By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Governor Paterson is planning to gut the Lower Manhattan Development Board this summer after losing patience with its ineptitude, the New York Post reported.
The 35-person staff will be slashed to five people who will oversee the last of the $3 billion in federal funds meant to help rebuild the area which was devastated by the 9/11 attacks.
Even with the large budget and staff, the committee has failed to spend $540 million of the money and has $250 million that isn’t even slated to move anywhere yet, the Post said.
And the lack of distribution of the funds hasn’t been the committee’s only problem. Projects like the Deutsche Bank deconstruction have gone over budget and been plagued with construction accidents.
In March, Community Board 1 president Julie Menin criticized the pace of the Deutsche Bank deconstruction, telling NY1, "We have a lot of skepticism because dates have been missed before.”
The board also failed in engaging the community in its rebuilding efforts, with 66 percent of area merchants not aware they were eligible for small business grants, the Post said.
