Lawrence Mone
President

Dear Friend:

In the 1990s, New York City experienced a remarkable renaissance under the leadership of Rudy Giuliani—and the ideas of the Manhattan Institute. Some say that this renaissance came to a horrifying end on September 11, 2001, with the terrorist attack that left the World Trade Center a five-story pile of smoldering ruins and more than 6,000 people presumed dead, including hundreds of the city’s incredibly brave firefighters and police.

It doesn’t have to be over—not if the Manhattan Institute has anything to say about it. Rest assured, we are swiftly redirecting the resources and talent of the Institute toward the unprecedented challenges that now face us. No think tank knows more about the policies that make cities work and how to introduce them into the mainstream, and no think tank knows New York City better than the Manhattan Institute.

Here are the crucial policy areas the Manhattan Institute will be working on in the coming months:

Creating a Safe City. Public Safety—in our planes, trains, streets, and homes—is now more important than ever. Manhattan Institute Fellows Heather Mac Donald (America’s “indispensable journalist,” in George Will’s words) and George Kelling (founder of “Broken Windows” policing) are two of the nation’s leading experts on police and safety issues. The Institute will harness their talent and offer recommendations on what the federal government, the city’s police, and the private sector can do to make New York and the nation safe from domestic terrorism.

Reviving the Economy. The task of rebuilding New York’s economy goes far beyond simply reconstructing the World Trade Center. The city’s economy suffered a staggering blow, and New York needs a dramatic new agenda to bolster its besieged industries—even before the city begins the debate over of what should be built where the towers once stood. City Journal contributing editor Steven Malanga, among others, will lay out precisely what Gotham needs to do now to free its economy from unnecessary burdens and regulations and attract the businesses necessary to maintain its place as the only truly global marketplace.

Meeting the Fiscal Challenge. Declining revenues and the massive costs of rebuilding will present the city with some tough fiscal choices in the days ahead. Before the attack, the city was facing an economic slowdown; now it will almost certainly confront its worst fiscal situation since the mid-1970s. Senior Fellow E. J. McMahon will address this crisis by showing how prudent policies on taxes and spending are more relevant than ever to the city’s future. He will also closely examine the various plans to use the $20 billion in federal reconstruction aid that will flood into the city to make sure that it is used as effectively as possible.

Barriers to Building. “We will rebuild New York City,” said President George W. Bush, and the Manhattan Institute is committed to help fulfill that pledge. The terrorist attack destroyed and rendered unusable nearly 30 million square feet of office space—nearly as much as all the office space in Philadelphia or Atlanta. Most cities would be able to move quickly to recover these losses, but New York has some of the most restrictive anti-building policies in the country, barriers that will seriously impede the recovery unless something is done. Our Barriers to Building program will focus in the coming months on identifying the restrictions that pose the greatest obstacles to swift rebirth, and offer specific recommendations on how to remove them.

Reinventing Our Infrastructure. New York City won’t have an economic rebirth, however, without addressing its pressing infrastructure needs. The transportation problems are glaring: Manhattan is an island, dependent upon a few subway and train lines, tunnels, and bridges to move over three million people in and out every day. Much of that infrastructure was damaged and all of it needs to be made secure if people are to feel comfortable living and working in the city. But the new circumstances also provide an extraordinary opportunity to rethink in grander terms what a high-tech 21st Century infrastructure should look like. We have asked our own Senior Fellow Peter Huber and former Deputy Transportation Commissioner Sam Schwartz to ask the big questions on how to reshape the city’s physical design.

The success of New York’s rebuilding efforts will hinge on getting these issues right, and the Manhattan Institute will do everything in its power to make sure that happens. But as the President’s own actions attest, the domestic agenda has not disappeared. Though “compassionate conservatism” is no longer Issue Number One for his administration or for us, much important work on domestic policy lies ahead. Welfare reform comes up for reauthorization in a few months. Urban public schools continue to struggle. The battle to strengthen the role of “faith-based” institutions in helping the down-and-out has yet to be won. The threat of unreasonable lawsuits hobbling the American economy needs to be addressed. Energy policies that protect our economy from stalling by reducing our dependence on foreign oil must be developed. The Manhattan Institute will continue to be an influential voice of reason in all these debates, respected on both sides of the political aisle.

These times of turmoil and sorrow have also been a time of hope and inspiration. As Mayor Giuliani noted: “We have seen both the worst of mankind and the best of mankind.” It is in the spirit of the latter that we will move forward. With your help, the Manhattan Institute, whose name is synonymous with New York’s renaissance, will formulate a vision for rebuilding the city and keep the domestic policy light burning while our nation is at war. In these efforts we need your financial support. Together we will meet the challenge.

Sincerely,