Money in place, but plans for transportation hub lag behind.

The most notable thing about Downtown Manhattan's phantom transportation hub is that nothing much is being done to bring the project to life. While the only point of consensus for the various groups involved in the redevelopment of the area has been the need for better transit, an apparent lack of leadership has let actual development lag behind.

It is, admittedly, a matter of contention how much commercial space should be built Downtown. And it would be difficult to present a completed blueprint for a transportation station at the site of the World Trade Center while no one knows what will be built above. But according to virtually every New York broker transportation will be the most important component in bringing office tenants back.

"I think a transportation hub is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle right now," says Insignia/ESG's Adam Foster. "So build a link to the Long Island Rail Road, a new PATH station, a major transportation venue that would help Downtown dramatically."

According to John Wheeler, of Cushman & Wakefield, "The largest component in rebuilding Downtown should be the streamlining of the effort to build a transportation hub. People making long-range plans will be likely to move to Lower Manhattan They know that transportation will be far superior to what existed before Sept. 11."

In fact, Downtown's need for new transportation appears so dire that last month the Federal Emergency Management Agency promised New Yorkers $4.55 billion in federal aid, reinterpreting its guidelines to put together a financial aid package for the entire Downtown area, instead of dividing it between individual projects.

So how do the various city agencies plan to use the money?

In the last year, New Yorkers have been promised a new "Grand Central Station," with a Downtown Long Island Railroad stop, reconfigured subway lines, and a direct connection between in-land transit and ferry service. These improvements would certainly require a lot of work, even if they won't be completed for many years into the future. But the Department of Transportation does not answer inquiries about the planning process, referring all questions to the Mayor's office. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose subway lines would be a major component of any transportation project, apparently has not given the matter much thought. They have "no preliminary or permanent plans at this moment," said a spokesman for the agency. And head of New York Water Taxi, a water transportation company with stations in Battery Park and Battery Park City, says he has never been contacted to take part in any discussions.

"We think it makes tremendous sense to integrate ferry service with subway lines and the Long Island Railroad," says Tom Fox. "And we are currently increasing the frequency of our service Downtown. So we would gladly participate in the planning process, but we have not been asked."

In fact, the only agency that has any definite plans for the future when it comes to improving Downtown's transportation is the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has already started work on the PATH train station at the site of the World Trade Center. The agency promises that a temporary terminal will reopen by 2003, and will be replaced by a permanent one by 2005. In addition, the Port Authority has proposed an underground pedestrian walkway, running from the Winter Garden at the World Financial. Center to Broadway, which would allow commuters an easy transfer between various subway lines and the PATH.

The reason for the apparent lack of planning on the part of other agencies, however, might not be simple bureaucracy. According to Jeffrey Zupan, senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association, the idea of a new Grand Central Station is nothing more than a dream.

"No one is going to build anything of that scope or scale in Lower Manhattan -- it would overwhelm the area," he explains. "As far as the Long Island Railroad is concerned, that would be very problematic. Brookfield Properties proposed a plan that would use the A and C subway lines to bring in Long Island trains to the basement of the World Trade Center. But it would affect subway riders and it may not mean a real improvement in travel experience for people from Long Island. Another idea would be to build a new subway tunnel, but then $4.55 billion would not be enough."

As far as the connection between subway trains and ferry service is concerned that too might be difficult.

Arthur Imperatore, Jr., president of NY Waterway, says he has been working with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Federal Transportation Agency to increase the number of ferry rides Downtown. But he has not heard anything about a train connection.

"We think it's a very important idea and anything that can improve transportation in Lower Manhattan should be done, but we don't take part in that planning process," he says. "I know that in order to accomplish any improvement there will have to be a lot of deconstruction and reorganization of the area."

Which is why Zupan thinks that the connection might not happen either.

"To connect the ferries to the subway system, the best opportunity exists at the South Ferry Station with the #1 and the #9 lines, which is a very tight loop and doesn't function very well," he says. "The MTA would like to reconfigure that station, but the question is whether they would actually be able to bring it closer to the Staten Island Ferry -- they may or they may not. And, in any case, there are some people who oppose this because it would tear up the park or because it wouldn't do enough for Lower Manhattan."

So what can New Yorkers hope for?

The #1 and the #9 lines should be running normally by the end of the year, with the exception of the Cortlandt St. station (it will be bypassed). The World Trade Center PATH terminal will be rebuilt. There will be more ferries and they will come with greater frequency. And the Port Authority might create an architecturally pleasing underground passage between the World Financial Center, Broadway, and the Fulton St. subway station.

In other words, Downtown may end up with pretty much what it had on Sept. 10, 2001.