Pier 42 nixed as WTC construction area

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has decided against a proposal that would use Pier 42 as a staging area for World Trade Center construction. Under the plan, the Port Authority would have used the Lower East Side pier to store steel construction beams for the PATH transportation hub by the WTC site. According to the Downtown Express, the storage space would have blocked off waterfront space and required approximately 60 truck trips per day between the pier and the WTC construction area. Area residents balked at this prospect, Susan Stetzer, the Community Board 3 district manager, said. “We were extremely concerned,” Stetzer said. “It was more loss of access to the waterfront. It was more trucks going all the way through from one side of Manhattan to the other. It was beyond a tipping point.” As a result of community pressure, the Port Authority has decided to use a New Jersey contractor, which will deliver the beams on an as-needed basis.