WTC site damage assessment map, Sept 21, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

FEMA has consulted with LPC, the Commission that regulates subsurface work within certain designated areas. The LPC will require that a permit application be submitted for approval prior to any excavation in the area. The LPC has identified locations immediately outside the WTC and within the impact area that have a potential to contain archaeological deposits (see Figure 3-10). None of these are sites regulated by LPC. The closest protected site is the triangular-shaped parcel to the northv/est of the WTC that includes the African Burial Ground and the Commons Historic District.

This information and additional material gathered and analyzed by FEMA, including rock data soil borings logs, will help FEMA determine if potential archeological sites may be present in areas where excavation is plarmed. The level of effort necessary to identify and evaluate potential sites will depend on the potential for archeological effects associated with the proposed action. The range of effort includes an archeological survey or on-going monitoring by an archeologist during excavation. The Programmatic Agreement will provide guidelines for addressing the excavation and documentation of archaeological sites discovered during proposed project implementation.

3.6 SOCIOECONOMIC RESOURCES

Impacts related to socioeconomic resources include changes to demographics, employment, the local economy, and public safety hazards and are discussed in the following paragraphs. Incorporated by reference is the 1999 Annual Report on Social Indicators report issued by the NYC Department of City Planning. This document is a compendium of statistical data that describe the economic, social, physical and environmental health of the City of New York. The issues described by this document, incorporated by reference, include demographics, economy and employment, public safety, health, education and culture, housing and infrastructure, and environment (air quality, harbor wastes, and solid waste disposal).

The area of direct impact for this PEA is located along the tip of Lower Manhattan, bounded by Chambers Street on the north, the Hudson River on the west, Rector Street on the south and Broadway on the east. In addition to the 17 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, the terrorist attack has changed the economic geography of the New York City region. It is estimated that up to 50 million square feet of office space has been destroyed and tens of thousands of workers are being moved to different parts of the region (NYC Department of Building 2001). A complete list of affected facilities compiled on September 21,2001 is provided in Appendix B. Essential community facilities are described in more detail in the^ecn'o/i 3.6.3.

3.6.1 Land Use/Zoning

The World Trade Center, a complex of commercial buildings bounded by West, Church, Vesey and Liberty streets, was built around the twin towers that each had more than 4.5 million square feet of space (Figure 3-11). Below the complex was a concourse featuring retail stores and connections to the subway and Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) trains. On the waterfront in this area is Battery Park City, a 92-acre mixed-use

3-30

NYC-WTC_000141615