NEW YORK, NY December 13, 2002 — Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out a $10.6 billion plan to transform and revitalize Lower Manhattan from a collection of office spaces to an integrated neighborhood. At the center of the plan is a call to build a new rail tunnel under the east river. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reports.

The timing of the announcement was no accident. It came less than a week before the unveiling 7 new plans for the World Trade Center site will be unveiled. It was a chance for Mayor Bloomberg to set his flag in the ground before the Pataki-controlled Lower Manhattan Development Corporation makes its decision on the 16-acre trade center site. The Mayor began his speech with a warning to the planners not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Bloomberg: if we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize that the impact on our City was not all positive. The Twin Towers' voracious appetite for tenants - weakened the entire Downtown market. The underground mall, while popular, detracted from the vitality of the streets that surrounded it siphoning pedestrians away from aboveground stores. The World Trade Center did not- as its objective was - increase employment below Canal Street.

The remarks came in an ornate, arching banquet hall at the Regents Hotel on Wall Street before an audience that included World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and members of the Port Authority. They've been committed to replacing the lost retail and office space at the world trade center - a goal the Mayor seemed to be arguing directly against. Instead, he said, distribute the office and retail space over new revitalized commercial streets. And then make it all work by getting people there.

Bloomberg: To make Lower Manhattan a global center, we must have direct, one-seat airport access.

The Mayor wants a new, $4 billion rail tunnel under the east river to bring passengers from commuters from Long Island and JFK airport to Lower Manhattan in 30 minutes. Instead of burying west street, he wants a Champs-Elysee-like boulevard. He wants new cultural institutions and theaters to keep people in lower Manhattan after-hours. He wants a school on the world trade center site.
His adviser, NYU Professor Mitchell Moss, described it this way.

Moss: Plus there's been a terrific misunderstanding of Lower Manhattan by previous mayors, Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani thought it was a problem of office space, its really a problem of making it a lively space.

Of course, to put this all together the city needs a lot of money - more than $10 billion. The Mayor argues that the money's there - between post 9/11 federal transportation money, port authority funds, and other sources, Bloomberg believes the city can put together the financing. But, of course, there's lots of competition for that money. Charles Gargano, who is the state economic development chair and Vice Chair of the Port Authority, applauded the Mayor's vision, but he said the port authority revenue is already accounted for, and would have to be earmarked from other purposes.

Gargano: We have to set priorities. There are so many good projects

The Mayor got a lot of applause from community leaders, transit activists, and planners for laying out a vision of an interwoven downtown. Bob Yaro heads the Regional Plan Association.

Yaro: For the first time, you know somebody's looking at the whole district and not just the sixteen acres.

This proposal isn't part of the official WTC redesign process. But Bloomberg wants to make sure that plan fits this vision. As one Bloomberg aid put it, there's one sure way to make sure it won't happen: not to propose it all. For WNYC, I'm Andrea Bernstein.