Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association Lauds Port Authority PATH Extension to Newark Liberty International Airport and Investment to Complete World Trade Center Site

Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association (D-LMA) Chairman Robert R. Douglass and incoming President Jessica Lappin today issued the following statement in support of the Port Authority’s 10-year capital spending plan which will allocate $4.9 billion to complete the development of the World Trade Center site and $1.5 billion to extend the PATH train to Newark Liberty International Airport:

“The Port Authority’s actions today are sure to cement Lower Manhattan as a premier, mixed-use business address. By creating a one-seat ride from the iconic Calatrava-designed PATH station rising at the World Trade Center site to Newark Airport, the ease and value of doing business in Lower Manhattan will dramatically increase, and will spur economic development throughout Lower Manhattan, New York City and Northern New Jersey. We look forward to working with the Port Authority to promote this exciting new gateway between Lower Manhattan and Newark Airport.”

Currently, New York City is virtually the only international financial capital without a direct transit link from the central business district to an international airport, a growing disadvantage for companies, clients and customers. Creating a seamless mass transit link between Newark airport and Lower Manhattan has been a longstanding priority for the area’s business leaders as well as local and regional planning groups.

"This project is essential to ensuring the competitiveness of the metropolitan region," said Elliot Sander, Chairman of Regional Plan Association. "In addition to offering a viable alternative to expensive, unpredictable taxi rides between Lower Manhattan and Newark Airport, the PATH connection will reduce traffic congestion, offer access to areas of Newark currently underserved by mass transit and improve service for the entire PATH system."

“The Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business District will soon join the ranks of Hong Kong, Munich, Paris and other world-class cities with direct mass transit links between their business hubs and international airports,” said Timur Galen, Global Co-Head of Corporate Services and Real Estate at Goldman Sachs and Vice-Chair of the D-LMA. “This important capital project will have tremendous economic impacts on both sides of the Hudson for decades to come and will be a huge advantage to workers and visitors from New York, New Jersey and beyond.”

“The creation of a direct link between America’s fourth-largest central business district and Newark airport, the nearest international airport, will go down in history as a significant chapter in the restoration of Lower Manhattan,” said John Zuccotti, Chairman of Brookfield Financial Properties and former Chairman of the D-LMA.

Founded in 1958 by David Rockefeller, the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association is a membership organization of key Lower Manhattan stakeholders committed to a vibrant business community below Canal Street. Sister organization to the Alliance for Downtown New York, it serves as a networking platform for senior corporate and non-profit executives, as well as a public policy forum and powerful advocate for Lower Manhattan.