Last Updated: 4:44 AM, November 11, 2010
Posted: 10:15 PM, November 10, 2010
When Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo barrels into office in January, he'd do well to make the World Trade Center site and the rest of Downtown a first priority.
The broke and near-ruined state depends on New York City's wealth-making machine to stay afloat. And the city's continued ability to crank out tax revenue for Albany depends largely on what happens in Lower Manhattan -- and in the short term.
That obviously means Wall Street, even though many large financial-services companies are now based uptown. It means providing an environment conducive to the New York Stock Exchange and to great banks that remain headquartered south of Chambers Street.
And it means providing for advanced, 21st century office buildings -- the only kind that today's electronically and environmentally attuned companies want, in a city with a dangerously obsolescent inventory. That demand is why Conde Nast is negotiating to move to the new 1 WTC and why Bank of America and Bank of New York are interested, as well.
If grand new towers don't go up at the WTC site -- where there's room, a plan and a committed developer in place -- they likely won't be built uptown. And they won't go up in Albany, Rochester or Buffalo.
Cuomo will control or have the dominant say in the agencies involved. Here's what he can do to keep things on track:
1) Keep Chris Ward as Port Authority executive director. There's been much more progress in rebuilding the WTC under Ward than on the watches of the four previous post-9/11 guys combined. Plus, he negotiated the deal between the PA and Larry Silverstein to finance 4 WTC and set the stage for 2 and 3 WTC.
He's well regarded by all the Downtown stakeholders, even those normally at odds. Cuomo must resist the temptation to put in his own political hack.
2) Maximize the pace of commercial redevelopment.
This is Cuomo's most important task. He must insist on replenishing all of the old WTC's space irrespective of current vacancy rates. Yes, commercial landlords fear competition from the planned towers -- but demand for the kind of product the new buildings offer will exist or materialize even if older ones are less than full.
Cuomo can't create more subsidies for the towers nor act as their leasing agent. But he can forcefully and frequently encourage great companies to make their homes at the WTC site. He can sell the idea that Downtown is a world-class business and residential district with a grand future, served by a great fiber-optic network and close by the vast talent pools of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
That alone will help get 3 WTC (which needs at least one large tenant before it can go up) out of the ground by the end of Cuomo's first term. It's crucial, for 3 WTC is the difference between a "World Trade Center" with less than half the original's floor space and one with more than half.
Also, he must see that the PA and its partner Douglas Durst finish 1 WTC and Silverstein finishes 4 WTC on schedule by 2014.
3) Carry a big stick on unfinished projects. Prospective tenants are demanding assurances that the planned amenities at and near the WTC site finish on time and as advertised. Among Cuomo's challenges:
* Finish the MTA's Fulton Street Transit Center and the PA's "Transportation Hub" pronto. Both are a waste of money, but turning back now would cause even more problems. Cuomo must hold the agencies' brasses to the fire. The jobs must be done by 2014 -- including Fulton's dome and the hub's "wings," which are not remotely in sight.
* Insist that the new WTC is fully accessible -- and doesn't feel like a war zone. Reopening Fulton and Greenwich streets was a much-touted feature of the master plan. Now the NYPD, citing "security," is quietly lobbying to close them to traffic. Cuomo needs to stanch this lunacy immediately. If open streets pose that much of a threat, why bother building anything at all?
He must, moreover, quash the NYPD push for "sally port" entrances with barricades and vehicle turntables like those near the New York Stock Exchange. Far from reassuring tenants, the mere prospect of them is giving companies the chills.
* Ride herd on the memorial. Anything less than the design's full realization will be unacceptable. Yet, despite hoopla over it opening on Sept. 11, 2011, it's doubtful much of it will be open to the public on Sept. 12. Questions remain about access, the museum and waterfalls that might or might not work all year-round.
* Keep the Performing Arts Center at the site. It would be better at the former Deutsche Bank site on Liberty Street. But moving it would disrupt a key funding stream ($100 million) for an underground access road to 1 WTC -- critical for the tower to open on time.
3) Spend the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s remaining funds wisely -- then shut it down.
Last spring, Community Board 1 discovered the bumbling agency has been sitting on $275 million in funds meant for Downtown development. Worse, it was earmarked mostly for utility-company handouts and useless small projects far from the WTC site. The cash should be reserved only for major development use or tenant incentives.
Then Cuomo should shut down the LMDC and save the public $5 million a year in administrative costs.
4) Get a grip on the Tower 5 site. The PA will control it once the LMDC finally finishes demolition. There are good arguments both for office and residential/hotel projects there.
