Listening to the City Report of Proceedings Now Available Click here to view the Report

On Saturday, July 20, 2002, 5,000 people from New York and the tri-state area came together to shape the future of Lower Manhattan.

This historic gathering - called "Listening to the City" - gave participants an opportunity to help shape the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan and the creation of a permanent memorial to the victims of 9/11. Up to six options for the World Trade Center site and surrounding areas will be presented by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Using the latest in modern technology, participants had the opportunity to voice their opinions on critical issues and vote on options brought before the entire group. The meeting was held at the Jacob Javits Center.

The Listening to the City online dialogues involved 800 participants in 26 small groups from July 30 to August 12. Polling results are available online, showing participants' responses to 32 questions from this two-week in-depth discussion.

A summary report on the proceedings of the July 20 event and the July 22 event is available for download.

The original preliminary reports from the July 20 event and the July 22 event also remain available for download.

Key city and state government organizations that have authority for developing the area are committed to seriously considering the perspectives and recommendations expressed by the people who attend this event. On February 7, 2002, a similar meeting of 650 participants at South Street Seaport drew widespread attention and influenced the redevelopment planning process.

Listening to the City is being organized by the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a coalition of more than 85 civic, business, environmental, community, university and labor groups, all committed to ensuring that community voices are heard in the plans to rebuild. Listening to the City is supported by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, the New School's Milano Graduate School, the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development, AmericaSpeaks, and the Regional Plan Association are sponsors of the event.

For more information call 212-404-3041 or email info@listeningtothecity.org