Lower Manhattan Residents Say It’s Time to 'Celebrate Downtown' Updated May 20, 2010 1:57pm

A model of the Celebrate Downtown mural, which Donna Downes and David Zaus designed using artist Liz Williams' drawings. (DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro)

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

LOWER MANHATTAN — Downtown residents are banding together to promote a more positive image of their neighborhood through a campaign called Celebrate Downtown.

“We’ve all gone through 9/11, and things are looking so much brighter,” said Donna Downes, who has lived in TriBeCa for 25 years. “What better thing to celebrate?”

Downes said she and others were particularly encouraged by recent progress at the World Trade Center site, and they wanted to draw attention to the fact that downtown is moving forward.  

To do that, Downes and her husband, David Zaus, designed a Celebrate Downtown mural featuring local artist Liz Williams’ drawings of neighborhood landmarks. They hope to install the mural at a lower Manhattan construction site soon.  

The trio unveiled a model of the mural Wednesday night at a fundraiser for Manhattan Youth’s scholarship program at the Downtown Community Center. The event doubled as a birthday party for Manhattan Youth leader Bob Townley, who turned 55.

Townley, a co-founder of Celebrate Downtown, said he hoped the group would hold additional networking and socializing events in the neighborhood in the future.

By Julie Shapiro, DNAinfo.com

Follow Julie on Twitter @JulieShapiro