November 10th - November 16th, 2006

7 WTC joins World Trade Center site

Friday, November 10^th: A move by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to expand the World Trade Center site boundaries to include the land that 7 World Trade Center sits on could eventually lead to the reopening of Greenwich Street between Vesey and Barclay Streets, the Associated Press reported. That section of Greenwich was closed in the 1960s to make way for the World Trade Center complex, the AP continued. Greenwich Street, now a dead end, could be turned into a four-lane southbound roadway through the site, the AP added.

Queens Health Program Receives Grant from NIOSH

Saturday, November 11^th: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has awarded the Queens World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, a Queens College health program, $1.1 million to expand its services to treat 9/11 rescue and recovery workers, Newsday reported. The facility, located in Flushing, has already treated more than 1,000 workers since 2004, and the new grant will provide diagnostic evaluation and treatment for other rescue workers whose health has been affected, Newsday continued.

Dr. Steven Markowitz, director of Queens College's Center for Biology of Natural Systems, told Newsday, "This new grant allows us to move beyond simply documenting WTC-related illnesses to offering concrete medical assistance to people in need." NIOSH is issuing a total of $40 million to several institutions in New York and New Jersey, Newsday added.

Possible Delay for WTC Arts Center

Wednesday, November 15^th: Security concerns from James Kallstrom, Governor George Pataki's anti-terrorism czar, may delay the opening of the planned performing arts center at Ground Zero, the Daily News reported. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency responsible for the building, had no comment for the Daily News. Kallstrom has recommended that the World Trade Center site include a permanent emergency access lane to underground parking areas that, as proposed, would bisect the art center's footprint, the Daily News added.

According to the Daily News, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) has allocated up to $55 million to the city to design and build the arts center but recently cut the maximum seating capacity from 2,200 to 1,800. Frank Gehry will design the arts center, and the Signature Theatre Co. and the Joyce International Center for Dance will share the space, the Daily News continued. The arts center is currently planned to open to the public in 2009 or 2010, the Daily News added.

Freedom Tower Begins to Rise

Thursday, November 16^th: At Ground Zero, steel reinforcing rods are in place and concrete will begin to be poured Friday, laying the southeast corner of the four-foot-thick core wall of the Freedom Tower, the New York Times reported. According to the Daily News, workers will pour 400 cubic yards of concrete that will be delivered by as many as 40 trucks.

On Wednesday, a trench was prepared along Church and Liberty Streets to make way for construction of a slurry wall on the east side of the site, concrete for which will likely be poured in the next few weeks, the Times continued.

"In the last seven months at the site, more has been done than in the past several years," Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, told the New York Times. The sheer number of projects taking place at the site results in projects overlapping from one level to the next, the Times continued. Kenneth Ringler, Jr. executive director of the Port Authority, told the Times, "This is world's largest three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle."

Schedule Set for Remains Search

Thursday, November 16th: The city will begin searching the rooftop of the Millenium Hotel this week for human remains, the New York Post reported. After a series of remains discoveries in recent weeks, Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler laid out a yearlong search plan that includes rooftops, buildings, streets, and Ground Zero, Newsday reported.

 

Workers plan to spend around two weeks at the hotel before moving to the rooftop of 1 Liberty Plaza, the Post reported. Next, the grounds of the former St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and a section of the haul road will be searched, the Post added. According to Newsday, the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (LMCCC) and the city's Office of Emergency Management will coordinate the renewed search effort. For more on this story, please click here.