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LETTUCE REJOICE 2011, P. 24
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VOLUME 24, NUMBER 30
express s THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN
DECEMBER 14 - 21, 2011
P.A.C. funds in jeopardy
Downtown Express photo by Milo Hess
Would the real Santa please stand up? Last Saturday, Dec. 10 was the city’s annual Santa Con event and there were some naughty Santas and nice Santas that took part. Page 11
Authority layoffs, Pier A are hot topics at C.B.1 meeting BY TERESE LOEB KREUZER Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee had several items to discuss at its monthly meeting on Dec. 6, but the elephant in the room was the Battery Park City Authority’s abrupt layoff of 19 people on Nov. 9. Though
many of the 19 had worked for the Authority for a decade or more, they were told that they had less than two hours to clear out. Their termination letters said that they would be paid through the end of that day and that their medical benefits would expire
on Nov. 30. No mention was made of severance pay. In an interview with Downtown Express after the meeting, Gayle Horwitz, president of the B.P.C.A.,
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BY JOHN BAYLES There were not enough board members to constitute a quorum at Monday’s Community Board 1 World Trade Center Redevelopment Committee meeting, but there was still a lively discussion concerning one agenda item. Due to short notice John DeLibero, spokesperson for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, was unable to attend the meeting and present information concerning the agency’s remaining funds and, specifically, to discuss the state of the Performing Arts Center. The last time the committee received any accounting of such funds was at a meeting last May. In light of the recent news that the L.M.D.C. will soon be absorbed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the board members were concerned that the transition might affect the future of the P.A.C. On Tuesday, David Emil, acting president of the L.M.D.C., confirmed their concerns about the P.A.C., but added that nothing had changed since the last meeting, except for the allocation of $17 million worth
of cultural and community enhancement grants. According to Emil, there is a timeline in place in order to ensure that the $150 million already allocated for the P.A.C. remains earmarked for the project, which was part of the original master plan set forth when the L.M.D.C. was established following the attacks of 9/11. If a five-member board of directors for the P.A.C. is not created before the end of the year, then the money earmarked for the center could be re-allocated for other infrastructure needs in Lower Manhattan. Emil however stressed that the funds would not be allowed to go toward any project that does not fall within the guidelines established by the federal government’s Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency that regulates the disbursement of all L.M.D.C. funds. As for the eventual integration of the L.M.D.C. into the Port Authority, spokespersons for both agencies said the details are still being worked out and there is no set date for the transition. “It’s still a work in progress,” said Steve Coleman,
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