against Using 9/11 for Political Gain - Jul 30, 2004
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer had a blunt warning Thursday for Republicans opening their national convention late next month in New York City: Don't politicize the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Newsday)

9/11 Commission Seeks Private Funding to Continue Work - Jul 30, 2004
The leaders of the Sept. 11 commission said Thursday that they were seeking private, charitable donations and intended to open a small office in Washington that would continue the commission's work when its government money runs out at the end of next month. (New York Times)

Senate to Hear 9/11 Commission's Proposals - Jul 30, 2004
With the momentum of last week's Sept. 11 commission report behind it, the Senate Government Affairs Committee is weighing politically touchy proposals to make massive changes to the intelligence community. (Associated Press)

9/11 Families Plan to Hold Congress to Commission's Recommendations - Jul 29, 2004
Families of Sept. 11 victims vowed yesterday to keep a "watchdog" list of any members of Congress who oppose legislation implementing changes recommended by the 9/11 commission. (Newsday)

Post Office to Reopen at Trade Center Site - Jul 28, 2004
The post office across the street from the World Trade Center site reopens next week after extensive work to repair the damage it sustained in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, postal officials said yesterday. (New York Post )

Kerry Seeks Extension of 9/11 Commission - Jul 28, 2004
Democrats sought yesterday to capitalize on the Sept. 11 commission recommendations and inject a new urgency into their adoption as congressional leaders announced a stepped-up schedule of hearings that will start tomorrow. (Newsday)

Air from 9/11 Didn't Inflate Cancer Risk - Jul 27, 2004
After the World Trade Center collapsed, air samples collected nearby showed that levels of some cancer-causing chemicals had soared but had fallen so quickly that the pollution spike was unlikely to increase cancer risks in nearby communities, researchers reported yesterday. (New York Times)

Cantor Fitzgerald Finds New Home in Midtown - Jul 27, 2004
Nearly three years after 658 Cantor Fitgerald employees were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, the stock and bond trading company has found a new home five miles from ground zero, on the East Side of Manhattan. Cantor signed a lease last week to move into space now occupied by Bloomberg L.P., the business information company founded by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, at Park Avenue and 59th Street, where Cantor plans to erect a monument to the co-workers who died in the Sept. 11 attack. (New York Times)

9/11 Commission Chair: Attacks Could Have Been Prevented - Jul 27, 2004
The chairman of the 9/11 commission, Thomas Kean, said Sunday that he believes the attacks could have prevented. (NY1)

Group Looks to Turn 9/11 Into Day of Volunteerism - Jul 26, 2004
Sept. 11 will always be a day of mourning, but in the near future it could also be a day of charity, volunteering and community service for every American. One Day's Pay, a nationwide non-profit organization that facilitates volunteering in memory of the Sept. 11 victims, has launched a campaign to recruit 2 million volunteers to go out on the next anniversary of the attacks to read to the blind, cook for the homeless or tutor children. (Newsday)

Firefighter Training Evokes Memory of 9/11 - Jul 25, 2004
Tommy Gies gripped the gleaming bar and began to do his pullups, part of the daily routine for Fire Department recruits. But for the 169 men and one woman in this year's class, the pullups are more than merely a fitness exercise. They are a lasting reminder of the 343 Fire Department members lost in the 9/11 attacks. The twin pullup bars are bracketed by a pair of rusty steel columns fetched from the rubble at Ground Zero - the place where Gies' father died. (New York Daily News)

Representative Weiner Criticizes Bush Administration on Security Funding - Jul 25, 2004
Rep. Anthony Weiner slapped at the Bush administration yesterday, charging New York has gotten $61 million less in federal security cash since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The Queens-based Democrat and likely mayoral hopeful used the dollar figure to highlight Bloomberg's Republican registration. (New York Daily News)

Congress Will Hold Hearings to Discuss 9/11 Commission's Proposed Reforms - Jul 25, 2004
Senate and House committees will hold an unusual round of August hearings on intelligence reform after leaders of the Sept. 11 commission warned that America remained vulnerable to another deadly terror strike. (Associated Press)

