November 8, 2006

Dear Members and Friends of the Lower Manhattan Community,
The revitalization of Lower Manhattan after the events of 9/11 remains one of New York City’s highest priorities, and The City University of New York is a strong supporter of those efforts, particularly through the rebuilding of Fiterman Hall.

Fiterman Hall, located at 30 West Broadway, is a 15-story building that was donated to the University’s Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in 1993 by Miles and Shirley Fiterman. On September 11, 2001, 7 World Trade Center collapsed into Fiterman Hall’s south side, causing significant damage and rendering it uninhabitable.

The College serves more than 19,000 degree-seeking students and an additional 19,000 students in continuing and professional education courses. Nationally recognized for its outstanding academic program, the College is an important resource for the Wall Street and Lower Manhattan communities. The new Fiterman Hall will greatly enhance the scope and quality of educational, cultural, and community programs offered by the College.

CUNY and BMCC, led by President Antonio Perez, are committed to working in close collaboration with government agencies and community organizations to provide the safe remediation and deconstruction and subsequent rebuilding of Fiterman Hall. In recent months, progress on several fronts has been realized.

In June 2005, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, and its team of proposed consultants, was selected to remediate, deconstruct and design the new building. Design and documentation for both phases has proceeded simultaneously.

In January 2006, the consultant team submitted a preliminary project to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review. This submittal and ensuing comments have been posted on www.epa.gov and www.lowermanhattan.info. Remediation and deconstruction bid documents, including EPA’s comments on the preliminary submission, were subsequently released to fully vetted, pre-qualified bidders. The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) and the University selected PAL Environmental Safety Corp. to perform the remediation and deconstruction of Fiterman Hall.

In October, PAL submitted designs for scaffolding erection operations to EPA for review and comment by the involved regulatory agencies. The scaffolding erection submittal was posted on www.lowermanhattan.info following an October 25, 2006 meeting convened by New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, where we presented a progress report to elected officials, heads and representatives of county organizations and agencies. Work to construct the scaffold will begin upon approval of the submitted plans. We anticipate that remediation and deconstruction documents will be ready for submission before the end of 2006. These documents will be posted for community review and comments before submittal to EPA. We plan to begin remediation immediately upon approval by EPA and all other regulatory agencies. The remediation and deconstruction work should be completed within 10 to 12 months. Deconstruction will commence when the building is fully cleaned and abated.

Our team has also drafted an Emergency Action Plan to address the steps that will be taken in the unlikely event that the remediation or deconstruction work causes unsafe conditions. This draft plan has been made available to the community and sent to the New York City Office of Emergency Management and the police and fire departments for review. When comments from concerned parties have been received and incorporated into the document, we will re-issue the plan.

As we prepare for the remediation and demolition of the existing Fiterman Hall, work is also proceeding on the design of a new building for the site. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners recently completed the design development phase and is now preparing construction documents. Construction of the new classroom building is scheduled to begin in 2008. We anticipate a construction period of approximately two years.

Regarding searches for potential human remains, we are working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to make diligent efforts to perform new searches. Initial contacts were made this summer, and on September 25 a meeting was held at the site with both the chief medical examiner’s office and the City’s Office of Disaster Management Operations to discuss search plans and inspections.

Even after our remediation process begins, we will maintain open communication with the Chief Medical Examiner’s office to provide access to the roof levels for any necessary inspections. Remediation on the roof levels will be performed only after the interior remediation and abatement is complete, thus allowing for approximately five months for the Chief Medical Examiner’s office to perform inspections of the roof and at the site in general.

We appreciate the involvement and interest by the community in the plans for Fiterman Hall, and DASNY and the University will continue to maintain open and frequent communication with residents and workers in the area.

Since June 2005, there have been regular updates both to the World Trade Center Redevelopment Committee of Community Board 1 and at the bi-weekly Community Outreach Meetings of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center. Speaker Sheldon Silver hosted well-attended meetings on September 7 and October 25 at which the University and DASNY provided project updates to a wide spectrum of legislators and representatives of elected officials, community, business and labor leaders.

Most recently, a public information session co-sponsored by Community Board 1, was held on October 30 at BMCC, with representatives from DASNY, the University, the environmental consultant, the construction management firm, and the contractor providing updates and answering questions.

As we move forward and enter this important juncture, BMCC and the University have enhanced outreach to ensure that all stakeholders receive news and information as soon as it becomes available, and to provide an interactive space for community questions and concerns.
The College and the University are launching on November 10th a new e-mail newsletter, “Fiterman News: Keeping Our Community Informed.” More newsletter updates will follow. We have also created a comprehensive new website, www.bmcc.cuny.edu/fitermannews. This site will host the e-newsletter and anchor news about Fiterman from a variety of sources. The site hosts a special subscription link to regular e-mail delivery of Fiterman News updates. Visitors will be able to view architectural slideshows of the exciting new Fiterman Hall. The site will also serve as an archive for important technical and design information. Other interactive features include special podcast subscriptions of future public forums and meetings as soon as they become available.

The site will also have a “Questions…and Answers” feature which will enable visitors to e-mail questions and obtain responses from college administrators. Please visit www.bmcc.cuny.edu/fitermannews, and ask your friends and neighbors to do the same. Please share your comments with us.

The safety and well being of residents, our students and faculty, business and community members, and the families of the 9/11 victims is of paramount importance to the University and the College. We will continue to move forward responsibly with the deconstruction and rebuilding of Fiterman Hall, with the goal of creating a vibrant new center of educational and cultural life in Lower Manhattan.

Sincerely,

Matthew Goldstein

 

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