Youth Programs Fair on Sept. 20 Downtown parents have an opportunity to learn about the wide range of youth programs in the neighborhood, and to meet the people who run them, at a youth fair on Friday, Sept. 20. The fair, organized by Community Board 1, will include organizations and small businesses that provide everything from child care to recreational activities to tutoring. "We want to support the service providers, who have had a rough year because of 9/11, and give our community, especially families moving in, an idea of the services that are available," said Paul Hovitz, chair of CB1’s Youth and Education Committee. Participants will include Battery Park City Day Nursery, Chambers Pottery, Tribeca Clayworks, Manhattan Youth, Church Street School for Music and Art, and Gym Kids. CB1 will also distribute a printed guide to youth activities and services. The event is from 5 to 7 p.m. at St. John’s University, 101 Murray St. Downtown Planning Downtown residents can review and comment on the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.’s six planning options, as well as newer ideas, for the World Trade Center site and neighborhood at a forum on Sept. 5. The forum, organized by Community Board 1 and the LMDC, is from 6 to 9 p.m. at Schimmel Center, 3 Spruce St. between Gold Street and Park Row. Borders Seeks to Return Borders Books and Music is hunting for a Manhattan location, preferably Downtown, to replace the popular World Trade Center store destroyed on Sept. 11. "We would like to find a site similar in scope, for a similar audience," said Jenny Carlin, a spokeswoman at Borders’ executive offices in Ann Arbor, Mich. "People who worked at that store really miss the community down there," said Marketing Manager Daryl Mattson, who coordinated events at the Trade Center store. Before Sept. 11, it was on track to become the busiest Borders in the country for 2001, Mattson said. "We had such eager, diverse, loyal customers who were so great to plan events for. It breaks our hearts every day that we can’t work down there." Firehouse Events The eighth annual dancenow/nyc festival (formerly dancenow downtown) will begin Sept. 5 with performances to benefit Ground Hero Kids, a Tribeca community group formed after Sept. 11. The event, from 8 to 10 p.m., is at the former firehouse at 87 Lafayette St. (at White St.), where the group hopes to create a cultural and community center. Tickets are $10. Call 888-996-KIDS or go to www.groundherokids.org. The firehouse will be also be open on Sept. 11 as a quiet public gathering place. Greening $$$ Needed Doug Sterner, a Tribeca resident in charge of overseeing the "greening" on Greenwich Street, between Hubert and Chambers, says the plantings are in danger because the money has run dry. "We’re in crisis mode right now," said Sterner, who planted some 2,000 perennials in June with volunteer assistance. He said he doesn’t have the money to pay the Tribeca Partnership for the more frequent watering needed by the new plants. "I want to dispel the myth that this is being paid for by the city or corporate sponsorship," he said. "We’re relying on the community." Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to Friends of Greenwich Street, Box 247, 295 Greenwich St., N.Y., N.Y. 10007. Tribeca Loft Tour Twelve of Tribeca’s most impressive and intriguing lofts will be featured in a tour organized by the Friends of Duane Park on Sunday, Oct. 6, 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $40 and go on sale at 12:30 p.m. that day in the park, at Hudson and Duane streets. Reservations may be made by calling 227-5843. The proceeds support park maintenance and improvement. Ahoy! Taxi! New York Water Taxi launches service on Sept. 24 with three boats that will stop at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn, Pier 11 at South and Wall streets, Pier A in Battery Park, North Cove in Battery Park City, Chelsea Piers at West 22nd Street and Pier 84 at West 44th Street. Schedules, fares and information can be found at www.nywatertaxi.com. Kids Carnival in Park A carnival with live music, games, art projects and other activities will take place at Washington Market Park at Greenwich and Chambers streets on Sept. 19 from 5 to 8 p.m. The event is a fundraiser for the park. Grant for Tribeca Org. The Tribeca Organization, a coalition of small businesses formed after Sept. 11, received $200,000 from the Empire State Development Corp. for a branding and marketing campaign. The Alliance for Downtown New York and Wall Street Rising also received $200,000 grants.