Blending Technology and Security, Architects Build Big Again - Jul 25, 2004
On the day the world Trade Center fell, the Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in New York City. In the months that followed, six of its commercial tenants ran off. They did not want to be in the tallest anything, anywhere, anymore. Three years later, big is beautiful again. (Time Canada)

Vets Protest Iraq War at Ground Zero - Jul 25, 2004
Flashing peace symbols and yelling ÒCongress has spoken, the people have spoken: No more Vietnams,Ó eight members of Veterans for Peace came to the World Trade Center Site for about 20 minutes Tuesday to protest the war in Iraq. None of them made any mention of Sept. 11 during the protest. (Downtown Express)

9/11 Commission Finds Much Wrong With Convention Wisdom about Attacks - Jul 24, 2004
When the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States set to work early last year to prepare the definitive history of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, it seemed that much of the hard work of the so-called 9/11 commission was already done, because so much of the horrifying story seemed to be known. But 19 months later, the commission released a final, unanimous book-length report last Thursday that, in calling for a overhaul of the way the government collects and shares intelligence, showed that much of what had been common wisdom about the Sept. 11 attacks at the start of the panel's investigation was wrong. (New York Times)

Bloomberg Says 9/11 Commission Wrong About City's Emergency Response - Jul 24, 2004
Mayor Bloomberg vehemently disagreed with the 9/11 commission's assessment that his administration has failed to establish clear lines of command among city agencies responding to a future terrorist attack. (New York Daily News)

Another 9/11 Victim Identified - Jul 24, 2004
The medical examiner's office has identified another victim of the World Trade Center attacks: Mildred Rose Naiman, 81. (New York Post)

Senator Clinton Criticizes Bush on Security Funding - Jul 24, 2004
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that President Bush has been an ineffective leader who "dithered" in supplying anti-terrorism money to the most threatened states. (Associated Press)

9/11 Commissioners Will Make Report Election-Year Issue - Jul 24, 2004
The five Republicans and five Democrats on the September 11th commission are vowing to make their unanimous recommendations an election-year issue. (NY1)

Firefighters Have Mixed Reactions to Report - Jul 24, 2004
City firefighters say they are still concerned about communication problems mentioned in the 9/11 commission report, but they agree with the panel's recommendation that cities which are prime terror targets should receive more homeland security funding. (NY1)

Motorcycle Riders Hit the Road in Memory of 9/11 Victims - Jul 24, 2004
Hundreds of bikers hit the streets for the annual Independence Motorcycle Ride commemorating the victims of 9/11. The ride was conceived three years ago by construction workers who served during the 10-month cleanup of Ground Zero. (NY1)

9/11 Commission Final Report Calls for Intelligence Overhaul - Jul 23, 2004
The bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks concluded in its unanimous final report on Thursday that the attacks "were a shock but they should not have come as a surprise." It warned that without a historic restructuring of the nation's intelligence agencies and a new emphasis on diplomacy, the United States would leave itself open to an even more catastrophic attack. (New York Times)

9/11 Commission Criticizes New York's Emergency Response, But Praises Individuals' Improvised Rescue - Jul 23, 2004
In its chronicle of the blunders, lapses and shortsightedness that permitted hijackers to attack New York, the Sept. 11 commission found that the city's emergency response was plagued by many of the same failures of imagination and preparedness that it cited in the nation's antiterrorism policies. Yet that cascade of systemic failures and institutional weaknesses, while leading to its awful toll in human life, was overcome in part by the vigorous, improvised response in New York, where thousands of people escaped from the World Trade Center, the commission found. (New York Times)

New York City Not Getting Needed Security Cash, Says 9/11 Commission - Jul 23, 2004
New York City's anti-terror resources are being grossly underfunded by the White House and Congress, which treat the critical money as "pork-barrel spending," the new 9/11 report charges. (New York Post )

9/11 Families Ambivalent About Commission Report - Jul 23, 2004
As the nation digested a 567-page report detailing the failures of intelligence agencies, politicians and first responders before and on Sept. 11, 2001, many of those most directly affected by the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 found yesterday that they weren't particularly interested in its conclusions. (Newsday)

