1.1. Steve Weber of RPA noted that three of the eight working groups of the Civic Alliance have submitted their draft chapters for the planning framework, and we are waiting to receive the rest by Friday, April 12.

2.1. The presentation focuses on: Open Space, landmarks, historic preservation, streets and street interconnections, landmarks and historic preservation, art and cultural institutions, libraries, museums, green markets and other shopping, view corridors, and street theatre. The presentation does not focus on educational institutions, medical facilities, day care, centers for the elderly, and teen centers. The omission of the latter subjects is due to restriction in time and scope.

2.2.  The World Trade Center site and West Street present the greatest opportunity for Civic Amenities. How the area is split between the foot print of the memorial and amenities will determine the shape of Lower Manhattan.

2.3. We need to compare open space and public space to what existed before. 2.3.1. Streets can be more pedestrian friendly.

2.3.2. Finish the West side bike trail.

2.3.3. Create a recreation park under the Brooklyn Bridge.

2.3.4. Remove the sanitation facility at Houston Street.

3.1. Lower Manhattan was built around commerce.

3.2. Streets were shaped in relation to the water's edge.

3.3. Goal 1: re-energize the waterfront.

3.4. Shipping waned as time went on.

3.5. Lower Manhattan needs to reconnect with its surrounding neighborhoods.

3.6. Early skyscrapers in lower Manhattan had small floor plates.

3.7. Goal 2: New development should be 'more humane' and have greater variety.

3.8. Grand Central Terminal in midtown is a transportation hub that also functions as a public space. We should consider emulating this function for a transportation hub in lower Manhattan.

3.9. There is currently a RFP for the redesign of the Battery Maritime Building.

3.10.  Whitehead said that he would like to see an element of culture downtown.

3.11. Arts and cultural resources should be dispersed throughout Lower Manhattan

3.12. To give a sense of the scale of the WTC Site downtown, which is 16 acres, Bryant Park is 7 acres, and Lincoln Center is less than 4 acres.

3.13. Downtown possesses a vast trove of historic treasures including: Tweed Courthouse, St. Paul’s Chapel, 90 West Street, and the Woolworth Building.

4.1. Downtown was once farmland.

4.2. The goal in redevelopment is to knit the whole fabric of Lower Manhattan back together.

4.3. Look at the WTC site in context of the neighborhood around it.

4.4. Recognize historic resources

4.5. For 360 years the street grid has accommodated change and growth.

4.6. Historic districts are planning assets.

4.7. There are 96 individually designated historic landmarks in Lower Manhattan and eight districts.

4.8. We propose a new historic district that incorporates TriBeCa South, which currently is not land-marked.

4.9. L.M.D.C should include a preservationist and an urban historian on their board.

4.10. Some of the federal money should be made available to owners of historic properties for external cleaning and repair.

5.1. Nancy noted that the residential community downtown is a relatively new one.

5.2. Community Board One is bordered on the north by Canal Street and includes Governors Island.

5.3. The land use makeup downtown is diverse. From 1990 – 2000, the census stated that the population of Lower Manhattan grew by 40%. Additionally, the kindergarten class of PS 234 was 40% larger in 2001 than 2000.

5.4. Before September 11, Downtown was the #1 family destination to move to in New York City.

5.5. This district was once a financial and manufacturing center. Residents didn’t have amenities like groceries, dry cleaning, and trash collection.

5.6. To illustrate the changes in Lower Manhattan, Nancy showed a picture of a little girl sitting on her tricycle at Washington Street and Reade Street in 1969. The next slide showed her standing in the very same spot, which is now Washington Market Park near BMCC, as a grown woman. These photos were taken from the TriBeCa Trib, April 2002.

5.7. In 1981, the elevated Miller highway along the West Side was an amenity for the community, after it stopped being used as a highway. The abandoned highway briefly served as a makeshift bike path, walking trail, and basketball court.

5.8. Landfill from the World Trade Center, covered in sand, also formed a beach for several years. The community held events that incorporated the art community including "Art on the Beach".

