Daily News article on Lower Manhattan revitalization

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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CITY BEAT libsl The pheeiiii factor A ftukm libi “laiiiury CoM Klein hn libel Activist spurs revival of lower Manhattan anyp''i‘n A joug.; he. $100 million I By CLEM RICHARDSON she was traAwl DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

BATTERY CH lii fictional best 1 he way Madelyn Wils sees it, the city has two years to re­ veiled «^un(« create lower Manhattan in a way that makes people want to Here are the average rents In dent Bil|.;iiKii lower Manhattan for the paign, (he Nc* live there. second quarter of this year: nal s eports in to More people live below Canal St. now Having more families ineaas the need Daria Carter- than called the area home before the Sept. for more schools, Wils said. She was a dri­ studio: $2,065 One bedroom: $2,421 gued site was tk 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Wils said. ving force behind the creation of the the libtwjan w Occupancy rates are at 95%, and more Millennium High School, which opened its Two bedrooms: $3,695 the boortTJov. than half the people in the section’s major doors last month to 220 students on the Three bedrooms: $5,651 Intheb&jk, Si housing area, Batteiy Park City, are new­ upper floors of a F'Randal District building at 75 Broad St it was the first new school Source: The MUance for Downtown New York Baum," a librari comers, according to figures provided by his ctan^gn .st the Alliance for Downtown New York. to open in lowc Manhattan since Sept. 11. On the shopping front, if retail giant library where sj But most of those are students or young professionals living dormitory-style, or Century 21 could get some company — say, literacy progran several to an apartment, who can afford a Nordstrom department .store, Wils said board oftbe teat the rents — an average $2,065 for a studio — the two could anchor the downtown Car;Jidaie CUi and a whopping $5,651 for a three-bed- retail market. library and the j room — only because of the Lower With neighborhoods of moneyed clien­ tionofBaumta Manhattan Development Corp.'s tele already in place, Wils envisions a ity to Carter-Qi Residential Grant Program. shopping district that would attract cus­ Supietne.^ourt The $500-a-month subsidies, created to tomers from across Manhattan, Brooklyn Braun noted in 1 bring people into the community after 40% Heights and New Jersey. week. But Cart^ of them left following the terrorist strike, Wils also wants to see a large space workwitbu u-M will expire in two years. where cultural events could be staged. Carter-Oaiki “When the subsidies end, many of the “We have many cultural institutions, ton to testify kti people who are here now will leave,” said the American Indian Museum, the actual visit CHn Wils, chairwoman of Community Board 1, Holocaust Museum and many little gal­ show up “We’ll need other people to move in — peo­ leries and art spaces, but we need a cultur­ brariaa • ple who can afford to live here. So we have al center that will bring people in so that agreed they had to make sure that we have something to they leave there and go visit all the other offer in this neighborhood to attract those places,” she said. people.” She doesn’t see Ground Zero as a poten­ Whatever lower Manhattan becomes, Wils, a member of a number of civic and governmental boards, will have had a large tial draw, partly because, given the many agencies and politicians involved, Wils believes it will be another 10 years Park Cl part of its creation. Her roles as community board head, before anything is built at the site, “We can’t wait for that,” she said. ' y on pol’i trustee with the Alliance for Downtown And though thousands of peo- T, Crime io New York and member of the LMDC make pie already are coming to tracked her a major player in what will rise from Ground Zero, mo.st leave the ratel^’WC.b - the ruin.s of the 16-acre World Trade area without vi.siting shop.« and park Center site. and restaurants. day Her position that the land be developed “They may buy a T-shirt or And parks M and memorial space dedicated to the vic­ a hat, but they don’t shop era should repJrt tims be limited has angered relatives of here,” she said. not the- Parks D* tho,se kilted in the attacks, many of whom The strength of the Couocii.U4B Wil want nothing built on the footprints of the community is the people Brodejih Mid. towers. who were there before Pari (r.n<eadj “The people who live down here were 9/11 and are still there. pared-wth »l« running for their lives on Sept. 11,” Wils Wils said, last year., said. “They lost friends and family and “All of us have to neighbors. We are in mourning, as well — be a little crazy to Bote recent .‘pJ mourning for our community. We deserve live in a city that i.s Cidents ■— incM to .see our community rebuilt.” the prime tetTorist ;dn|; ano wie Por all its horror, the trade center disas­ target in the ISrooklyi ter is also an opportunity for Community countiy,” Wils Board 1 — which covers Tribeca, Battery said, “i don’t Park City, SoHo, Wall Street, South Street think about it. ana»ftw Seaport and Governors Island — to trans­ You can’t. If you 1 late the national focus on that site into did, you would­ gz improvements for the entire neighbor­ n’t be able to theN5 hood. function.” icads The community needs the same things it Q did before 9/11, Wils .said: parks, an enclosed recreation facility, stores, schools ferC and cultural institutions. so “We don't have one large groceiy store down here,” she said. “We have to go out of szs to the community to .shop for food.” Parks and green space have always been fit a premium in a neighborhood with some of the highest-priced real estate in the city. szzfasr o Wils said more must be done to develop ro' park space and highlight the area’s attrac- tion.s — the Hudson River, East River and 5' Batteiy Park - a.s recreation area.s.

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