The new funds generated could be used to build a new rail link from Long Island and JFK Airport into Lower Manhattan, increasing the global competitiveness of New York while helping hundreds of thousands of commuters on Long Island and boosting the long-term job creation efforts in the city.

This action followed Bush's endorsement in February to extend the Liberty Bonds program, which is set to expire this year. This program provides $8 billion in tax-free bonds to finance both commercial and residential projects in New York City, with the priority being Lower Manhattan. The extension of the Liberty Bonds program, which is now pending in Congress, is critical for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site.

The governor stated that any re-allocated benefits from the tax package should be dedicated to the building of a rail link to Long Island and JFK Airport from Lower Manhattan. The new rail line would provide downtown with dramatically improved access to one of the region's most important labor pools and the region's premier international gateway.

The $2 billion possibly generated by this reallocation, in addition to $560 million put forward by the Port Authority and an expected $400 million contribution from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, would represent a significant down payment towards the project's completion, which is expected to cost a total of $6 billion.

Historic Post Office Reopens

A post office on Church Street next to Ground Zero reopened after suffering extensive damage during the 9/11 attacks, according to published reports.

The 15-story historic building at 90 Church St. underwent a substantial restoration process that included the replacement of 800 windows and the refinishing of the building's original marble lobby. The restored post office will have new furniture, lighting, restrooms, self-service centers, vending machines, a postal store, passport services and service windows.

Fashioning a New Use for Old Business

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) has selected Wank Adams Slavin Associates LLP (WASA), a New York architecture and design firm, to transform a 15-story, 350,000 sq. ft. former manufacturing and office building on Manhattan's West Side into a new campus dormitory.

The $64 million renovation project which will convert the 100-year-old structure into a 1,100 student dormitory is expected to be completed by August 2006. The site, located at 406 West 31st Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, had been home to several print shops and other manufacturing companies. The FIT dorm project is one of the first construction projects in the Hudson Yards area, the site of a major redevelopment program proposed by the city.