A new pedestrian plaza will open as soon as the end of the week across from the 9/11 Memorial to ease congestion in the highly trafficked area.

The city shut down a block of Washington Street between Albany and Carlisle Streets Wednesday and began work on the new Washington Street Plaza. The plaza was expected to open on Friday, “barring any construction setbacks from the weather,” a Downtown Alliance spokesman said.

The plaza will feature chairs, tables, greenery and a tourism kiosk, to give memorial visitors information about other Lower Manhattan destinations.

“We are hoping this will mitigate the traffic down there and make pedestrian flow much better,” Pauline Yu, a representative from the mayor’s community affairs office, said at a recent Community Board 1 meeting.

Construction on the plaza was supposed to begin in November, but it was delayed because of Hurricane Sandy, Department of Transportation officials said at the time.

Community Board 1 gave its stamp of approval to the new outdoor seating space when it was first announced last fall — partly in the hopes that it would improve pedestrian flow in the area — but some residents have raised concerns about closing car traffic on the block.

Patricia Moore, a CB1 member and Financial District resident who opposed the project, said at a recent board meeting that she worried the plaza would actually increase congestion in the area.

A block of nearby Thames Street was also recently closed to car traffic for the demolition of a building, to clear space for a new residential tower. Several other major construction projects are also in the works in the neighborhood.

“I just hope the plaza doesn’t make it worse down there,” Moore said last week.

State Sen. Mark Grisanti announced passage of bill that amends the highway law to designate the bridge that crosses over Route 198 into Delaware Park that connects Nottingham Terrace with Hoyt Lake in the City of Buffalo as “Scajaquada 9/11 Memorial Bridge.”

The renaming of the bridge – approved with the passage of Senate Bill 1599 – culminated the efforts of local community activists who have been working on this project for more than two years as part of their ongoing efforts to have a memorial in the city that honors people who were killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“I am pleased that my colleagues in the Senate as well as the members of the Assembly who voted in favor of this bill recognized the significance of it and how important it is to members of our community,” Grisanti said. “For more than nine years, this bridge connecting Nottingham Terrace to Hoyt Lake has been a unifying factor for those who wish to remember the victims of the worst attack to ever occur in the United States. By officially renaming it, we are not only honoring the sacrifice these individuals made with their lives, but also give the community a spot to come together to never forget.”

Since 2003, the bridge has been the site of an annual remembrance celebration on September 11. Local firefighters, police, EMS and soldiers have paid tribute to victims of the attacks. Activities have included speeches, wreath laying and testimonials. This year will mark the 10-year anniversary of the celebration.

Laurie Kostrzewski, who has worked on the this project for more than two years, has met and corresponded with local city, county and state officials – including representatives from Grisanti’s Buffalo and Albany offices – to educate them on plans and secure funding for the elements needed to make it a proper memorial.

“I am thankful that Sen. Grisanti has championed the 9/11 Memorial Bridge in the Senate,” said Kostrzewski, a community activist from the west side of Buffalo. “He has diligently worked with us and guided our efforts throughout this process. I am pleased that his colleagues recognized the importance to our community of the creation of this memorial.”

Now that the designation of the Scajaquada 9/11 Memorial Bridge has passed the Senate, it must be sent the Assembly for a vote.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Volunteer groups on Staten Island, who are all too familiar with the need for aid after a natural disaster, have extended their relief efforts to families affected by the deadly tornado in Moore, Okla.

The Rebuild Staten Island Foundation, The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and members from The Staten Island Community and Interfaith Long-Term Recovery Organization are all organizing ways for Islanders to help out.

Rebuild Staten Island, a community-based volunteer group that provided immediate aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island, plans on sending supplies that remained in storage since the aftermath of Sandy, according to Fred Forgione of Bay Terrace, who founded the group.

“I experienced the generosity of everyone who donated here after Sandy. This is just a matter of taking what’s left over and giving it back,” he said.

Items such as flashlights, batteries, first-aid kits, and gloves are set to shipped to Moore on Wednesday.

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation also plans on immediately sending much-needed relief supplies to Moore.

“America came to our aid after Hurricane Sandy and it is only right that we help other Americans affected by the tragedy in Moore, Oklahoma,” said chairman Frank Siller.

Tunnel to Towers will initially send two tractor trailers full of relief supplies and set up a temporary relief center in Moore that will be staffed by New York City firefighters who are volunteering.