For Officer in Pipe Bomb Inquiry, 9/11 Scars Never Healed - Jul 22, 2004
Police Officer Joseph Rodriguez, now 27, never seemed to fully recover from September 11. From there, his short career continued to spiral downward, his guns taken away and his duties restricted to answering telephones. Having effectively ended with the World Trade Center attack, while he was still a rookie, it officially ended yesterday, as he completed the last of his disability pension paperwork. But Officer Rodriguez remains at the center of an investigation into whether, before reporting that he had discovered a flaming knapsack stuffed with a pipe bomb in a subway station on Monday night, he in fact was the one who had placed it there. (New York Times)

Study Determines Location of Deaths on 9/11 - Jul 22, 2004
Now, nearly three years after the attack, federal investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology have come up with the most comprehensive, but still not final, tally of just who died where on Sept. 11, 2001. (New York Times)

Judge Tells WTC Developer, Architect, to Settle Dispute Through Mediation - Jul 22, 2004
A judge yesterday ordered World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and disgruntled architect Daniel Libeskind to submit their $800,000 fee dispute to mediation. (New York Daily News)

Video Show Hijackers in Airport on September 11 - Jul 22, 2004
Surveillance video from Washington Dulles International Airport the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, shows four of the five hijackers being pulled aside to undergo additional scrutiny after setting off metal detectors but then permitted to board the fateful flight that crashed into the Pentagon. (Associated Press)

Business Leaders Lobby White House for Rail Link - Jul 22, 2004
A group of local business leaders took their case for the proposed Lower Manhattan to JFK Airport rail link to the White House Wednesday. (NY1)

Victims' Families Briefed on 9/11 Commission Report - Jul 22, 2004
Victims' family members, Bush administration officials and lawmakers are being briefed on the 9/11 commission's final report Wednesday, a day before the findings will be made public. (NY1)

9/11 Commission Report to be Made Public Today - Jul 22, 2004
The 9/11 Commission's final report, scheduled to be made public on Thursday, will detail the intelligence and law-enforcement failures that preceded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. (New York Times)

Silverstein Accuses Libeskind of Freedom Tower Shakedown - Jul 21, 2004
Architect Daniel Libeskind held out "approval" on the Freedom Tower design in an attempted $800,000 shakedown, twin towers leaseholder Larry Silverstein charged in court papers yesterday. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Commission Not Expected to Say Attacks Could Have Been Prevented - Jul 21, 2004
The final report from the federal commission investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks is due out in two days, and there's word Tuesday the panel will not conclude the attacks could have been prevented. (NY1)

9/11 Commissioner to President: Act Fast on Security - Jul 20, 2004
The head of the 9/11 commission urged the President yesterday to act quickly on the panel's recommendations to safeguard the country. (New York Daily News)

In Book, Firefighter Calls for Probe of 9/11 Radios - Jul 20, 2004
More than three years after a $14-million radio system for the city's firefighters failed in the field, no formal investigation of how the radios were purchased has been conducted. Now, a just-published book, co-authored by a city Fire Department captain, says the truth about the purchase of the Motorola XTS-3500 model radios never may be known without a full probe. (Newsday)

Congressman Fears Health Hazards from Deutsche Building Destruction - Jul 20, 2004
Rep. Jerrold Nadler yesterday blasted the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s planned demolition of the Deutschebank Building, saying it could release toxins that may pose a health hazard to residents. (Newsday)

Immigrants Say Post-9/11 Crackdown Persists - Jul 20, 2004
Nearly three years after 9/11, New York immigrants, their determined advocates and Catholic clergy told an emotional forum Monday that the effects of heightened enforcement of immigration laws are felt every day. (Newsday)

9/11 Commission Report to Criticize NYC Response - Jul 20, 2004
Confusion between city police officers and firefighters during the World Trade Center attack will reportedly be a major topic in the scathing final report the federal 9/11 commission is expected to release on Thursday. (NY1)

A Look at the 9/11 Commission's Work - Jul 20, 2004
The attack was unprecedented. So too was the investigation. Later this week, the federal commission investigating the September 11, 2001 terror attacks will release to the public its final report. What questions will be answered? What recommendations made. NY1's John Schium takes a look back at the commission's work the past year and a half. (NY1)

