The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 58

Governor George Pataki responds to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's statements over the past several days. Respond is too kind a word as Pataki actually rips Bloomberg in public for taking the position that would essentially bring all work on the site to a screeching halt.

And now, other politicians are stepping in the fray:

Bloomberg also drew fire yesterday from Sen. Charles Schumer.

Schumer said he "strongly disagrees" with the mayor's view that 10 million square feet of office space would be to too much for lower Manhattan to absorb.

"Do New Yorkers want to resign themselves to a city that's shrinking and has fewer of the kind of jobs that fuel our economy?" Schumer asked.

John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., said late yesterday: "We will continue working with Larry Silverstein."

In a searing letter to Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who represents lower Manhattan, said he was "outraged" by the mayor's position. Ed Skyler, the mayor's press secretary, said if Silver was worried about the mayor's commitment to downtown, he could have "pick up the phone and asked instead of issuing bizarre press releases."

Bloomberg showed no signs of backing off.

Silver's position is captured more fully in a NY Daily News story:

"Your new position will undoubtedly hurt efforts to re-establish the lower Manhattan community as a strong commercial center," Silver said in a tart letter that blasted Bloomberg's comments as "inconsistent and absurd."

The powerful Democratic leader, who represents lower Manhattan, has long been an advocate for rebuilding the World Trade Center site strictly as a commercial hub - a view Bloomberg has tacitly endorsed for months.

Meanwhile, the NY Post editorial page slams Bloomberg for trying to kill development at Ground Zero. They also think that this might be political payback to Silver, who killed the West Side Stadium project at the last moment, even after Bloomberg got nearly a half a billion dollars in projects steered towards Silver's district. Whatever his intentions, the Post thinks Bloomberg's newfound interest in Ground Zero is destructive.

The Gothamist thinks that reducing the amount of office space at Ground Zero may be the right thing to do, especially in light of Regional Plan Association forums that suggested a reduction in office space and the inclusion of cultural and residential space. I think Gothamist and the RPA are well off the mark, as the office space is what makes it possible to attract businesses to NYC, to support all those expensive habits - like living and eating in New York City. Without more office space, rents become prohibitive and businesses will go elsewhere.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.