The Great River To River Festival Bailout Of 2009

You can save teachers’ jobs, you can fix roofs in housing projects and you can weatherize homes. Oh, and you can also build a better live music venue next time Okkervil River comes to town:

A section of the House version of the bill provides $1.7 billion to address “critical deferred maintenance needs” within the nation’s park system.

The bill doesn’t specifically mention the big-bucks rehab, but Castle Clinton is on a list of “top priority” projects the feds want to fund, according to a House Appropriations Committee aide who reviewed an agency list.

The aide put the price tag at $5.6 million to begin the renovation of the fort as an outdoor music venue, based on information the administration provided.

Location Scout: The Battery.

Park Views And The Periodic Dull Thud Of Migrating Birds

Richard Meier’s new glass-facade building next to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park is killing birds midflight:

“An all-glass building adjacent to the park is a deathtrap for birds,” said Glenn Phillips, executive director of NYC Audubon.

“The design is a set-up. It’s putting huge, uninterrupted, solid panes of glass adjacent to a landscape, and that’s a recipe for disaster.”

So Now Whenever We Switch From The R To The A Downtown We’ll Fondly Remember The $900 Billion Economic Stimulus Package Of 2009

For $500 million President Obama better get a nice looking plaque:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects to spend $497 million in federal economic stimulus money to complete the stalled and over-budget Fulton Street Transit Center in Lower Manhattan, the agency’s executive director said on Thursday.

The money would bring the project’s cost to as much as $1.4 billion, nearly double what was estimated when it was conceived in the wake of the terror attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

The additional financing would allow the authority to move ahead with plans to erect an architecturally dramatic glass building atop the transit hub, said Elliot G. Sander, the authority’s executive director. However, it was not clear if the final design would include the project’s signature feature, a conelike skylight, known as an oculus, that would channel daylight into the lower areas of the station. Mr. Sander said the oculus could add about $40 million to the cost.

“The pavilion has to be many things to many people,” Mr. Sander said, referring to the glass structure. “It has to be a building of vibrant design with as much new retail activity as possible.” He called it “a highly visible portal to a modern transportation complex.”

Mr. Sander, who spoke at a State Assembly hearing in Lower Manhattan, said that he estimated the authority would receive $1.5 billion to $2 billion from the economic stimulus bill that is working its way through Congress. He said he planned to spend $497 million of that to complete the downtown transit hub. He did not say how the remainder would be spent.

The Fulton Street project, which is a block from the World Trade Center site, was originally financed by the federal government with $750 million that was earmarked for the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. The project was meant to simplify a tangle of subway stations, topping them off with an eye-catching building that would rival the iconic structures planned for the rebuilt trade center.

But costs kept rising, and last January the authority said that while work would continue on the underground portions of the project, it could no longer afford to move ahead with the above-ground structure. The announcement was met with dismay downtown, where residents and businesses feared they would be stuck with an unsightly hole, a site where several buildings had been torn down to make way for the transit work.

Earlier: Yet Another Reason Not To Extend The 7 Train To A Convention Center That Doesn’t Even Need It . . ., Between Simpler Transfer Or Fancy Roof, I Want The Roof!

The Freedom Plinth

Because if we don’t build low-slung two-story retail at Ground Zero then the terrorists will have won:

The long-planned skyscrapers at Ground Zero will have to wait, but two low-slung buildings that could one day serve as their bases may go up soon, officials disclosed Thursday.

The buildings would face each other along Church St., rising two to six stories and serving as stand-ins until towers can be built.

They could even house world-class retail shops if recessionary ravages force new construction delays.

“The last thing the Port Authority will do is to leave holes and pits in the ground downtown,” said Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward after a state Assembly hearing on the status of lower Manhattan redevelopment.

“To avoid that, we will either build pedestals, which will allow some form of retail options and permit long-term subsequent construction, or build to grade.”

Each would be engineered to support the immense towers that World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein intends to build on the 16-acre site.

They would be constructed later, when the real estate market recovers.

The pedestals would function as handsome, ultra-expensive stumps for the future buildings.

Three Or Four Weeks Late And An Inch Short

Mistakes happen, you just hope it doesn’t matter:

A staggeringly basic blunder is delaying the grand opening of the MTA’s first new subway station in 20 years, the Daily News has learned.

The platform at the $530 million South Ferry station is a wee bit too far from the train tracks, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Recent inspections found gaps between the platform and No. 1 train cars up to 1 inch wider than federal rules allow, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed.

Riders will have to wait another three to four weeks before they can use the station while workers make some $200,000 in fixes, the MTA said yesterday.

Location Scout: South Ferry Station.