New York Slow to Fix 9/11 Flaws, Says Commission - Jul 19, 2004
New York still has not fixed some of the crucial problems faced by city cops and firefighters on 9/11, the commission probing the 2001 terrorist attacks will say this week. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Commission Will Push Its Recommendations - Jul 18, 2004
Members of the independent Sept. 11 commission say they will mount an aggressive nationwide lobbying campaign to pressure the White House and Congress to overhaul the nation's intelligence agencies, an effort they say will begin this week with release of a unanimous final report criticizing virtually every element of the way the government collects and shares intelligence. (New York Times)

Furor Over Lies About Post 9/11 Air Quality - Jul 18, 2004
Robert Gulack returned to work downtown after 9/11 because federal officials said it was safe to go back. He woke up two days later choking with asthma. Now, after a blistering memo from an Environmental Protection Agency scientist claiming the city and the EPA withheld data showing the area was actually clogged with asbestos, Gulack is fuming and demanding reparations. (New York Post)

CIA Director Criticizes 9/11 Commission's Call for New Intelligence Post - Jul 18, 2004
Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin says he doesn't think the country needs a new cabinet-level post to oversee the nation's 15 intelligence agencies. (NY1)

9/11 Commission to Recommend Overhaul of Intelligence - Jul 17, 2004
The final report of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks will recommend the creation of a cabinet-level post to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies, a position that would take power away from the C.I.A., the F.B.I., the National Security Council, the Pentagon and other agencies that face blistering criticism from the panel, government officials who have seen the report said. (New York Times)

Governor Open to Scrapping West Street Tunnel Plan - Jul 17, 2004
With his clothes still wet after kayaking to Tribeca, Gov. George Pataki indicated for the first time that he was open to not building a West St. tunnel. Pataki told Downtown Express that he would let the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. make the decision on the tunnel and he thought the state-city agency would also make significant investments on Downtown's proposed commuter-airport rail link and the Hudson River Park. (Downtown Express)

Benches Become Individual 9/11 Memorials - Jul 16, 2004
Since 1986, the Central Park Conservancy has run a program called "Adopt-a-Bench." For $7,500, one can have a brief message inscribed on a plaque. In return, the conservancy promises to maintain the bench forever. It was inevitable perhaps that, in this form of urban shorthand, some would speak for those who perished on Sept. 11. At least 21 benches reflect that day, though "there could be more," said Linda Blumberg, a conservancy spokeswoman. (New York Times)

Wrong Date Put on 9/11 Plaque - Jul 16, 2004
The date of Sept. 11, 2002, was mistakenly put on a plaque attached to a fence at Ground Zero, officials admitted yesterday. (New York Post)

Memo Reveals Asbestos Cover-Up After 9/11 - Jul 16, 2004
An Environmental Protection Agency memo claims city and federal officials concealed data that showed lower Manhattan air was clouded with asbestos after the World Trade Center collapse. And officials sat on the alarming information even as they told the public it was safe to return downtown, the internal memo says. (New York Post)

City Urges People to Sign up for Health Registry - Jul 16, 2004
The World Trade Center Health Registry is just seven weeks away from closing the enrollment books, and a new campaign is urging people to sign up while they still can. (NY1)

Over 700 Employees Prepare for Move Downtown - Jul 16, 2004
The revitalization continues in Lower Manhattan, as 730 state employees get set to move their offices downtown. (NY1)

Group Urges Americans to Spend 9/11 Volunteering - Jul 15, 2004
A nonprofit organization encouraged Americans on Wednesday to spend Sept. 11 volunteering their services to charity. (Associated Press)

Libeskind's Lawsuit Lays Bare the Tensions of Rebuilding - Jul 15, 2004
A mere 10 days after Governor George Pataki presided over an optimistic and buoyant ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center, Ground Zero master planner architect Daniel Libeskind filed suit against Larry Silverstein, the developer who is building the 1,776-foot-tall spire. The filing of this lawsuit marks the low point in the often tempestuous relationship between the 58-year-old Mr. Libeskind and the 73-year-old Mr. Silverstein. (New York Observer)

