By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — The governor and mayor granted a last-minute reprieve to the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center this week, allowing the agency to continue operating past the end of the year.
Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg extended the city-state agency’s sunset date by three years, to the end of 2013.
Earlier this week, before the deal was struck, State Sen. Daniel Squadron led local residents and politicians in rallying for the center to continue.
"This is a huge victory for the community and the city," Squadron said in a statement Thursday. "We need this agency to continue its vital work."
Since it was founded in 2004, the LMCCC has saved the government and private companies an estimated $300 million by coordinating street shutdowns and material deliveries south of Canal Street, records show. The agency, which manages 22 million square feet of construction projects downtown, also addresses local quality-of-life complaints related to construction and monitors noise and air quality.
The Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center costs about $17 million per year to operate and is funded by federal grants and state and city agencies.
