NEW YORK — The U.S. government will contribute $4.5 billion in disaster relief aid to build an underground transportation hub at the former World Trade Center site, The New York Times reported.
The project, a long-held wish of transportation planners that would link the city subway system with PATH commuter trains to New Jersey, would help downtown Manhattan’s recovery from the Sept. 11 attacks.
Some of the money also might be used for other transportation projects in lower Manhattan, the Times reported.
New York Gov. George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Federal Emergency Management Agency ( news – web sites) officials are expected to announce the agreement on Monday, the newspaper said.
The project would mark a significant departure from previous federal policy on how disaster relief money could be used, the Times said. Previously, federal relief money could only be used to restore structures that were destroyed, not to create something new.
It is not known how much the rail hub would cost and no timetable for construction has been set, the Times said.
The $4.5 billion is not new aid. It is being reallocated from the $21 billion the U.S. government already has pledged to help New York recover from the Sept. 11 attacks. The federal budget already has committed $1.8 billion to rebuild city subway and New Jersey commuter train lines destroyed by the attacks, the Times said.
The city is working on a rebuilding plan for the 16-acre site where the World Trade Center once stood. More than 2,800 people died in the hijacked airline attacks on the Twin Towers.