Libeskind Sues Silverstein Over Design Fee - Jul 14, 2004
Just a week after the Freedom Tower cornerstone was laid in place, Daniel Libeskind, the master planner of the World Trade Center site, yesterday sued Larry A. Silverstein, the tower's developer, for $843,750 in architectural fees that Mr. Libeskind says he is owed. (New York Times)

City Opens Lab to Combat Bioterrorism - Jul 14, 2004
Nearly three years after anthrax attacks in New York City brought home the danger that bioterrorism poses to the world, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday announced the opening of a $16 million high-security laboratory to help detect and deal with future threats. (New York Times)

Same-Sex Domestic Partner of 9/11 Victim Entitled to Payout - Jul 14, 2004
A lesbian who lost her life partner in the World Trade Center attacks is entitled to an award from the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, a Brooklyn judge has ruled. (New York Daily News)

Family Members, Survivors Want 9/11 Commission Briefings in NYC - Jul 14, 2004
The 9/11 Commission is set to release some of its findings this month and plans to brief families in Washington, despite the fact that the bulk of the victims of the attacks died in the New York City area. Family members of New York victims are trying to persuade the members of the federal Sept. 11 commission to hold briefings for the relatives of the victims and survivors of the attacks in New York as well as in Washington. (Newsday)

Citigroup to Move Employees from Lower Manhattan - Jul 13, 2004
Citigroup is moving more than 1,000 employees to New Jersey from Lower Manhattan, according to government officials and real estate executives, in a major realignment that raises new doubts about the pace of economic rejuvenation downtown. (New York Times)

9/11 Camps Become Popular With Children of Victims - Jul 13, 2004
America's Camp, a free week-long camp in Massachusetts for children who lost family during the attacks, was designed to distract children from 9/11's trauma. In that first summer following Sept. 11, America's Camp and at least five other camps opened on the East Coast to help children cope with the trauma of the terrorist attacks. Now, with more distance from the horror of that day, enrollment in these camps is higher than ever and continuing to grow. (Newsday)

Workers Prepare for Demolition of Last Structural Obstacle to Freedom Tower - Jul 12, 2004
Deep within the smoke-blackened ruins of an underground parking garage, 30 workers are installing tendonlike bundles of steel cable, called tiebacks, to anchor the concrete perimeter foundation wall to bedrock. This will permit the demolition in coming months of the last major structural vestige of the old World Trade Center. (New York Times)

Post 9/11 PATH Ridership Exceeds Expectations - Jul 12, 2004
The number of commuters who use the temporary World Trade Center station and the Exchange Place station in Jersey City has exceeded expectations since they reopened last year, officials said. (New York Post)

Woman Asks for Help Finding Ring Lost on 9/11 - Jul 12, 2004
Heartsick Erin Jackman has issued an urgent appeal to New Yorkers Ñ begging them to find the ring that was her cherished link to the kid sister she lost in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. (New York Post)

Man Accused of Fabricating Tale of 9/11 Bravery - Jul 12, 2004
A man who claims to have waded in ``toxic soup'' deep beneath the World Trade Center rubble to help find bodies is being accused of making up his tale of courage and defrauding the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund of nearly $650,000. (1010 WINS)

Wall Street May Be Next Terror Target - Jul 11, 2004
U.S. intelligence agencies are growing increasingly concerned that al Qaeda's next target in the United States could be the heart of America's economy Ñ Wall Street. (New York Post)

US Open Women's Final Scheduled for September 11 - Jul 11, 2004
Is it a backhand to victims and survivors or a lob for the healing process? The United States Tennis Association has scheduled the U.S. Open's women's singles final for Sept. 11 Ñ the third anniversary of the attacks on America that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. (New York Post)

First 9/11 Victim Identified - Jul 11, 2004
The latest World Trade Center victim to be identified is Daniel Lewin, an Israeli soldier who became a Massachusetts computer tycoon. The married father of two kids was reportedly the first 9/11 casualty. A passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 11 Ñ the first of two hijacked planes to crash into the Twin Towers Ñ Lewin is believed to have been the businessman stabbed to death by terrorists. (New York Post)

9/11 Commission May Finish Report This Week - Jul 11, 2004
Working in secret, the Sept. 11 commission is finishing a final report that several members believe will be done by week's end and have unanimous support. (New York Post)

