Downtowners Give Their Wish List to LMDC by Etta Sanders Picture this: You leave your moderately priced Downtown apartment, walk the kids to their newly built elementary school, then stroll down a lively street of galleries before hopping a shuttle bus to a sprawling yet easy-to-navigate transit center for your commute to work. In the evening, you might shop locally at a large, reasonably priced supermarket, or take in a nearby performance of the City Opera. This is the Lower Manhattan of the future. Or, at least, of our dreams. Grand visions like these were what came out of a series of Downtown workshops held recently by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) in six Downtown neighborhoods. At the invitation-only events, residents, business people, and representatives of cultural and community groups got the unusual opportunity to say how they would spend the remaining $1.2 billion in federal funds for Downtown development. “We want to hear what you think about traffic and transportation, open spaces, civic and cultural amenities and housing,” Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff told the Tribeca group. “What happens here tonight absolutely will make a difference.” The 45 to 65 participants in each workshop were asked to suggest specific projects, as well as the criteria for making funding decisions. In Battery Park City, Tribeca and the City Hall/Seaport area the recommendations were markedly similar; affordable housing, expanded parks and better east-west transportation appeared on nearly every wish list. There was also support for continued residential growth, provided there are the schools and other amenities to support it. Said Victor Chiu, a lawyer who lives on Greenwich Street, “It seems the city is actively trying to get residents down here and businesses down here, but they’re not trying to get businesses for residents.” And with the coming construction and onslaught of tourists, nearly every group said the city should find ways to minimize noise, air pollution, traffic congestion and the inconvenience of street closings. “Lots and lots of people live and work here,” said Suzanne Fass, who lives on Nassau Street and works at home. “Everything that happens here will impact us day and night.” Each neighborhood had its own issues, too. A West Street tunnel was widely opposed at the Battery Park City session. The reopening of Park Row got support from the City Hall/Seaport area group. Tribecans urged that the “founders of the community,” artists and small businesses, not be ignored. At the Tribeca meeting, the city’s plan to use $50 million of federal housing money for 300 middle-income apartments, while Independence Plaza residents may be facing steep rent increases, was criticized as misguided. “It costs a lot less to preserve 1,500 apartments than to spend $50 million for 300,” said IPN resident Judy Bernstein. The community input will be used in making decisions on the next projects to be funded, according to the LMDC. Once money is allocated to a project, a draft partial action plan will be posted on the LMDC website, www.renewnyc.com, followed by a period of public comment. Workshop participants said they liked having the chance to weigh in, but questioned whether their opinions would make a difference. Rich Corman, a director of the Tribeca Organization, said he was skeptical, but added, “I’m also encouraged because of the unanimity of viewpoints. There has to be a powerful message in that.”