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U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

The attack on World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11, 2001, remains the most significant anti‐ American terrorist incident to date. Ground zero is a symbol of our nation’s determination to protect the homeland but remains a potential target for further terrorist attacks. Two opposing forces dictate activities at ground zero. One is the need to employ security measures that can deter, prevent or reduce the likelihood of terrorists again attacking this location. The other force is the desire to return to normalcy in terms of business and economic activity.

The lack of economic viability at the location of the WTC is a continuing consequence of the September 11 attack and is troubling to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which has oversight and financial responsibility for its operations. Numerous other stakeholders have security and economic goals for the downtown New York City (NYC) area, and the problem is complicated by the presence of a variety of political and social considerations that go beyond security and economics.

DHS, through the CREATE and CCICADA Centers of Excellence, has proposed a research project with the PANYNJ, NYC, and the States of New Jersey and New York. This research will involve the development of micro‐ models of economic activity at the WTC site and the surrounding neighborhood, including tourism and small business activity, and analysis of connections between economic activities near the WTC site and the rest of NYC. The work will seek to understand the economic effects of different security measures, understanding that sometimes security and economic development are synergistic.

The study will investigate security measures that can be deployed at the WTC site against various threats, the major potential risks, the direct and indirect economic consequences of successful terrorist actions, as well as the economic costs of and benefits derived from security measures. These elements will be combined through a riskbased economic analysis to provide a model that assesses the relative costs and benefits of varying combinations of security measures and policies and develop a tool that policy makers and stakeholders can use to compare different security measures as to their risk and economic consequences.