The Battle For Ground Zero, Part IX

The Drawing Center, which is one of two controversial groups that got the right to participate at the WTC cultural center to be built adjacent to the memorial was on a list of organizations that will benefit from Mayor Bloomberg's largesse. Mayor Bloomberg gives away millions in donations every year, which is a good thing. His choice of organizations that he donates to; not so good.

The Drawing Center in SoHo, which made headlines last month when [Gov.] Pataki vowed not to allow it to show work at Ground Zero "that denigrates America," was one of 406 social-service and arts groups to receive Bloomberg grants this year via the Carnegie Corporation.

The mayor has funded the grants, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, each year since 2001 from his pocket.

Although listed as anonymous gifts, City Hall sources have conceded that Bloomberg is the actual benefactor.

The Drawing Center, one of the cultural institutions slated to open at Ground Zero, wasn't on the previous year's list.

Officials insisted Bloomberg doesn't select the individual groups that wind up with the Carnegie grants.

Apparently there are some people who are tone deaf when it comes to controversy. Bloomberg is one such individual.

Meanwhile, Debra Burlingame is suggesting that the mall retail space that would be built underground to replace the space lost on 9/11 would further push the memorial to the fringes. She cites reports that the mall would actually force thousands to be turned away from the memorial.

"What is galling is that while they are planning a 600,000-square-foot underground mall, their own studies are acknowledging that they will have to turn away 10,000 people a day at the memorial," Burlingame said.

"This is a bait-and-switch operation."

Lower Manhattan officials reacted quickly to Burlingame's charges, pointing out the retail space was designed after a long planning process to replace the World Trade Center shopping plaza — one of the nation's busiest and an important part of economic activity downtown before Sept. 11.

"The Port Authority is extremely respectful of the memorial and what it means to those who lost loved ones on 9/11. For that reason, there will be no retail located in the memorial district," read a statement from the PA, which controls the site.

The shops would be located in and beneath the proposed office towers and in the transportation hub — not on the memorial site.

Burlingame has been a leading voice in opposing the "International Freedom Center" at Ground Zero. She said family members would not oppose retail at the trade center if the museum is replaced with an exhibit dedicated only to 9/11.

It's interesting that she's decided to go after the retail space at this point considering that the issues surrounding the Drawing Center and IFC are not resolved to anyones' satisfaction. Both groups will continue to be a part of the process despite the Governor's statements.

The battle for retail space only highlights the difficulties of trying to cram all kinds of uses into a confined area and once again suggests that the master plan is flawed to account for all of the siting needs.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy.