In Saturday’s (10/31) New York Times, Robin Pogrebin writes, “If preparations are not made—and funds are not provided—to lay the foundation for the performing arts center at ground zero within the next four months, the project will not happen. That at least was the message that Kate D. Levin, the cultural affairs commissioner, delivered in urgent tones at a City Council hearing last week. … The underground work now being done by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center site, is expected to reach the location planned for the arts center in about four months. When it does, if money is not in place to build structural underpinnings suitable for the large-scale project, construction is expected to bypass the site. … The city, represented by Ms. Levin, is arguing forcefully for the importance of respecting the original master plan for ground zero, which calls for a performing arts center—the architect Frank Gehry was selected in 2004 to design it … The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, meanwhile, has been actively pursuing an alternate place for the arts center, south of ground zero.”
Posted November 2, 2009
