The $50 million sum received in a settlement over a botched cleanup at Ground Zero should go toward completing the final leg of Hudson River Park And Improving Open Spaces On Water Street, among other projects, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation said Thursday.
At a public board meeting, LMDC administrators submitted a list of 10 projects they’d like to fund with federal money, hammered out in a settlement with construction firm Lend Lease back in March. Other groups are expected to submit proposals, and the LMDC board of directors will vote on how to dole the money. A public hearing is scheduled for September.
Lend Lease agreed to make a $40 million payment and forgive a $10 million debt in a settlement stemming from a blaze that killed two fire fighters at the Deutsche Bank building in 2007, which Lend Lease, then known as Bovis Lend Lease, was dismantling at the time.
A Manhattan jury in 2011 acquitted the senior construction supervisor on the job of wrongdoing in the deaths.
In addition to the third stretch of green space on the Hudson River and enhancements to Privately Owned Public Spaces On Water Street, LMDC staff also suggested providing funds for a further build out of the East River Esplanade and the redevelopment of Pier 42 on the East River.
The 10 requests, which would fund only a portion of each project, totaled $59.8 million.
Project proposals (with funding request):
1) Hudson River Park Segment 3 – $10 million
2) East River Esplanade Improvements Between Beekman Street and Pier 42 – $10 million
3) Pier 42 Phase 1A (playground and comfort station) – $7 million
4) Battery Park playground – $6 million
5) Battery South Street entrance – $2 million
6) Affordable housing at 21 Spring Street – $6 million
7) Enhancements along Water Street Corridor – $15 million
8) Alliance for Downtown New York headquarters – $300,000
9) Jackie Robinson Museum – $2.5 million
10) 9/11 Memorial and Museum “Tribute in Light” – $1 million