Lower Manhattan’s Sense
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Residents of Lower Manhattan have their eyes on the ball. That’s the impression one gets looking over the results of a recent Pace poll, released yesterday, that surveyed residents regarding their views on downtown rebuilding. “Lower Manhattan residents are not reflexively willing to hand the reigns of power at the World Trade Center site to government ‘for the public good,'” writes the director of the Pace poll, Jonathan Trichter, in the executive summary. This seems at odds with the view of some of the elites about town.
They are pulling for public input because Larry Silverstein, who owns the lease to the site, “threatens to dominate the rebuilding process” and “other business people with ties to the area are pressing for plans that would maximize commercial development.” But maximizing commercial development is what downtown residents told pollsters they want. Some 55% of respondents told Pace pollsters that building new commercial space for companies to move back downtown would be an important step in improving the quality of life in Lower Manhattan. Furthermore, asked an open-ended question — “What do you think is the most important issue or problem that has to do with rebuilding in lower Manhattan right now?” — the most popular responses included economic development (6%), business returning (4%), and jobs (3%).
The most encouraging result in the poll may be that 46% of those polled agreed with the stance that “The private developers of the World Trade Center site should be able to replace all the commercial space they lost on 9/11, which is vital to the downtown financial district and the economic recovery of New York City.” This statement ran counter to the proposition that the government should seize the property, a less popular option. It is interesting that the poll’s respondents said at the same time that they want most Mayor Bloomberg to have authority over the rebuilding process, given that he has not always put the highest priority on commercial redevelopment. Let’s hope the mayor will have the humility to listen to his downtown neighbors.
