The Howard Hughes Corporation unveiled its redevelopment plan for the historic Pier 17 two weeks ago at a Community Board 1 meeting. Many media reports indicated that the presentation was met with unanimous approval and appeared to give a “green light” to the design. But the issue entails much more than what’s been reported and [...]

Flexing her power and showing her considerable negotiating skills, last week, Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced a wide-ranging series of concessions by Rudin Management on its condo project at the former St. Vincent’s Hospital site. Also part of the announcement — and a huge victory for the community — Quinn reported that the city would [...]

Lower Manhattan has become accustomed to waiting. As far as the “Freedom Tower,” or One W.T.C., we waited for an appropriate design and an appropriate name. As for the National September 11 Memorial, we waited for the 10-year anniversary and an unveiling that would satisfy family members and the world. Now Lower Manhattan is awaiting [...]

Some rezoning plans require repeated trips to the drawing board before they’re worthy of certification by City Planning. Others are fundamentally flawed at their core, no matter what accommodations might be made. Jamestown Properties’ plan to vertically expand their iconic Chelsea Market property by adding 240,000 square feet of office space and a 90,000-square-foot boutique [...]

By early June, Dr. John Howard, the administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program portion of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, will rule on whether to add cancer to the list of illnesses covered under the bill. Almost a year ago, Howard concluded that cancer should not be covered, citing a [...]

The preliminary audit of the Port Authority in many regards only highlighted the obvious: that the agency is facing a huge debt exacerbated by the redevelopment of the World Trade Center. The audit identified the W.T.C. project as the root of the authority’s financial woes, principally due to added costs associated with completing the National [...]

Suddenly, it seems as though there was never a lull in the Culture Wars. When the Obama administration announced a regulation that all employee health insurance programs — including those administered by hospitals and universities affiliated with faith communities — must provide access to contraception, the Christian right, including the nation’s Catholic bishops, acted as [...]

From just a dream a couple of decades ago, the Hudson River Park is now 70 percent complete. But the park still faces steep obstacles. Building the rest of the park will take $250 million. The cost of maintaining the growing park, which stretches 5 miles along the Lower West Side waterfront, continues to grow while [...]

This week’s reopening of the Seaport Museum is cause for celebration. The maritime museum, which for years was struggling to stay afloat with dwindling patronage and sparse exhibits, was seemingly on the verge of closing altogether until a deal was struck between the museum and the city last September. That deal would never have happened [...]