LOWER MANHATTAN

Millennium money may be coming ‘very soon’

By Elizabeth O’Brien and Josh Rogers

With the clock ticking until the start of the new school year, Community Board 1 has been waiting for a response from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation on the board’s request for $5 million to help Millennium High School open Downtown in September.

On Monday, Kevin Rampe, interim president of the L.M.D.C., said the board might have its answer shortly.

“We’re looking very closely at that and hope to take action very soon,” Rampe said at a breakfast meeting with the Lower Manhattan press corps.

Robert Rhodes, the principal of Millennium, has said that the school would likely outgrow the temporary Midtown home where it opened last fall. Preparations have begun to retrofit a portion of 75 Broad St. for the 250 ninth- and tenth-grade students who are expected to attend the school in the fall, and community members said an infusion of cash from the L.M.D.C. is needed to complete the project within its tight timeframe.

Rampe said that the L.M.D.C. has received more requests for funding than it can bestow, including for a peanut butter manufacturing museum. Before granting most of the requests, the development corporation wants to make sure it has a complete picture of where its funding will be allocated, Rampe said.

Neighborhood workshops
Rampe said that in May or June the L.M.D.C. would begin “visioning workshops” focused on specific Downtown neighborhoods such as Tribeca or Battery Park City. The workshops would be modeled on the “listening to the city forums” in which small groups of people will discuss neighborhood planning issues and concerns and their views will be combined and tabulated during the forum.

Winters seasoned
Alexander Garvin, the L.M.D.C.’s lead planner, announced his resignation last week, and Rampe said Andrew Winters, the agency’s director of design and development, is well qualified to take Garvin’s place and may be his permanent replacement.

“Andrew certainly has done a fantastic job and he is more than capable,” Rampe said. “I know he has the confidence of the governor and the mayor.”

Garvin, a member of the City Planning Commission, worked closely with Dep. Mayor Daniel Doctoroff on the efforts to bring the Olympics to New York City and he was Doctoroff’s ally at the L.M.D.C., which was set up by Gov. George Pataki. Doctoroff has yet to approve Rampe’s appointment as the permanent president of the L.M.D.C.

Grants
This Saturday, April 26, 200 volunteers will take to the streets of Downtown, visiting 2,000 residential buildings to spread the word about the residential grant program offered by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

On “It Pays to Live Downtown Day,” volunteers will try to reach those who might not know about the $1,000 grant available to qualifying residents who lived in the area on Sept. 11, 2001 and still live there now. Canvassers from the New York Cares and Asian Americans for Equality volunteer pool will be all over Downtown, but they will pay particular attention to Chinatown and the Lower East Side, where a higher percentage of people have not applied for the program. There are about 47,000 apartments in which tenants have not applied.

Residents who make a two-year commitment to Lower Manhattan may also be eligible for up to $14,500, depending on their location.

The deadline for applying for the grant is May 31, 2003. To apply, call 1-866-736-3969 or visit www.RenewNYC.com.

L.M.D.C. updates
The design winner has been picked, the memorial jury selected. What’s next for rebuilding at the World Trade Center site? The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation plans to answer this question within the next week or so, Rampe said.

The L.M.D.C.’s timeline will show expected schedules for improvements across agencies, such an update on the temporary PATH station (expected to open by December), and will feature both short and long-term goals.
“We think it’s critical to show a sense of momentum as we go forward,” Rampe said on Monday.

One of the first items on the agenda is the April 28 release of the guidelines for the memorial design competition.