Chapter 19: Response to Comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS1 A. INTRODUCTION This chapter summarizes and responds to comments on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) received during the public comment period. Public review began in May 2004 with the publication of the DSEIS. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) held a public hearing on June 24, 2004. Sections B and C list all agencies, elected officials, organizations, and individuals that commented on the DSEIS. Section D contains a summary of all comments made and a response to each of those comments. These summaries convey the substance of the comments made, but do not necessarily quote the comments verbatim. Comments are organized by subject matter and generally parallel the chapter structure of the FSEIS. Where similar views were expressed by more than one commenter, those comments have been grouped and addressed together. B. LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO COMMENTED AT THE HEARING ON THE DSEIS ELECTED OFFICIALS 1. Martin Connor, New York State Senator 2. Alan Gerson, New York City Council Member 3. Deborah Glick, New York State Assembly Member 4. Sheldon Silver, New York State Assembly Speaker ORGANIZATIONS 5. Battery Park City United, Helene Seeman 6. Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York (Civic Alliance), Petra Todorovich 7. Clean Air Campaign, Marcy Benstock 8. Coalition to Save West Street, John Dellaportas 9. Community Board 1, Richard Kennedy, Vice Chairman 10. Downtown Alliance, Jennifer Hensley 11. Environmental Defense, Ariel Tesher 12. Gateway Plaza Tenants Association, Jeff Galloway 13. General Contractors Association of New York, Jeff Elmer 1 This chapter is new for the FSEIS. 19-1 Route 9A Project FSEIS 14. Institute for Rational Urban Mobility (IRUM), George Haikalis 15. Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund (LMEPF), Ken Lustbader 16. Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC), William Henderson, Associate Director 17. Rebuild Downtown Our Town, Jesse Pozzuoli 18. Regional Planning Association (RPA), Petra Todorovich 19. Straphangers Campaign, Gene Russianoff 20. Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Nancy Christensen 21. World Trade Center Committee, Richard Kennedy, Chairman 22. World Trade Center Environmental Organization (WTC Environmental Organization), Jenna Orkin 23. World Trade Center Restoration Movement (WTC Restoration Movement), Louis Epstein INDIVIDUALS 24. Kathleen Bachand, Resident of Battery Park City 25. Joanne Chernow, Resident of Battery Park City 26. Steven Faust, American Institute of Certified Planners 27. Laura Hegedus, Resident of 225 Rector Place 28. Betty Heller, Resident of Battery Park City 29. Peter Levenson, 90 West Street 30. Thornton Lathrop, Resident of Battery Park City 31. Frederick Ling, Resident of Battery Park City, licensed engineer 32. Bill Love, Resident of Battery Park City, Coalition to Save West Street, Vice Chair 33. Lois McNally, Resident of Battery Park City 34. Ben Hemric, Resident of Soho 35. Jean Silliman, Resident of Battery Park City, member of Coalition to Save West Street 36. Michael Sinansky, Resident of Battery Park City, licensed engineer 37. Robert Thibault, Resident of the West Village 38. Karlene Wiese, Resident of Battery Park City C. LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO E-MAILED COMMENTS ON THE DSEIS ORGANIZATIONS 39. AAA Automobile Club of New York 40. Coalition of 911 Families, Anthony Gardner, Executive Board Member 41. Community Board No. 1 42. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 19-2 Chapter 19: Response to Comments on the DSEIS 43. Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT), Noreen Doyle, Executive Vice President 44. Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, George Leventis INDIVIDUALS 45. Monique Balsamo, Resident of Battery Park City 46. Barbara Beehler, Resident of Battery Park City 47. Claudia Bogdanos, Resident of Battery Park City 48. Debra Bogosian, Resident of Battery Park City 49. Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D 50. Alexander Butziger 51. Martin E. Coleman, Resident of Gateway Plaza 52. Justine Cuccia, Resident of Battery Park City 53. Russell D’Oench III, Resident of Battery Park City 54. Susan Duffy, Resident of Battery Park City 55. Brett Goldman 56. Gerald A. Hanweck, Ph.D., Resident of Lower Manhattan 57. Benjamin Hemric 58. Todd Hirschberg, Resident of 200 Rector Place 59. Jeff Holck 60. KP Hudzen, Resident of Battery Park City 61. Richard Joffe, Resident of 380 Rector Place 62. Michael Keit 63. Jerry Killiam, Resident of Battery Park City 64. Joe Loltisko, Resident of Battery Park City 65. Julie Kuehndorf, Resident of Battery Park City 66. Denise Levine 67. Harry Malakoff, Resident of West 12th Street 68. Jane Mancino, Resident of Battery Park City 69. Lisa Margolin, Resident