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CNN Live At Daybreak

Two Years After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Has Undergone Change

Aired September 11, 2003 - 05:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Lower Manhattan is still one of the biggest financial centers in the country. But two years after 9/11, the neighborhood has undergone a change. But now, making money may take a back seat to quality of life issues.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES BROWN: Who's that? Get down, get down.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a few blocks from ground zero, James Brown opening a summer long music, dance and arts festival. Twyla Tharp's Dance Company Tuesday night performed the finale of the second River To River Festival.

In a neighborhood where sidewalks used to sleep under the Twin Towers, the arts are paving the way to recovery. Downtown Manhattan is becoming New York's newest cultural destination.

Robert de Niro's Second Annual Tribeca Film Festival brought Hollywood glamour to a new theater complex across the street from ground zero.

ROBERT DE NIRO, TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: Well, I'm just happy at the turnout. I'm happy about the people coming, the response, and I'm happy what it's doing for downtown.

CHERNOFF: Cultural institutions in the neighborhood are expanding. Just after 9/11, the Museum of Jewish Heritage broke ground for a new wing. It's scheduled to open this fall. A skyscraper museum is under construction on the ground floor of the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel near the National Museum of the American Indian. And the Irish Hunger Memorial has been completed.

The complex to be constructed at ground zero will include a museum and a national theater complex is under consideration.

CHARLES GARGANO, EMPIRE STATE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: I think it's very important to bring cultural institutions to lower Manhattan if we are, indeed, going to make it a 24 hour community.

CHERNOFF: Along with culture are coming residents. About 2,500 new downtown housing units have opened since 9/11, continuing the trend of converting old office buildings to apartments.

(on camera): The bread and butter of downtown Manhattan remains the financial community. After the Trade Centers were destroyed, many firms did return to the neighborhood. But some big players left for good.

(voice-over): Lehman Brothers abandoned its headquarters opposite the Trade Center to buy this new building in midtown. Morgan Stanley, the biggest tenant in the World Trade Center, bought a corporate campus in Westchester, north of New York City. Cantor Fitzgerald and other firms rebuilt in midtown, accelerating the migration of investment houses to midtown over the past two decades. Even the New York Stock Exchange has stepped back from plans to build a new trading floor across from its headquarters.

CARL WEISBROD, ALLIANCE FOR DOWNTOWN NEW YORK: And it will take a while to fully recover. But lower Manhattan is still the third largest business district in the country behind midtown Manhattan and the Chicago Loop.

CHERNOFF: Still the financial capital, lower Manhattan continues to suffer economically. But it is also transforming into a neighborhood where people not only work, but live and play, as well.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Change>


Aired September 11, 2003 - 05:57   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Lower Manhattan is still one of the biggest financial centers in the country. But two years after 9/11, the neighborhood has undergone a change. But now, making money may take a back seat to quality of life issues.
CNN's Allan Chernoff has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES BROWN: Who's that? Get down, get down.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a few blocks from ground zero, James Brown opening a summer long music, dance and arts festival. Twyla Tharp's Dance Company Tuesday night performed the finale of the second River To River Festival.

In a neighborhood where sidewalks used to sleep under the Twin Towers, the arts are paving the way to recovery. Downtown Manhattan is becoming New York's newest cultural destination.

Robert de Niro's Second Annual Tribeca Film Festival brought Hollywood glamour to a new theater complex across the street from ground zero.

ROBERT DE NIRO, TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: Well, I'm just happy at the turnout. I'm happy about the people coming, the response, and I'm happy what it's doing for downtown.

CHERNOFF: Cultural institutions in the neighborhood are expanding. Just after 9/11, the Museum of Jewish Heritage broke ground for a new wing. It's scheduled to open this fall. A skyscraper museum is under construction on the ground floor of the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel near the National Museum of the American Indian. And the Irish Hunger Memorial has been completed.

The complex to be constructed at ground zero will include a museum and a national theater complex is under consideration.

CHARLES GARGANO, EMPIRE STATE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: I think it's very important to bring cultural institutions to lower Manhattan if we are, indeed, going to make it a 24 hour community.

CHERNOFF: Along with culture are coming residents. About 2,500 new downtown housing units have opened since 9/11, continuing the trend of converting old office buildings to apartments.

(on camera): The bread and butter of downtown Manhattan remains the financial community. After the Trade Centers were destroyed, many firms did return to the neighborhood. But some big players left for good.

(voice-over): Lehman Brothers abandoned its headquarters opposite the Trade Center to buy this new building in midtown. Morgan Stanley, the biggest tenant in the World Trade Center, bought a corporate campus in Westchester, north of New York City. Cantor Fitzgerald and other firms rebuilt in midtown, accelerating the migration of investment houses to midtown over the past two decades. Even the New York Stock Exchange has stepped back from plans to build a new trading floor across from its headquarters.

CARL WEISBROD, ALLIANCE FOR DOWNTOWN NEW YORK: And it will take a while to fully recover. But lower Manhattan is still the third largest business district in the country behind midtown Manhattan and the Chicago Loop.

CHERNOFF: Still the financial capital, lower Manhattan continues to suffer economically. But it is also transforming into a neighborhood where people not only work, but live and play, as well.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Change>