157 lines
7.5 KiB
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157 lines
7.5 KiB
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From fork-admin@xent.com Mon Sep 23 18:32:22 2002
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From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>
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Subject: Rebuild at Ground Zero
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Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 11:18:55 -0400
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http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB10327475102363433,00.html
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The Wall Street Journal
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September 23, 2002
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COMMENTARY
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Rebuild at Ground Zero
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By LARRY SILVERSTEIN
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Earlier this month, we New Yorkers observed the solemn anniversary of the
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horrific events that befell our city on Sept. 11, 2001. All of those who
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perished must never be forgotten. The footprints of the fallen Twin Towers
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and a portion of the 16-acre site must be dedicated to a memorial and civic
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amenities that recall the sacrifices that were made there and the anguish
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that those senseless acts of terror created for the victims' families and,
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indeed, for all of us.
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But for the good of the city and the region, the 10-million-plus square
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feet of commercial and retail space that was destroyed with the Twin Towers
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must be replaced on the site.
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About 50,000 people worked in the World Trade Center. Those jobs are lost,
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along with those of another 50,000 people who worked in the vicinity.
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Together, those jobs in lower Manhattan, for which the Trade Center was the
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economic stimulus, produced annual gross wages of about $47 billion, or 15%
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of the annual gross wages earned in the entire state. Some of the firms
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have relocated elsewhere in the city and region, but many have not. New
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York City is facing a budget deficit. Without additional jobs, the deficit
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may become permanent. This is one reason for the importance of rebuilding.
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If we do not replace the lost space, lower Manhattan never will regain the
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vibrancy it had as the world's financial center. Love them or hate them,
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and there were lots of New Yorkers on both sides of the issue, the Towers
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made a powerful statement to the world that said, "This is New York, a
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symbol of our free economy and of our way of life." That is why they were
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destroyed. This is a second reason why the towers must be replaced, and
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with buildings that make a potent architectural statement.
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In recent weeks, redevelopment proposals have been circulated from many
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sources. Most of these focus not on the Trade Center site, however, but on
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all of lower Manhattan. Further, many believe that the 10 million square
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feet either could be located elsewhere, scattered in several sites, or
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simply never rebuilt.
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These proposals miss the point. What was destroyed, and what must be
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recovered, was the Trade Center, not all of lower Manhattan. Except over
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the towers' footprints, where there must be no commercial development, the
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office and retail space lost has to be rebuilt on or close to where it was.
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Access to mass transit makes the site ideal for office space of this size.
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That was a major reason why the Twin Towers were leased to 97% occupancy
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before 9/11. None of the other sites proposed for office development has
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remotely equal transportation access. With the reconstruction of the subway
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and PATH stations, plus an additional $4.5 billion in transit improvements
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planned, such as the new Fulton Transit Center and the direct
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"Train-to-the-Plane" Long Island Rail Road connection, the site becomes
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even more the logical locus of office development.
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And New York will need the space. Before 9/11, the Group of 35, a task
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force of civic leaders led by Sen. Charles Schumer and former Treasury
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Secretary Robert Rubin, concluded that the city would need an additional 60
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million square feet of new office space by 2020 to accommodate the
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anticipated addition of 300,000 new jobs. The loss of the Twin Towers only
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heightens the need.
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As for those who say that 10 million square feet of office space downtown
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cannot be absorbed by the real estate market, I would simply point out that
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history shows them wrong. New York now has about 400 million square feet of
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office space. All new construction underway already is substantially leased
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up. New York had 48 million square feet of vacant office space at the
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beginning of the recession in 1990. By 1998, this space had been absorbed,
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at an annual rate of about 6 million square feet.
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We are seeking to rebuild 10 million square feet on the Trade Center site
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over a period of about 10 years, with the first buildings not coming on
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line until 2008 and the project reaching completion in 2012. This is an
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annual absorption rate of about a million feet, much lower than the 1990s'
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rate.
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Those who argue that New York cannot reabsorb office space that it
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previously had are saying that the city has had its day and is entering an
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extended period of stagnation and decline. I will not accept this view, nor
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will most New Yorkers.
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a recent interview with the New York Times
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that the city "has to do two things: memorialize, but also build for the
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future." I believe that the Twin Towers site can gracefully accommodate --
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and that downtown requires -- office and retail space of architectural
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significance, a dignified memorial that both witnesses and recalls what
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happened, and cultural amenities that would benefit workers as well as
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residents of the area.
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The challenge to accomplish this is enormous. But our city is up to the task.
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Mr. Silverstein is president of Silverstein Properties, a real estate firm
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whose affiliates hold 99-year leases on the World Trade Center site.
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--
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-----------------
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
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The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
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44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
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"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
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[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
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experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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