Memo on WTC redevelopment legislation, Nov 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

infrastructure-related concerns. One quarter of those who said they would not renew their leases^ planned to leave the city and state. More recently, the chief executives of three major corporations cited transportation and infrastructure weaknesses as major problems facing businesses in lower Manhattan and stressed the danger that companies will leave as their leases expire. Moreover, even companies that remain or return to lower Manhattan have concluded that they will need to disperse their operations, keeping a smaller proportion of their workforce in the area. This workforce can be replaced only with private investments to bring in new companies, hotels, stores, and restaurants.

This legislation will strengthen coordination among the public and private sector organizations that will be responsible for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan. The purpose of the coordination is to assure that the redevelopment occurs expeditiously and with a speed that is compatible with safety, labor harmony, and fairness. By saving time, coordination also saves money, thereby assuring that the redevelopment projects will be constructed in the most cost- effective way to maximize the return on public funds.

The public organizations responsible for the redevelopment include New York City and New York State agencies, state and multi-state authorities, and not-for profit corporations, including the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and the lower Manhattan. Development Corporation whose jurisdiction is also the area below Houston Street. The private sector organizations include utility companies, construction contractors, building and construction trades, and hoteliers and housing developers. Together the public and private sectors are responsible for multiple projects concentrated in a small geographic area and with little time to accomplish all that is needed.

The legislation promotes coordination among these public and private organizations in two ways. First, it will make uniform the procurement requirements for all public agencies. Currently, one set of rules applies to city agencies, another to state agencies, and still another to each of the public authorities and nonprofit corporations. The legislation provides that all of the public agencies are subject to the same rules in contracting with the construction trades, conducting work with the public utilities, soliciting bids from contractors, ensuring participation by minority and women owned businesses, implementing interagency purchases, and obtaining insurance. Second, the more uniform rules facilitate cooperation or coordination among the public agencies and between them and the private sector organizations. The uniform rules are compatible with the public’s interest in competitive processes that secure the best work at the lowest possible cost in a timely manner.

Several of the provisions are designed to directly promote speed while maintaining safety, high quality work, and fairness. In authorizing agencies to solicit bids only from prequalified contractors, the legislation aligns the rules governing city and state agencies and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with those that govern the Port Authority. Prequalifying bidders will ensure that the critical work of reconstructing lower Manhattan is performed only by high quality firms with a proven track record in completing similar projects safely, harmoniously, and on time. Prequalifying bidders also will ensure that the work is performed only by firms with a demonstrated commitment to diversity in both the workforce and contracting community. The agencies are required to use contractors with approved apprentice

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