Convention Planners Fear Train Bombing - Jul 11, 2004
Security planners for the upcoming political conventions are highly concerned about a train bombing and are taking unprecedented steps to safeguard subway and commuter lines in host cities New York and Boston. (Newsday)

New Home for Trade Center Art Studios - Jul 11, 2004
From 1997 until 2001, artists worked on the 91st and 92nd floors of Tower One of the World Trade Center, capturing the city's landscape from the highest vantage point in the Manhattan. One artist in the program died on Sept. 11, 2001. After 9/11, L.M.C.C. hopscotched from the World Financial Center, to Brooklyn and spent last year Downtown in the Woolworth Building, before artists and members of L.M.C.C. learned that Silverstein Properties had donated the artists' current space on Broadway between Pine and Cedar Sts. (Downtown Express)

Tribute in Light Gets Funding for Next Five Years - Jul 09, 2004
Intended originally as an ephemeral memorial, the twin-beam "Tribute in Light," which simultaneously marks the presence and absence of the World Trade Center, has been guaranteed a place in the night sky every Sept. 11 for at least the next five years. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board voted yesterday to give $3.5 million to the Municipal Art Society, which helps produce the memorial. (New York Times)

With Post 9/11 Revitalization, Downtown's Parks Get a Little Greener - Jul 09, 2004
Bowling Green, New York's oldest park, is looking especially fresh. The park, at the foot of Broadway, has just undergone an $690,000 renovation by the city Parks Department as part of a $37 million crash program to restore and create 14 parks downtown in the wake of 9/11. (New York Times)

Silverstein Wants to Use Remaining Liberty Bonds for Ground Zero - Jul 09, 2004
World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein wants all of the $3.5 billion or so that's left of the Liberty Bonds to go directly toward rebuilding the site. He may need it. (New York Daily News)

Despite Alert, Police Have Received No New Intelligence on Attack in City - Jul 09, 2004
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was unfazed by Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge's announcement yesterday that al-Qaida might attack the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, saying the city has received no new intelligence and won't change its alert status. (Newsday)

On Cornerstone, Inscription Speaks with Local Accent - Jul 08, 2004
It could have been imperial Trajan. Or elegant Bodoni. Or generic Helvetica. But the search for the ideal typeface to be inscribed on the Freedom Tower cornerstone at the World Trade Center site ended simply, in Gotham. (New York Times)

Daughter of 9/11 Victim Honors Cops by Becoming One - Jul 08, 2004
Catherine Hernandez believed there was only one way to repay the heroes who gave their lives trying to save her father in the World Trade Center Ñ by donning a uniform, too. (New York Post )

Grants Coming for Ground Zero Cultural Institutions - Jul 08, 2004
The agency leading the Ground Zero rebuilding is expected today to approve $1.5 million in grants for the creation of a cultural center at the site, sources said. (Newsday)

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Appoints New Board Member - Jul 08, 2004
Robert Balachandran has been appointed to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's Board of Directors. (NY1)

9/11 Counseling Program Extended - Jul 07, 2004
An unprecedented federal crisis counseling program set up to help New Yorkers cope with the aftermath of the terror attacks has beenextended through Dec. 31, officials said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Timeline of Freedom Tower's Key Moments - Jul 07, 2004
Key events in the planning for the World Trade Center's new skyscraper: (Newsday)

9/11 Commission Rebukes Cheney's Intelligence Claims - Jul 07, 2004
The leaders of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks on Tuesday disputed Vice President Dick Cheney's suggestion that he probably had access to more intelligence than the commission did about possible ties between the Qaeda terrorist network and Iraq. (New York Times )

The Fishing Fanatic Behind the Freedom Center - Jul 06, 2004
Once Tom Bernstein latches onto something, be it a combative fish, a maligned development scheme for four neglected city piers, or a controversial proposal for a world-class museum devoted to world freedom at ground zero, he doesn't let go. (New York Times)

Commuters Get First Glimpse of Ground Zero Construction - Jul 06, 2004
Starting today, commuters will get their first look at the construction of the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. (New York Daily News)

