Politics on the Hudson

Slightly out of the LoHud orbit, but still of interest: Gov. Eliot Spitzer has named a new chairman and president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, formed after the Sept. 11 attacks to help plan and coordinate the rebuilding and
revitalization of lower Manhattan. At one point last year, the group was expected to quietly dissolve; now it appears to have continuing life.

Spitzer’s pick as chairman is Avi Schick, president and Chief Operating Officer of the Empire State Development Corporation and a former Deputy Attorney General in the state Attorney General’s office. For president, Spitzer tapped David Emil, the former owner of Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the World Trade Center. The attacks killed 79 of his employees; Emil and two colleagues went on to raise more than $25 million for the families of restaurant workers who died that day. He also served as president and CEO of the Battery Park City Authority from 1988 to 1994.

“With new leadership and a new direction, a reinvigorated LMDC will help revitalize an area that is important as an economic hub to New York and as a symbol of our freedom and resilience to all Americans,� said Spitzer in a statement.

In related news, the Associated Press reports the head of the agency coordinating more than 60 construction projects at and around Ground Zero resigned today. “Charles Maikish, executive director of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, said he had only agreed to take the job for two years and planned to return to the private sector,” the AP reported. He plans to stay on until July.