Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2002 14:40:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: Tuesday Big Day For WTC Plans... One of the new developments on the NYCS board (at http://www.theopinion.com/newyorkcityskyline/ if you haven't been there...follow the link inside) as Aminata slowly approaches godhood is the posting by Jason of a news story lately published that pinpoints TUESDAY,JULY 16TH as the long-awaited day the six Phase I options will be released. That's just four days before the Listening to the City II event(which the article curiously implies is under the auspices of Imagine New York,which it isn't).So we'll have to start quickly out of the blocks giving our views on these plans...at LTTC II a week from today if we can make it there,at the August Lower Manhattan hearing if we can make it there,and by written comment whether or not we can make it to the events. The article doesn't mention,among all its leaks,what heights of buildings are proposed,but the people it quotes tend to criticize the options from the wrong side...wanting shorter buildings,more streets breaking up the superblock,and generally more change from what was taken from us.It does say that ALL the options have both Fulton and Greenwich streets running all the way through,and some of them have some building on the footprint of the South Tower.(Some input has urged the performing arts center be at the south end of the site...I would prefer that it be north of Fulton Street,with Greenwich Street NOT restored from Fulton south to Liberty).Interestingly, September's Mission may be our strongest ally in trying to keep Greenwich Street from going completely through! We're going to have to decide on a venue for next Saturday's networking dinner.Any more input on TGI Friday's vs. Houlihan's vs. Charley O's vs. O'Farrell's?...any more promises to show up? Keep your eyes peeled for the plan announcements Tuesday, we need enthusiasm for the tallest options,tinged with encouragement to make them taller,to drown out any praise for the others. I'll be back to the list with talking points and reactions, certainly.Write your local papers,talk to your friends,keep the word moving! I'll know Thursday what response my letter here gets... can send any rejoinders then,but they won't be published until after LTTC II.If you've got DAILY local papers,write to those! Not sure how many celebrities we have on our side,but the well-known author Mercedes Lackey's name leapt out at me on the DowntownNYC board (select "World Trade Center Site" from http://pps.org/downtownnyc/place-list and then "Read Comments & Add Your Own")...she's on the WRONG side.She proposes covering the whole superblock with something twenty to thirty stories tall (so it would be "defended and cradled" by the taller surrounding buildings...looks like cowering in a trench Uncle Osama has commanded that we hide in to me!!) and having its entire roof be a memorial garden.And she claims "this idea does have the advantage of being able to reconcile virtually every conflicting proposal"!!! If we want a garden across the whole roof,let's do it Erik Sieb's way...1500 feet high on a bridge across giant new towers! Back a few months ago I speculated on the CBS rebuilding message board (http://www.cbsnewyork.com/message/ground/ ) on the good publicity it would be if a pro-rebuilder won the Big Game lottery then building to $331 million and used his/her moment in the spotlight to promote and pledge support to the cause.Well,that didn't happen; BG's successor Megamillions has now for the first time since reached half that much ($165 million jackpot on Tuesday,the day of the plan announcements...but that's pretax annuity value,it only amounts to about $60M post-tax cash value).At one point I thought it would take only two more rollovers to reach an all-time record going on sale the day of LTTC II,but it has grown slower than it used to at these levels.This sort of money couldn't build a new WTC...but let us dream,and fight for our dreams! See you 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.