I Had to Settle Family Feuds, Says 9/11 Fund Chief - Jul 06, 2004
The man who divvied up the $6 billion compensation fund to relatives of the Sept. 11 attacks said he had to resolve some pretty prickly disputes among feuding family members. (New York Daily News)

Visitors Flock to Ground Zero to See Cornerstone - Jul 06, 2004
The newly unveiled cornerstone for the Freedom Tower became lower Manhattan's latest attraction as visitors from around the world descended on Ground Zero yesterday to catch a glimpse of the 20-ton block of granite. (New York Post)

Libeskind Speaks About Rebuilding as Construction Begins - Jul 06, 2004
On July 4, a granite cornerstone was laid down in lower Manhattan for Freedom Tower, marking the beginning of a new structure for the former World Trade site. Freedom Tower is the symbolic focus of the design, the work of architect Daniel Libeskind, who won a competition to design the master plan for ground zero in February 2003. For the final installment of Morning Edition's Intersections series, NPR's Brian Naylor spoke with Libeskind about his inspirations for rebuilding the site. (National Public Radio)

Freedom Tower Assignment: One Quarry's "High Profile" Job - Jul 05, 2004
Had it not been chosen as the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower, the 20-ton block of granite from the Ruby Mountain quarry in the Adirondacks was destined for slightly humbler duty. "It would have ended up as someone's countertop," said Tim Conboy, the vice president for strategic planning of the Barton Group in Lake George, N.Y., which owns the quarry about 30 miles northwest, near North River. (New York Times)

Ceremony Marks Symbolic Start to Ground Zero Construction - Jul 05, 2004
New York took the first tangible step to recover its place at the pinnacle of the global skyline in a ceremony that was held within the trade center's foundation, in bright sunshine but far below street level, where bedrock begins. With many questions unanswered, symbolism was the order of the day at the hourlong ceremony. (New York Times)

Skyscraper Museum Opens Twin Towers Exhibit - Jul 05, 2004
As the city marked Independence Day with the groundbreaking of the new Freedom Tower, the Skyscraper Museum opened its exhibit on the buildings it will replace Ñ the Twin Towers. (New York Post)

For One Junior High Student, Groundbreaking Ceremony Meant a Big Performance - Jul 05, 2004
Julian Davis tried to focus on the words on the page as he took the stage at Ground Zero yesterday, and declared in a strong, clear voice "that all men are created equal." The 12-year-old, whose dad, Port Authority cop Clinton Davis, was killed on 9/11, read from the Declaration of Independence before a crowd of hundreds at the laying of the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower. (New York Daily News)

Groundbreaking Brings Varied Crowd - Jul 05, 2004
There were three kinds of people outside Sunday's groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower: spectators, protesters and sunbathers. (Newsday)

Head of Victims Compensation Fund Honored - Jul 05, 2004
A legal organization has awarded a lifetime achievement award to the head of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Special Master Kenneth Feinberg received the award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America at the group's annual convention in Boston. (NY1)

Construction at Ground Zero Begins, But Finished Product Still Unclear - Jul 04, 2004
The language this morning during the cornerstone laying for the Freedom Tower at ground zero will probably be as lofty as the skyscraper itself. But no one gathered around the great granite block - not the governors, the mayor, the civil servants, the developer, the planners, and certainly not the reporters - can say for certain how much of the current vision for the new World Trade Center will be realized. (New York Times)

City Looks to Blast-Proof Subways - Jul 04, 2004
The MTA is looking into a plan to secure subway tunnels with a military-style, lightweight material that would contain the force of a bomb blast, The Post has learned. (New York Post)

Cornerstone Ceremony Begins Complicated Construction Project - Jul 04, 2004
On the 1,027th day after terrorists ripped a hole in our hearts by killing 2,752 people and destroying the World Trade Center, Gov. Pataki today will lay the cornerstone for Twin Towers' replacement Ñ the Freedom Tower, a soaring spire of steel. (New York Post)

City Prepares Cops for Chemical Attack - Jul 04, 2004
Behind the gates of a former Brooklyn grade school, the NYPD is mustering an army of 10,000 cops that will be ready to march into the chaos of a chemical, biological or nuclear terror strike - just in time for the upcoming Republican National Convention. (New York Post)