5.9. Owens recalled that Battery Park City (which is held in such high esteem among planners) was not planned with schools, ball fields, and other such amenities. These were amenities that the people fought hard to achieve.

6.1. Artists have always been pioneers and hastened the economic revival of neighborhoods, only to be priced out of those neighborhoods later.

6.2. The Downtown Now map shows the rich and dense wealth of cultural resources that currently exist in downtown.

6.3. A coordinated way-finding system should be set up to help tourists and visitors navigate around Lower Manhattan.

6.4. A "Museum Mile" will be marketed: a comprehensive marketing plan for all of downtown should be created.

6.5.  We could immediately coordinate a summer festival.

6.6. An invited competition for downtown storefronts (of artistic displays) is also a method of bringing people downtown and creating more public art.

6.7. Enhance cultural activities by investing in the preservation of existing institutions large and small.

6.8. Opportunities for public art have waned downtown and we need to do more to bring back public art in the community.

7.1. New York is a city of islands.

7.2. Downtown is dismally short of open space.

7.3. The waterfront presents the last great opportunity to create additional open space in Manhattan.

7.4. The West Side is a model for waterfront development.

7.5. Agencies need to coordinate currently on debris removal

7.6. Need to fund and complete the Hudson River Park plan and complete the bikeway.

7.7. East River waterfront presents an opportunity and a challenge.

7.8. Accelerate the improvements of the esplanade and the bikeway on the East River.

7.9. Refurbish the Battery Maritime Building

7.10. Create open space around the Brooklyn Bridge.

7.11. Explore recreational opportunities for the use of pier 35 & 36.

7.12. Engage the Chinatown Community.

7.13. Cultural Institutions: Guggenheim has been proposed. Perhaps a smaller size should be considered.

7.14. The development of more ferry service and water taxis is a positive advance.

7.15. Links are needed to Governors Island, which is an essential recreation space and public amenity.

8.1. Recommendations developed at the workshop with Community Board One include:

8.1.1. Improve and expand the inventory of public spaces
8.1.2. Explore funding options including public/private partnerships
8.1.3. Configure the WTC site as a crossroads for Lower Manhattan

8.1.3.1. Express within it the historic street pattern
8.1.3.2. Within the WTC site establish a hierarchy of public space

8.1.4. Create a series of pedestrian friendly public space
8.1.5. Create a "Liberty Loop" with a cross-town Jitney, trolley, or bus service to move
people ease and west more quickly and coherently.
8.1.6. Extend the greening of Greenwich Street through the WTC site.
8.1.7. Expand the sidewalks on Church Street.
8.1.8. Water Street could be a major pedestrian green boulevard.
8.1.9. Discourage motor vehicles through S.O.V. restrictions.
8.1.10. Consolidate checkpoints for trucks.
8.1.11. Create Enhanced pedestrian zones.
8.1.12. Consider depressing West Street, but we have several technical questions that we haven't seen answered yet.

8.1.12.1. What would be the character of the open space?
8.1.12.2. What would be the traffic and pedestrian impact? (Ramps on and off)
8.1.12.3. Where would the exhaust pipes be located?
8.1.12.4. Cost-benefit analysis for decking West Street versus leaving it at grade and turning it into an urban boulevard.

9.1. Kent described PPS as having a place/community driven approach.

9.2. He introduced us to the new Project for Public Spaces website, "Rebuilding a Community" which provides an interactive forum for learning about Civic Amenities in Lower Manhattan.

9.3. The website is www.pps.org/wtc

10.1. There is work to be done in Lower Manhattan

10.2. Currently, the area is uneven. There are beautiful places and awful junctures of streets.

10.3. People and residents need to see a commitment to a timeline of improvements and civic amenities on the part of government and civic leadership.

10.4. We also need short term improvements with the streetscape, bikeways, and recreation.

11.1. Bob Yaro:

11.1.1. These amenities are necessities.
11.1.2. The development of the district will underpin the next economy.
11.1.3. We need the hardware (the physical infrastructure), but we also need the software (the amenities).