of Battery Park City 70. Sigi Moeslinger, Resident of Rector Street 71. Maria Ouranitsas, Resident of Battery Park City 72. Rebuild Downtown Our Town, Jeff Pozzuoli 73. Bob Rosen, Resident of Liberty House 74. Rafael Saenz 75. Richard Schuemacher, Resident of Battery Park City 76. Helen Seemen 77. Dave Stanke 19-3 Route 9A Project FSEIS 78. Erika Sullivan, Resident of downtown Manhattan 79. Denis Tim, Resident of Gateway Plaza 80. Eric Tucker, Resident of Battery Park City 81. Saint Nicholas Church, DJ Hodson 82. Angelique Vandervis, Resident of Battery Park City 83. Emily Weschsler, Resident of Rector Place 84. Andrew Williams, Matrix Partners International D. LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO MAILED OR FAXED COMMENTS ON THE DSEIS ORGANIZATIONS 85. ABNY, William C. Rudin, Chairman 86. AT&T, Sarah M. Ayer, Senior Attorney 87. The Battery Conservancy, Warrie Price 88. Battery Park City Authority, Timothy S. Carey, President & CEO 89. Brookfield, John E. Zuccotti, Chairman 90. Building Trades Employers’ Association (BTEANYC), Louis J. Coletti, President & CEO 91. Cadwalader, W. Christopher White 92. City of New York Parks & Recreation (Parks), Joshua Laird 93. CBRE, CB Richard Ellis 94. Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton (Cleary Gottlieb), Allan G. Sperling 95. Coalition to Save West Street, William C. Love, Jr. 96. Cobbler Express, Carmine Colletti 97. Community Board No. 1 (CB No. 1) 98. Cooper, Robertson & Partners, Alexander Cooper, Partner 99. Downtown Lower Manhattan Association, Inc., Robert Douglass 100. Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, Stanton Eckstut, Principal 101. EPA, Robert Hargrove, Chief 102. Goldman Sachs, Timur Galen, Managing Director 103. Gruzen Samton LLP, Jordan L. Gruzen, Partner 104. Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler (HR&A), John H. Alschuler, Jr. 105. Helfand Architecture, Margaret Helfand 106. Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT), Noreen Doyle, Executive Vice President 107. Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund (LMEPF), Ken Lustbader 108. Morgan & Finnegan, LLP, Christopher A. Hughes 109. New York Building Congress, Richard Anderson 19-4 Chapter 19: Response to Comments on the DSEIS 110. New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), Naim Rasheed, Chief 111. Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Steven Spinola, President 112. SouthWestNY, Abraham Merchant 113. Verizon, John Bachmore, Director 114. World Financial Center Arts & Events Program (WFC), Debra Simon, Executive Director INDIVIDUALS 115. Benjamin Hemric 116. Thornton Lathrop, Resident of Battery Park City 117. Frederick F. Ling, University of Texas at Austin 118. Leonard Litwin 119. T. Nga Trinh 120. Douglas A. Willinger, Takoma Park Highway Design Studio E. COMMENTS AND RESPONSES PROCESS Comment 1: It’s difficult to proceed when it appears that the decision has already been made by a governor who has tunnel vision, and a Battery Park City president who has yet to demonstrate harmony with Battery Park City residents. (Silliman, Hegedus) Who is making this decision? We want to know where the democratic process is. Does the governor ever hear the unanimity with which we are speaking? Anyone that has walked around the neighborhood knows that the concept of this tunnel is absurd and unnecessary, but he is the only one that supports it. (BPC United) The only people who favor this tunnel are those who would directly profit from its construction. Why don’t politicians (Pataki in particular) do something for the true benefit of the people instead of taking care of friends and business associates? (Hudzen, Coleman) Response: NYSDOT is obligated, by law, to follow the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. After considering all of the data and information contained in the FSEIS together with the data, information, and coments received throughout the public comment period, NYSDOT, in cooperation with FHWA, will identify a preferred alternative in the FSEIS. The selection of a preferred alternative will be made based on an objective application of the project’s goals and objectives as outlined in Chapter 1, Purpose and Need,” as measured against all available data, information, and comments. See Chapter 2A, “Preferred Alternative,” for a discussion of the Preferred Alternative. 19-5 Route 9A Project FSEIS Comment 2: The fundamental problem is the Department’s attempt to piggy-back this so- called Supplemental EIS onto another EIS that was produced in 1994. Under environmental law that is patently illegal. Manhattan is particularly different than it was then and it is absurd to base a 2004 analysis on 1994 numbers. We believe that a complete new EIS is required, at least for the tunnel alternatives, and that the SEIS process does not meet legal requirements. (Coalition to Save West Street) If you do a Supplemental EIS, the