Freedom Tower Cornerstone Laid - Jul 04, 2004
A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper replacing the destroyed towers. (Associated Press)

Development at Ground Zero Moving Too Fast, Say Families - Jul 03, 2004
The Coalition of 9/11 families says developers eager to start work on the World Trade Center memorial are jumping the gun. (NY1)

Freedom Tower Opponents Prepare for a Fight - Jul 03, 2004
It'll either be the beginning of the beginning or the beginning of the end when a cornerstone is laid for the Freedom Tower on Independence Day. Some see the start of construction of the first tower on the World Trade Center site as an important milestone three years after Lower Manhattan was left with a destroyed place where almost 2,800 people were killed. To those who dislike the new W.T.C. plan for emotional, environmental or aesthetic reasons, the ceremony this Sunday represents another step in the wrong direction. Several groups opposing the plan have been in discussions and are considering filing a lawsuit to stop it. (Downtown Express)

Housing Complex Residents Split on Rebuilding Project - Jul 03, 2004
With the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation considering the Chatham Green Houses complex as a potential site for an underground parking garage, the building's shareholders and board members are already split as to whether the project would be a blessing or a boondoggle. (Downtown Express)

Lawyers of Post-9/11 Detainees Sue Prison For Videotaping Meetings With Clients - Jul 02, 2004
When lawyers from the Legal Aid Society made their way into the federal detention center in Brooklyn in the fall of 2001 to meet with detainees, they said, they were alarmed to see video cameras on the walls. Concerned about the confidentiality of their conversations with their shackled clients - immigrant detainees who were rounded up after the Sept. 11 attacks - the lawyers asked whether they were being taped. Prison officials assured them, they say, that the cameras were turned off. (New York Times)

Freedom Tower Cornerstone Arrives at Ground Zero - Jul 02, 2004
Just in time for Independence Day, a crucial building block in Lower Manhattan's reconstruction has arrived in the city. The cornerstone of the World Trade Center's Freedom Tower arrived Thursday morning. Workers will put it in place Sunday as the city and the nation celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. (NY1)

Mayor Backs Governor on Converting 9/11 Cash - Jul 01, 2004
Michael R. Bloomberg will support Gov. George E. Pataki's proposal to use billions of dollars in unspent Sept. 11 aid on building a rail link to connect the former World Trade Center site to the Long Island Rail Road and Kennedy International Airport, the mayor's aides said yesterday. Mr. Pataki has personally lobbied President Bush, a fellow Republican, to provide hard cash in place of a $5 billion tax-break package that Washington established to help spur construction in Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attacks. (New York Times)

New Jersey Picks Its 9/11 Memorial - Jul 01, 2004
A design featuring two stainless-steel walls that look from a certain perspective as if the World Trade Center towers had been neatly felled and had landed in New Jersey has won the competition for New Jersey's Sept. 11 memorial, Gov. James E. McGreevey announced yesterday. The winning proposal came from the Manhattan-based architect Frederic Schwartz. (New York Times)

Pedestal of Statue of Liberty to Open August 3rd - Jul 01, 2004
Visitors will be able to again enter the Statue of Liberty on Aug. 3, after being closed for nearly three years of safety and security improvements, the National Parks Service said yesterday. (New York Times)

Red Cross Giving $50 Million in 9/11 Grants - Jul 01, 2004
The Red Cross announced Wednesday it is making $50 million in grants available for programs that provide long-term relief from the September 11 attacks. (NY1)

Silverstein Executive Wants to Use Liberty Bonds at Ground Zero - Jul 01, 2004
During testimony at the first in a series of City Council hearings on funding for Lower Manhattan redevelopment, John Lieber, senior vice president of World Trade Center LLC, a Silverstein Properties company, issued a call that the funds remaining in the Liberty Bond pool should be allocated and preserved for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. That call was echoed by Community Board 1 and the Downtown Alliance. (Globe St. )

The Integration of the Design Team at Ground Zero - Jul 01, 2004
Architect J. Max Bond Jr. has had to build bridges to reach Ground Zero, and now, for the first time in the redevelopment of the trade center site, an African American, is a major player (Washington Post )