Poll: Mayor Should Run Redevelopment Of Lower Manhattan
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Governor George Pataki defended his leadership in the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan yesterday as a new poll showed that New York City voters overwhelmingly believe Mayor Bloomberg, not Mr. Pataki, should call the shots at ground zero.
A Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday found that 65% of city voters believe Mr. Bloomberg should have the major role in decisions about the redevelopment of the trade center site. Only 18% said they believe Mr. Pataki should make the decisions – despite the fact that the site is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, not the city. The governor of each state appoints six members to the agency’s board of commissioners.
Mr. Pataki, talking to reporters after attending a police ceremony in Manhattan, said yesterday, “I think there’s a great difference between the public’s perception and the reality.
“I understand the public, I understand they’re looking for immediate construction, cranes, and activity, but we’re going now from the memorial concept to engineering design,” he said. “It’s not something, until there are cranes in the air, where the public will see that actual change, but the progress is being made, it is going forward appropriately.”
Mr. Pataki acknowledged that the redesign of the Freedom Tower for security reasons had created a setback, but said construction on West Street could be done two years earlier than expected, and work was beginning on the Santiago Calatrava-designed transportation hub, as was deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank building.
“We’re getting it done right, that’s the most important thing, but we are also doing it very much in a timely manner,” the governor said.
Mr. Bloomberg on Wednesday said redevelopment at ground zero was going too slowly and that his administration would become more involved.
The mayor cited several accomplishments in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, including retaining 100,000 jobs and lowering the commercial vacancy rate, but he also expressed frustration at the pace of the redevelopment.
“Current projections show the site not being built out until 2015, and that’s just too long,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
While he said the governor “is doing a great job,” Mr. Bloomberg said, “I think it’s getting to the point now where the city just has more than interest, and can have more to do.”