(The New York Daily News posted the following article by Greg Gittrich on its website on April 22.)
NEW YORK — A transit hub near Ground Zero and a rail link to Kennedy Airport and Long Island are the highest rebuilding priorities for lower Manhattan’s largest employers, according to two surveys released yesterday.
One questionnaire asked executives of 25 major downtown companies to assess their current and long-term transit needs. The other posed similar questions to corporate transportation managers.
In both surveys, conducted by the Alliance for Downtown New York, the top priority was the construction of the proposed $1.5 billion transit hub linking a rebuilt PATH train station at Ground Zero to a new subway complex at Fulton St. and Broadway.
The second top transit need was a direct rail link from lower Manhattan to Long Island and Kennedy, whether that means a new tunnel under the East River or a new commuter service that runs mostly along existing tracks.
Rebuilding officials are expected to release a report Thursday on how $4.55 billion in federal transit aid should be spent.
The report will include details about the new transit hub and will also call for a study on how best to link downtown with Long Island and Kennedy, sources said. The report was due in August but delayed because officials couldn’t agree on how to spend the money.
Officials also are expected to propose several short-term neighborhood projects – including a new footbridge over West St. – to help lower Manhattan recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center. The smaller projects will cost about $50 million, a source said.