Nothing needs to rise immediately. But it must be reserved for something worthy of its location. Not "affordable housing," not a park, but an edifice as large and as noble as the ones at last reaching for the sky.
scuozzo@nypost.com
The broke and near-ruined state depends on New York City's wealth-making machine to stay afloat. And the city's continued ability to crank out tax revenue for Albany depends largely on what happens in Lower Manhattan -- and in the short term.
That obviously means Wall Street, even though many large financial-services companies are now based uptown. It means providing an environment conducive to the New York Stock Exchange and to great banks that remain headquartered south of Chambers Street.
And it means providing for advanced, 21st century office buildings -- the only kind that today's electronically and environmentally attuned companies want, in a city with a dangerously obsolescent inventory. That demand is why Conde Nast is negotiating to move to the new 1 WTC and why Bank of America and Bank of New York are interested, as well.
If grand new towers don't go up at the WTC site -- where there's room, a plan and a committed developer in place -- they likely won't be built uptown. And they won't go up in Albany, Rochester or Buffalo.
Cuomo will control or have the dominant say in the agencies involved. Here's what he can do to keep things on track:
1) Keep Chris Ward as Port Authority executive director. There's been much more progress in rebuilding the WTC under Ward than on the watches of the four previous post-9/11 guys combined. Plus, he negotiated the deal between the PA and Larry Silverstein to finance 4 WTC and set the stage for 2 and 3 WTC.
He's well regarded by all the Downtown stakeholders, even those normally at odds. Cuomo must resist the temptation to put in his own political hack.
2) Maximize the pace of commercial redevelopment.
This is Cuomo's most important task. He must insist on replenishing all of the old WTC's space irrespective of current vacancy rates. Yes, commercial landlords fear competition from the planned towers -- but demand for the kind of product the new buildings offer will exist or materialize even if older ones are less than full.
Cuomo can't create more subsidies for the towers nor act as their leasing agent. But he can forcefully and frequently encourage great companies to make their homes at the WTC site. He can sell the idea that Downtown is a world-class business and residential district with a grand future, served by a great fiber-optic network and close by the vast talent pools of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
That alone will help get 3 WTC (which needs at least one large tenant before it can go up) out of the ground by the end of Cuomo's first term. It's crucial, for 3 WTC is the difference between a "World Trade Center" with less than half the original's floor space and one with more than half.
Also, he must see that the PA and its partner Douglas Durst finish 1 WTC and Silverstein finishes 4 WTC on schedule by 2014.
3) Carry a big stick on unfinished projects. Prospective tenants are demanding assurances that the planned amenities at and near the WTC site finish on time and as advertised. Among Cuomo's challenges:
* Finish the MTA's Fulton Street Transit Center and the PA's "Transportation Hub" pronto. Both are a waste of money, but turning back now would cause even more problems. Cuomo must hold the agencies' brasses to the fire. The jobs must be done by 2014 -- including Fulton's dome and the hub's "wings," which are not remotely in sight.
* Insist that the new WTC is fully accessible -- and doesn't feel like a war zone. Reopening Fulton and Greenwich streets was a much-touted feature of the master plan. Now the NYPD, citing "security," is quietly lobbying to close them to traffic. Cuomo needs to stanch this lunacy immediately. If open streets pose that much of a threat, why bother building anything at all?
He must, moreover, quash the NYPD push for "sally port" entrances with barricades and vehicle turntables like those near the New York Stock Exchange. Far from reassuring tenants, the mere prospect of them is giving companies the chills.
* Ride herd on the memorial. Anything less than the design's full realization will be unacceptable. Yet, despite hoopla over it opening on Sept. 11, 2011, it's doubtful much of it will be open to the public on Sept. 12. Questions remain about access, the museum and waterfalls that might or might not work all year-round.
* Keep the Performing Arts Center at the site. It would be better at the former Deutsche Bank site on Liberty Street. But moving it would disrupt a key funding stream ($100 million) for an underground access road to 1 WTC -- critical for the tower to open on time.
3) Spend the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s remaining funds wisely -- then shut it down.
Last spring, Community Board 1 discovered the bumbling agency has been sitting on $275 million in funds meant for Downtown development. Worse, it was earmarked mostly for utility-company handouts and useless small projects far from the WTC site. The cash should be reserved only for major development use or tenant incentives.
Then Cuomo should shut down the LMDC and save the public $5 million a year in administrative costs.
4) Get a grip on the Tower 5 site. The PA will control it once the LMDC finally finishes demolition. There are good arguments both for office and residential/hotel projects there.
Nothing needs to rise immediately. But it must be reserved for something worthy of its location. Not "affordable housing," not a park, but an edifice as large and as noble as the ones at last reaching for the sky.
scuozzo@nypost.com
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