Retired FDNY Battalion Chief Jack Oehm, who oversees the Tunnel to Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief and Rebuilding effort, said, “We hope the experience we have gained from responding to the Hurricane Sandy disaster will allow us to effectively help and support the victims of the tornado.”

To make donations to the Oklahoma Tornado Relief Fund, please visit .

Forgione suggested that those who want to help can donate gift cards to Journey Church in Norman, Okla.

He said that those who have gift cards from Walmart, Visa, etc. who wish to send them directly, can mail them to: Journey Church, P.O. Box 722764 Norman, OK, 73070. “Please write “From Staten Island, with Love” on your envelope,” he requested via the group’s Facebook page.

People can also donate directly to the Moore We Pay Fund here.

Napa, CA — The foundation for the centerpiece of the Napa 9/11 Memorial Garden has been laid and next month, steel beams recovered from the fallen World Trade Center could be raised there.

The City Council was briefed on Tuesday on the status of the memorial that was first proposed in late 2010. “Certainly we’ll have the project done before September 11,” said city senior civil engineer Mark Tomko.

Napa, CA – Work is progressing on Napa’s 9/11 Memorial Garden in downtown Napa. J.L. Sousa/Register

The garden will include low stone walls for sitting and four 24-foot-tall steel girders recovered from the twin tower wreckage.

Construction at the site, located off Main Street next to Kohl’s department store, began in April. Over the past month, old brickwork had been removed and a foundation built.

“G.D. Nielson Construction has been instrumental to this project from the beginning,” Tomko said. “They’ve made us all look good. They’re basically the glue that’s made this all come together. Every time we’ve had a need, they’ve been out there.”

Tomko said numerous other companies have donated time and resources to the project, including but not limited to: Biagi Brothers, Ghilotti Bros. Inc., XKT Engineering Inc., Riechers Spence & Associates, Gordon Huether, Gretchen Stranzl McCann, Summit Engineering, ZFA Structural Engineering and R&S Glazing Specialties, Inc.

“Quite a lot has been donated and a lot of services as well,” Tomko told the council.

The memorial garden is a public-private effort that is being run by the city now, but it was initially the idea of a group of volunteers, who have raised about $130,000 for the project. The city allocated $120,000 from the public art fund.

Just under $20,000 is still needed and the Napa 9/11 Memorial Garden Coalition is working to raise the remaining funds.

“It really took a group effort of not only city folks, but also a lot of businesses and individuals that stepped up to really help figure out how to build this and also those that have been going out to the community and raising money for this particular project,” said Eric Whan, deputy public works director. “We’re on our way to meeting our goal and being able to deliver this project.”

Tomko said he anticipates concrete work at the site will be finished by the end of July and landscaping at the end of August. The panels of glass which will surround the steel beams and include the names of the lives lost in the terrorist attacks are scheduled to be placed by the end of August.

“I’m really proud and as a community we all should be so proud,” Councilman Scott Sedgley said of those who have assisted in the project. “It’s just a testament to what this community does. It makes me proud.”

Tacoma, WA – Apprentices from Ironworkers Local 86, located at Bates Technical College, have incorporated something historic into their education. They have carefully created an upright monument out of two twisted steel beams from the wreckage of the World Trade Center 9/11 attack. The beams will be placed at the Kitsap 9/11 Memorial at Evergreen Rotary Park in Bremerton.

The apprentices fabricated and welded two 30-inch, 900-pound steel base plates to the end of each 4,000 pound-beam, which will resemble an arch that will measure 28 feet at its highest point when set in the park’s grounds.

Apprentice Kaz Kraynak, who has been working on the SR 520 pontoons in Tacoma, said he felt privileged to help build the memorial. “I was able to create something good from the tragedy.”

The apprentices then erected the two columns in a structural mock-up and positioned them so the memorial’s architect could review and confirm that the specifications were accurate.

As part of the process, a clear acrylic protective coating was painted onto the beams to prevent rusting. The paint gives the steel columns a glossy appearance, according to Ironworker Apprenticeship Instructor Bill Nutter.

People can still view the original markings and paint, and the different textures and the asphalt from their original placement in the World Trade Center buildings in New York, said Nutter, who estimated the cost of the donated steel base plates at $900.

The beams and a cornice from the Pentagon will travel from the college’s South Campus at 2201 S. 78th Street in Tacoma, to a secure facility in Silverdale on Monday, May 20, where they will remain until the grounds at the memorial are ready to receive the beams, which is estimated to occur in fall.