In a letter sent last week, lower Manhattan civic and mass transit advocacy groups urged Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg not to use the remaining $1 billion in post-September 11 federal aid as a "down payment" on a new LIRR link to Lower Manhattan.

The groups said the funds would be better used as an investment in job-creating development downtown, including affordable housing, new community services and cultural institutions.

Governor Pataki is expected to announce the early results of a Lower Manhattan Development Corp. study of bringing LIRR trains into lower Manhattan. The plan has attracted significant opposition because most of the options under consideration would use a portion of one of the downtown subway tunnels, reducing subway capacity and diverting service. The LIRR and JFK Airport markets to lower Manhattan look very small in comparison to the subway services the project may disrupt.

The letter from groups such as the Straphangers Campaign, Rebuild Downtown/Our Town and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign notes that a variety of civic forums and public opinion polls downtown have indicated very little support for the LIRR project versus other needs downtown. Regarding transportation, bringing the Second Avenue subway to Lower Manhattan and creating a better downtown pedestrian environment have ranked ahead of the LIRR plan. Last summer, Manhattan Community Board 1 voted that the grants be used for a range of non-transportation needs, and not for the rail link. Only the Governor, Mayor and a few outspoken downtown business leaders favor it.