Lower Manhattan rebuilding officials will make public a new design for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site by the end of June, said Gov. George E. Pataki (R). The governor's commitment comes in the wake of criticism of the building's previous design by the New York City Police Dept. because of its vulnerability to attack.

In the new scheme, as with the earlier design, the building will occupy the northwest corner of the WTC site, be 1,776 ft tall and remain consistent with Daniel Libeskind's master plan, according to the governor. The police department has already reviewed a preliminary redesign by the tower's architect, Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, and has "determined that the building can be constructed in a manner that will provide the appropriate level of security," said Pataki.

The remarks were made at a May 12 lunch attended by New York City civic leaders in Manhattan. Pataki made no mention of the impact of the redesign on the budget and said that an "aggressive schedule" for construction of the new tower would be set.

As part of the effort to move construction forward, Pataki also named new leadership. He announced that John Cahill, his top advisor, would coordinate the activities of stakeholders such as the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the Empire State Development Corp. and the developer Silverstein Properties. He also announced Stefan Pryor, current LMDC senior vice president for policy and programs, as the organization's new president. Pryor replaces the departing president, Kevin Rampe.