Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today proposed the “Coordinated Construction Act for Lower Manhattan,” which aims to speed up construction of the projects outlined in the Mayor’s vision for Lower Manhattan, and promote fairness and cost efficiency simultaneously.  The City will work with Governor Pataki and the State Legislature to get the bill passed this year.  The announcement took place during the grand opening of the new Borders Books & Music in Lower Manhattan.  The store opened to the public today and represents Borders’ return to the financial district after the loss of its popular World Trade Center location in the September 11th terrorist attacks.  The new 31,200-square-foot superstore is located in the historic American Surety Building at 100 Broadway between Pine and Wall Streets.  The Mayor, Borders Group President Tami Heim and Chief Executive Officer Greg Josefowicz participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.

“Today, as we celebrate the return to Lower Manhattan of one of the Trade Center’s most beloved tenants – Borders Book & Music – a proposed State law that would continue to spur redevelopment of the downtown area is under consideration in Albany,” said Mayor Bloomberg.  “We want to reproduce the energy, the commitment, and the speed we witnessed with the clean up of the World Trade Center site.  Our seven-point plan will allow public agencies to work together in unprecedented ways by using and standardizing the best practices of both the public and private sectors.  The act is supported by a broad coalition of organizations including labor unions, environmentalists, contractors, minority and women owned businesses, the Real Estate Board and the Partnership for New York City.  It would permit us to move forward quickly on redeveloping Lower Manhattan – a massive undertaking that will employ up to 8500 people a year for the next ten years – in the most fiscally, socially and environmentally responsible manner possible. Enacting it would send the important message that Lower Manhattan is on the fast track to a dynamic recovery.”

The City’s proposal for the “Coordinated Construction Act for Lower Manhattan” provides for fast, fair and safe construction, and includes the following provisions:

• Allows public agencies to pre-qualify bidders which ensures speed and high quality;
  
  
• Allows the City and the utility and telecommunications companies to bid together on infrastructure projects which greatly reduces the need to rip up streets repeatedly;
  
  
• Requires the use of contractors with state-certified apprenticeship programs on large projects which increases safety on the worksite, ensures minority access to construction jobs and trains a future skilled workforce;
  
  
• Requires the City to follow the State’s laws on the hiring of minority and women owned businesses which ensures wide opportunities;
  
  
• Allows the use of owner controlled insurance programs and the use of alternate dispute resolution if so desired, which would help win insurance at an affordable rate and reduce costs;
  
  
• Requires all public agencies to use ultra low diesel fuel with construction vehicles, which keeps the air clean and the workers healthy;
  
  
• Makes it easy for public agencies to purchase construction goods, such as fuel, cooperatively and thus, more inexpensively.

“Twenty-one months have passed since the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan’s recovery during that period has been nothing short of phenomenal,” added Mayor Bloomberg. “It is especially meaningful that we make this announcement today on the occasion of Borders Books & Music return to Lower Manhattan.  Borders looked long and hard for an appropriate location and they hit pay dirt with this terrific new location in the historic American Surety Building.  I want to commend Borders Group President Temi Heim and Chief Executive Officer Greg Josefowicz for their commitment to Lower Manhattan. Borders’ return adds to the excitement and energy of what’s going on downtown and this is great news to the shoppers, residents and small business owners in the area who have long awaited this day.”

“Borders is back in Lower Manhattan and it feels great!” said Borders President Heim. “Many people absolutely loved our World Trade Center store and we are so excited to once again offer a haven for our customers near Wall Street. Borders is grateful to everyone who made our return possible ranging from loyal customers who rallied for a new store to Mayor Bloomberg who has joined us to commemorate its opening.”

The store features two full floors plus a mezzanine of shopping space, offering hundreds of thousands of book, music and movie titles, along with a café operated by gourmet food and kitchenware specialists Dean & DeLuca.  The new location also offers T-Mobile HotSpotsm service, giving customers WiFi (802.11b) high-speed wireless broadband Internet access.  A majority of the 410 Borders Books & Music stores in the U.S. are WiFi-enabled including all stores in the state of New York State.

In honor of the store’s opening, Borders has planned a full schedule of special events including a visit from Belle of Broadway’s ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ who will lead a children’s story time on June 13th, and Borders will host best-selling authors and musicians including Mary Higgins Clark, Lauren Weisberger, Omar Tyree, Pete Hamill, Phoebe Snow, Toby Young, William Buckley, Gene Simmons, Jim Kaat, Jesse Harris and Pete Francis.

Borders Group is a leading global retailer of books, music and movies. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., the company employs 32,000 people worldwide and operates over 410 Borders domestic superstores; 34 international Borders stores located primarily in the U.K. and the Pacific Rim; 37 Books etc. stores throughout Great Britain; and approximately 775 Waldenbooks stores in malls across America.