The temporary World Trade Center PATH Station - the final piece of the Port Authority's $566 million program to restore interstate rail service that was severed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - opened a month ahead of schedule.

The temporary station will provide a basic level of passenger service. It will not include customer amenities that existed prior to Sept. 11, such as heat and air conditioning. On a typical workday, 280 PATH trains will travel into the station.

The creation of the temporary PATH station is the first step in creation of a World Trade Center Transportation Hub. The proposed $2 billion hub is scheduled to begin serving passengers in 2006. It is expected to include underground pedestrian connections to New York City subway stations on the 1/9, N/R and E lines, as well as connections to the 2, 3, 4, 5, J, M, Z, A and C lines at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed Fulton Street Transit Center.
 

Drumgoole Plaza Opened

Drumgoole Plaza, one of 13 public open spaces being renovated or newly created with funds granted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to develop green spaces, was officially opened.

The construction of Drumgoole Plaza on Frankfort Street between Park Row and Gold Streets, is the first park completed as part of a $25 million project announced in May. Pace University provided lighting for the plaza and will maintain the site.

As part of the $25 million project, the city's Department of Parks & Recreation is enhancing the 13 sites with horticultural elements such as flowering trees, ornamental shrubs and planting beds, as well as new benches, lighting and decorative paving. Drumgoole Plaza was transformed from an empty lot into a new sitting area complete with 1964 World's Fair benches, colorful paving, architectural lighting and lush landscaping.

Trade Center Analysis Released

Governor George Pataki released an economic analysis of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center that could create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. When the World Trade Center site is fully operational in 2015, it will generate approximately 90,000 full-time jobs statewide.

Speaking at an Association for a Better New York/Downtown Lower Manhattan Association luncheon at the Ritz Carlton, Pataki also announced that the construction of the World Trade Center site will sustain an average of 8,000 full-time jobs each year until 2015 in New York City alone. The construction will generate up to 11,000 jobs per year and up to $19 billion in cumulative economic activity throughout the New York/New Jersey region.

After construction is finished in 2015, ongoing operations of the businesses and institutions at the site and spending by visitors will increase New York State's economic output by $16 billion annually, resulting in approximately 90,000 full-time jobs. The construction activity alone through 2015 will generate $261 to $287 million in cumulative state tax revenues and $149 to $184 million in city tax revenues.

Recovery Projects Honored

Two elements of the recovery from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were honored at the Construction Management Association of America's national conference in Washington, D.C.

In the publicly-owned projects of more than $100 million, CMAA departed from tradition and bestowed two project achievement awards. The winners were:

· Rebuilding of portions of the New York City subway tunnels in the vicinity of the World Trade Center. The project is owned by the New York City Transit Authority and construction management was performed by the authority's capital program management office.
· The Phoenix Project, the reconstruction of the attack-damaged section of the Pentagon building, with construction management by the U.S. Defense Department's Pentagon renovation or Pen Ren project team.