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American Morning

Gov. Pataki Discusses New York's Post-9/11 Recovery

Aired March 11, 2002 - 08:03   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In the six months since 9/11, the nation has grieved, and the nation has also gone to war, but the attacks on America have taken an emotional toll on New Yorkers in particular.

Gov. George Pataki has seen it first hand during his visits to ground zero. Protecting the city and getting its economy back on track have been two of Pataki's main priorities since September 11. And help is on the way. Just last week, the president repeated his promise of more than $20 billion to help New York rebuild following the terror attacks.

And Gov. Pataki joins us now from Battery Park, where he is attending the rededication ceremony -- good morning, governor -- thanks for being with us.

GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Good morning, Paula -- nice being with you.

ZAHN: Thank you. So, governor, I know the last time we toured ground zero together, it had been I think maybe your -- I don't know -- 15th, 16th visit down there. What does it look like to you this morning as you look out on what is left of the World Trade Centers?

PATAKI: Well, the progress continues, and it continues every day and cleaning up the site, but it is being done respectfully. There are still bodies of firefighters and police officers being uncovered. And we have to understand that while we want to see things move forward as quickly as possible, we have to be respectful. Respectful of those who lost their lives and the family members and all of us who still mourn the loss of our friends and neighbors.

ZAHN: Governor, I want to take you back to the first news conference you held shortly after September 11. Here is some of what you had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATAKI: This is a vicious attack upon New York. It's an attack upon America. It's an attack upon the whole concept of freedom and our way of life. And we cannot let these attacks succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Here we are six months later. What do you think ultimately the impact has been on New York City and the rest of the country?

PATAKI: Well, clearly we are still mourning, and we still miss the thousands of innocent victims of that horrible attack upon America and our way of life. But we also still see the strength. We see lower Manhattan coming back every day. We still see the spirit of New Yorkers pulling together and helping each other. And I have never seen our country as united and resolved to defend our freedoms and standing with the president and our soldiers who are risking their lives in Afghanistan right now.

So I am confident that each day, we get a little stronger economically. We will never forget, but we will, I believe as a people, remain united and remain aware of what strengths we have and what we have to do to protect and maintain our freedom for future generations.

ZAHN: And coming back to more of what you just said about New York City, you said business is on its way back. And then we are going to show some pictures now of the tour that you and I took back in January where you conceded that this would be a monumental task trying to encourage businesses to continue to work downtown. How do you plan to continue to lure jobs here?

PATAKI: Paula, it is a monumental task. We had 377,000 jobs that lost their place of employment, either temporarily or permanently. And every day, we have to fight to encourage them to come back and invest and create jobs here. We are making progress. We are seeing businesses reopen. We are seeing buildings that were damaged reopened, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in an inclusive process of developing comprehensive plans. And lower Manhattan is going to be stronger than it was in the early morning of September 11. It is going to take time, not weeks or months, it's going to take years, but we will be stronger.

And as you just said, Paula, on Saturday, President Bush signed the legislation creating a more than $5 billion incentive through our Liberty Zone Program for lower Manhattan, and that is another tool that will allow us to attract the investments and the jobs that are necessary to bring lower Manhattan back.

ZAHN: But it still ends up being maybe about $20 billion less than you had hoped for. Do you think that shortfall will ever be made up?

PATAKI: Well, Paula, I am very pleased with the help we have gotten from Washington. It is more than $20 billion, and that doesn't count billions more for the families of the victims and other funds that we know is part of the national stimulus program will be helping New York. So we have to be, particularly now on March 11, six months later, aware that human loss of the sorrow of the families and the need to, as we go forward, have a permanent and appropriate memorial at ground zero. And at the same time, continue to fight for the economic recovery of not just lower Manhattan, but our entire state.

And I am confident we will succeed and lower Manhattan will come back stronger than ever. And a part of it will be that permanent memorial that will allow us never to forget and never to stop mourning the loss of those who gave their lives, so that we could be inspired to be freer and more committed to protecting those freedoms that I have seen in my lifetime.

ZAHN: There still continues to be great concern for people who live downtown and people who work downtown about the air quality. How confident are you that someday that those independent tests will reach the levels that you would like them to reach?

PATAKI: I understand the concerns. Ground zero is something that will stay with us emotionally, and from the standpoint of sacrifice for our entire lives and I hope for generations to come. But I believe the air quality has reached what it was before September 11. We are going to continue to monitor not just air quality externally out here in the open, but also in buildings, where there was damage done.

And we just have to reassure the people by constant testing and making those tests results available to everyone that we are doing everything we can to make sure that we are not just safe in lower Manhattan, we are healthy as well in lower Manhattan. And I am confident that's the case.

ZAHN: Gov. Pataki, thank you for your time this morning, and we will be coming to you live when you make your remarks a little bit later on this morning at 8:46 when that memorial service gets under way at Battery Park -- appreciate you joining us at A.M.

PATAKI: Thank you, Paula -- nice being with you.

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