Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 17:01:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding Items... A few things from the last few days... Whitehead's group have come under fire for violating the state public meetings law...subcommittees of the board have been meeting to make decisions without allowing outside attendance.(Their next scheduled full board meeting is July 17th...just before the big July 20th event...they are some months behind getting their minutes posted on their website www.renewnyc.org). They also have yet to release the revision to the Draft Principles and Preliminary Blueprint for the Future of Lower Manhattan that was due,according to their Timeline,on June 5th. Meanwhile,the deadline for comments to their address renewnyc@empire.state.ny.us regarding their Phase I Request For Proposals presumably remains June 26th, but we don't have an update on their thinking to base our comments on! I emailed Sally Regenhard of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign to see just what her position was on the height of new towers, since her quote in the Observer article was more encouraging than the item in their press release calling for an end to the construction of large buildings whose size made them indefensible by the fire service. She responded in a fairly encouraging fashion after I outlined safety improvements,such as the four concrete stairwell cores I previously mentioned to the email list,that would greatly increase the survivability of the Towers and the people in them. I think that design modifications emphasizing needed answers to safety concerns would stand a good chance,if well presented and publicized,of getting wide support. I mentioned that giving over the 80th floor of a 120 story building to fire/emergency equipment and personnel would make every floor closer to rescue personnel than the top floors of a 45-story building,over and above the strength issues(see the Attia quote below). Unfortunately I passed a copy of her response to two people with a particular interest in her views,and one of them took exception to my brief comments regarding what she said and sent a response that cc'ed Regenhard and an associate of hers as well as some other interested parties...I don't know what Regenhard might think of my passing on her mail,and I haven't heard from her since. I'll have to think more carefully about letting anyone see private dialogues in the future,though I'll continue to update the email list (about 450 good address now,I think) on pertinent developments. One thing I learned from a Skyscraper Safety Campaign site is that there is going to be a public hearing in New York from the Washington-based inquiry into the collapse of the Towers,on June 24th at the Marriott at 49th and Lexington.Doors open at 8 AM. Those in New York may want to attend whether to listen or to speak...see how the feelings are running on the design and improvements and rebuilding. Later that day the Civic Alliance holds its next meeting. They are the main organizers of the July 20th public event that I hope all of you who can spend that day in the city have registered for...more below.They do post minutes in a timely fashion at www.civic-alliance.org but in person attendance might be a good idea as well. Their past minutes give some valuable information about the Listening to the City II organization and what will be set before us there and what their considerations in organizing it are.We need to attend well-informed and ready to answer the arguments for being free to downgrade the site to lowly "human scale" structures. Eli Attia has not been idle. Since his inspiring article in Newsday,the architect has set up a petition linked to at http://phoenixusa.org/ which also has a reprint of his article.We all need to remember his quote: "Any 100 story building is taller than any 50 story building". Very tall structures need to be built stronger. His petition calls for a national design competition for the site,which of course would give him an opening...see http://www.eliattia.com/ for some of his past designs for structures sometimes exceeding 130 stories.I have considered the design competition angle before,as a way of uniting the nation behind the new project,but would want stringent minimum specifications prohibiting the tallest occupied structures from being any shorter than the old Twin Towers. I know some of you are particularly wedded to retaining the old design as closely as possible while others specifically don't want that but at least want something at least as tall as the old Towers. Whatever gets something at least as tall,safer,and stronger built is something that needs to be pursued. Once more,if you have not yet registered for Listening to the City II at the Javits Center on July 20th,register! Call 800-862-3154 or go to www.listeningtothecity.org. They'll provide breakfast and lunch,and I am hoping that we can get pro-rebuilders together for a networking dinner afterward.We'll provide the needed voices telling the world America must have its Towers back. Get pro-rebuilding friends to register and come along too... the seat you take may go to an advocate of symbols of surrender otherwise. If you're a Lower Manhattan resident,a former WTC employee, or someone who lost a relative or a workplace/job as a result of the September 11th attacks,it's ESPECIALLY important to register and be there...those groups are supposed to be "overrepresented" and they will probably highlight their views. If you can NOT make July 20th but CAN make July 22nd, call the SAME number (or visit the website) to register. This is the religious-or-other-unavailability overflow event,substantially smaller(you can't attend both). Alexander Butziger is looking at some studies for new Tower design...if a website associated with this mailing list or the WTCRM is set up,we may feature some drawings from various sources including his,as well as links to sites like Erik Sieb's that offer appropriate projects. May we meet on the 111th floor on 9-11-11! -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.