11.2. Ed Blakely:

11.2.1. How great it would be if all of New York could undergo these improvements, and not just Lower Manhattan. We do not want to create an island effect in Lower Manhattan.

11.2.2. The way-finding system proposed is a good idea. I was down there recently and there were many tourists who could not find their way.
11.2.3. Regular civic activities, such as “Wednesdays on Wall Street” would help restore civic life downtown and would be easy for people to remember that on a certain day each week, something is always going on.
11.2.4. Think about recreation spaces such as piers and platforms.

11.3. Gail Karlsson: About the “Island effect,” downtown residents have experienced a special kind of terror of having their children watch the terrorist attacks from their schools with their own eyes. We now have no recreation space.

11.4. Paul Elston: They are spending federal money on rent abatement; perhaps this should be invested in permanent amenities to improve the community.

11.5. Liz Thompson: I have conflicting feelings about what Blakely brought up. Harlem has been trying to rebuild for years. Other neighborhoods in New York have their own kinds of traumas. If we open our arms to all these communities, we put ourselves in a better position.

11.6. Ron Shiffman: This addresses one of the other issues of the Civic Alliance, which includes the financing/ revenue options. We need to look at revenue sources and budget priorities.

11.6.1. 80% of people affected by this event economically are living in the four outer boroughs. Ed's point is a good one, and it doesn’t minimize the need for improvements downtown.

11.7. Jeff Zupan: From the presentation I have heard today, I have summarized the following references to transportation:

11.7.1. Emphasis on pedestrian character of streets
11.7.2. Using WTC Site as a crossroads
11.7.3. The under service of the East Side 1
1.7.4. Rebuilding/ renovating of the Battery Maritime Building
11.7.5. Notion of security areas being made pedestrian zones

11.8. Rick Bell: This resonates with the New York New Visions and R.Dot Recommendations.

11.8.1. Timing is critical and this should be stressed more.

11.8.2. Clean up activities are close to the end. They are considering leaving the site looking a little better than it does right now.

11.9. Bruce Rosen: The building of the Second Avenue subway presents great possibilities. Perhaps downtown Brooklyn’s development could be intertwined with the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan.

11.10. Joan Byron: I noticed that you suggested removing non-water dependant uses (such as sanitation facilities) from the waterfront. Will these be externalized to other communities?

11.10.1. Fulton Fish market is moving to Hunt's Point.

11.11. Paul Elston: We are not proposing to relocate the sanitation facilities externally, but locally away from the waterfront.

11.12. David Kallick: The seeds of equity are in the presentation. Chinatown and the Lower East Side should be included in plans for amenities.
11.12.1. We’ve also considered putting office space in other parts of the city.
11.12.2. How do we reconstruct communities in other areas as well?

11.13. Sumner Rosen: I see two options here:

11.13.1. The equity of sacrifice, in which everyone recognizes that there are no resources to be had.
11.13.2. And, that this city is the center of the World Economy and that New York has taken a hit for our country, and the world, and that we will rebuild together.

11.14. Ruth Acker: Could Civic Alliance members have a session for alternative revenue strategies?

11.15. Arthur Fried: The discussion of recent is the most delicate aspect of this process. To the extent that discussion gets too broad, it will be dismissed as trying to address long-term social problems.

11.16. Nancy Owens: It's ironic that we were once living downtown illegally, and now people are given incentives to move down here.

11.17. Blakely: Doing things early builds confidence. We need to bring all people into this now. We shouldn't wait.

11.18. Laura Starr: For the record, we love the Fish Market and want it to stay.

11.19. Beverly Willis: I've recently gone back and looked at the 1969 plan for Lower Manhattan adopted by the city. Interestingly enough, it was similar to what we are talking about today, particularly with emphasis on low and moderate priced housing. (Although this was not implemented.) We need to revisit low and moderate housing for the whole city.