GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Warm Reception for $4.55B in Fed. Transit Cash

NEW YORK CITY-Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton were among the political heavyweights on hand yesterday to celebrate an additional $4.55 billion in federal funding for transportation infrastructure in Lower Manhattan.

Held at Ground Zero, the was soft on details about the proposed transit hub to be built at the World Trade Center site. The planned facility, as reported on GlobeSt.com yesterday, is expected to link the New York City Subway to the ferry system and the New Jersey PATH trains. In addition, a pedestrian walkway will connect the Broadway/Nassau Street subway station to the World Financial Center. Pataki said the cash infusion would “not just recreate what was here on the morning of Sept. 11, but put in place a 21st Century transportation infrastructure for the people who live, work and will come to Lower Manhattan.”

Bloomberg said the funding, committed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US Dept. of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration, should quell any misgivings about Washington’s support for Lower Manhattan. “All the times people have questioned Congress’ resolve and the President’s resolve…those doubts should certainly go away,” he said. “For the whole country New York is really a symbol. We will not let the terrorists win.”