Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2002 12:51:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC:Next Steps After LTTC II Yesterday I got up about 4 AM,and caught the 5:09 AM train to get to the Javits Center around 7.I participated throughout the Listening To The City II program,which of course I am now reporting on together with views on what to do next. I would rate the day as a mixed bag with some successes. Our opponents were definitely there in force,and getting explicit pro-rebuilding-as-tall-as-before views through the "theme team" of "idea sifters" proved impossible...it was never placed on the screen as something anyone had suggested.(I have a hunch it will be in the eventual published reports at www.listeningtothecity.org). The don't-touch-the-footprints crowd managed to win a vote that this was the best thing about the offered plans,just ahead of "buildings should be visually interesting to the skyline". The antis also pressed hard for less office development as a whole. HOWEVER...we won the vote that the buildings being too SHORT was the WORST thing about the offered plans.And 57% called for buildings making a strong statement on the skyline as an important design principle. Some of us managed to be the computer operators for our tables, which provided a limited opportunity to phrase things in preferred ways in recording opinions. As noted,every one of the six presented plans was called Memorial This or Memorial That,with no Memorial Towers...and the evaluation of them we were asked to make was how well they treated their memorial elements.ALL of them were given the worst rating for this more than any other,though the way things were put this would likely be a coalition of those who thought there was too much and those who thought there was too little emphasis on the memorial. The reactions by the planners to ALL their plans being trashed (a widespread headline you'll not in news coverage) will be interesting. The immediate on-site reaction came from Tomson and Doctoroff,who pledged to take the lessons to heart.Naturally,we want them to propose taller buildings,not to reduce the amount of office space...we'll see which lesson they take more seriously. The poll on the pace of planning tended to say it was going about right,but news coverage from WCBS Radio and the New York Times indicates that there will likely be one to three months of delay in the timeline since Phase I's plans will require a more drastic rethink than they were bargaining for. The push for taller buildings from our side,and for fewer buildings from the archmemorialists,will influence them,but in what directions we will have to see.This flies in the face of what the Port Authority spokesman declared at the event...they apparently want the office space divided into small buildings so they can be built one by one for market reasons,and hopefully we will force them to be as bold as before instead. His presentation like others stressed the primacy of the memorial,but just how important an element the memorial should be was NEVER put to a vote. Clearly the anniversary of the attacks will now come and go before the three Phase II options are presented.Perhaps the archmemorialists will tire before we do,but we can't let ourselves tire before they do; September's Mission is holding a fundraiser today. I met a large number of pro-rebuilders,on this email list and not; I added a few to the list as a result of meetings.One person I met was Jonathan Hakala,who led off the pro-rebuilding side's comments at the May hearing.Another was Alex Butziger,who came all the way from Germany for the event,a fine example! I am in the process of going through well over a hundred potential list members submitted by Erik Sieb of newwtcproject.com with their comments,filtering out the "maybe you ought to scale it down" types and others before adding them to the list,which should top 600 as a result. We need every pro-rebuilding voice we can to contribute to the process, so forgive me if some of the later what-to-do advice I give is repeated in a future email after these people have been added...I know I often repeat things anyway,as I did with advice to register for LTTC II. After meeting up with a good number of us after the event program (I understand some of you on the email list were at the event but did not meet up with us,and some met but couldn't proceed to dinner) we headed off to our networking dinner at the Skylight Diner. Along the route we spotted posters from the self-described former pro-rebuilder now touting his memorialized knockoff of the 1939 World's Fair landmarks at nycsky.com...a few quick pen strokes showed the rectangular silhouettes and North Tower antenna of two badly needed additions to his site plan! (One person,I forget who,suggested a poster reminiscent of missing person notices,saying MISSING:OUR TWINS with photos...certainly those of us who lost two tall guardians on September 11th are worth thinking about as well as those who lost other family!) At the dinner 22 of us sat down in two long rows,which made it impossible for the conversation to carry all the way from Joe Wright and I at one end to William Thomas at the other.But it was great meeting as many as I did. Joe Wright passed out copies of the flyers he had had printed out with pro-rebuilding comments by me and others,and some asked for more copies that they could hand out.Anyone interested can email Joe at 4joewright@att.net. The "soft" petition I put at http://www.put.com/wtc/petition.html got some signatures at the event and more at the dinner,will probably send it to the Port Authority...not sure of a specific person to direct it to. IMPORTANT: If you weren't at LTTC II and can't make the overflow event tomorrow, there is an ONLINE VERSION about to be held.Registration has not yet opened,but go to http://www.weblab.org/LTC.html to learn about the event and to http://www.weblab.org/sgd/ to learn more about how this "online dialogue" works. They SAY it is for "New York area residents",but they said that about LTTC II,and Kurt Spindler was there from Virginia and Alex Butziger there from Germany and Randy Warner there from California...it's worth trying to register when possible...we need to get every pro-rebuilding voice heard!! Otherwise people should do their best to send articulate pro-rebuilding comments to the powers-that-be....probably give Silverstein Properties a pass at the moment since he is keeping a low profile,but those who are particularly free-market-oriented may wish to urge him to stand firm in resisting plans to scale down the office development. I think we will be able to be stronger in the comment phase for Phase I,now scheduled to end August 19 though who knows if schedule slip may change that,than we were at LTTC II.The sponsoring Civic Alliance is geared to its constituency groups,which tend to have an agenda and recruit their own members to attend events...sometimes you think they'd like cities to be an unending expanse of green space,cultural facilities,and low-income housing with an exactly equal amount of diversity on every street corner.CA chairman Robert Yaro,who convened LTTC II,said in a NY Times interview "I think we got a resounding sense that the Port Authority program has to go", meaning the office redevelopment would have to be reduced...that's what he wanted to hear. However,I think we can,by sustaining voices through effort, push taller buildings up and downscaling and footprint-emptiness down the list of priorities...we just have to keep writing. It was suggested that there might be another LTTC forum on the Phase II options. As for the existing comment process.... No exact date has been announced yet for the early-August public hearing in Lower Manhattan. They have now redirected site plan feedback to lmdc@empire.state.ny.us rather than the general-inquiry address infolmdc@empire.state.ny.us. Snail mail to the Whitehead clique should be addressed to Lower Manhattan Development Corporation One Liberty Plaza,20th Floor New York,New York 10006 The previously posted comment addresses in the timeline are renewnyc@empire.state.ny.us Port Authority/LMDC Comments c/o Empire State Development Corporation P.O. Box 4438,Grand Central Station New York,New York 10017 Keep the pressure up...a few months ago they were saying nothing over 50 stories,a large room full of people who think the worst thing about their plans for 80-85 story buildings is that they're too short shows we're heading in the right direction,but we can't let them forget that message for a minute! -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.