Document regarding Mayor's plan for center construction, undated

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

MayorDefends Plan to Build [; Crisis Center --------------------------------------- ----------- J

4m >> < r-SoX<uSSc3 111 af. i’lsy 5b oe-Q a S o c5 C-j

Bomb-’Resistant Complex Is a Necessity, He Says s s

•S «8S...Sai«BS<^

o'S'Jc^°'2o£5? ««g

S ..SJFc- >,M

«2 SS « "

By KIT R. ROANE t •ss S 3 2 ■o 8 •“ £ 8 S.'a ° § ‘a; “ I- S O « u'" 2 " -S S 'c re o 2.2 Mayor Rudolph W, Giuliani defended his’ plan to build a $15 million emergency con-^ trol center in the World Trade Center com-' piex yesterday, as emergency experts ques­ tioned its viability, City Council members, 3c; .o s complained that they had not been consulted.^ >1.0 O IC

and radio hosts turned it into a punch line. *

s Ri flpshii ® w 2 2 2 cu The Mayor said the project was not tn-' S a-o £ § g w tended merely to be a bunker, where select' .S’?! city officials would be safe, as some critics' 2 .2 m § o have suggested. Rather, he said, it would be; a secure control center where emergency' operations could be directed in case of a; V5 Js ra 2 S g S'jJ re 2 2-5 disaster. “This is really an attempt,” he said, “to put the city for the next 20 years in a pi silhlSSS g'S g s o position where it can de^ with the kinds of q emergencies that might be unique to Ameri­ ii S 2 S 8^ I I S’ ca’s biggest city, its most densely populated' city, and the best-known city in the world.' c: ill And I would think that even City Council members would refrain from playing poll-, tics with this.” But Council members could not resist' Calling the Mayor’s actions increasingly' J*5 bizarre, the City Council Speaker, Peter F.' Vallone, said, “If he wants to build a bunker; for the only people he trusts, all he needs Is aj phone booth.” i «2 Other Council members continued to ao’ cuse the Mayor of concealing his plans for! the center and questioned the need for it at a' time when he has threatened to cut some' <5 2 Um TJ

city services for the elderly, youth and the' poor. s, i The Mayor pointed out, however, that the; center was plainly listed on page 995 of the; capital budget adopted on June 5. He said; the line items read: “Mayor’s Office ofj Emergency Management. Design, $1.5 mil-i I lion. Construction, $15.1 million.” “This is in the capital budget for this year,” Mr. Giuliani said. “I know that there are some Council members that don’t read: the budget, but that’s their problem. ’Thlsj money has already ,been obligated. in-teriHSI'— of contract.” The Mayor refused to provide details about the center, saying such information could help those who “want to take advto-; tage of victimizing the city.” Admlnlstra-,’ tion officials, however, said it would occiipy 46,000 feet on the 23d floor of 7 World Trade Center, bringing together more than lOO representatives from city, stole and Fed­ eral agencies, as well as public utilities, W times of emergency. * Currently, operations during all larg^ scale city emergencies are directed from an eighth-floor room of police headquarters, that is lined with maps, television monitors and banks of phones for city agencies. The Mayor said yesterday that there “were things lacking” at the center. \ While emergency management experts applauded the Mayor’s attempt to upgrade the city’s disaster preparedness, they ques­ tioned the wisdom of placing the command center on an upper floor of a building not owned by the city, particularly one hi traf­ fic-congested lower Manhattan. The center will be in a building jointly owned by Silver-; stein Properties and the Port Authority ofj Continued on Pc^e 37 .^1 .•»

NYC-WTC_000167648