Lower Manhattan is bursting at the seams, with a new study projecting the population will have grown 83 percent since 9/11 – prompting complaints that the city has been slow to meet the demand for schools and services.
“I can’t think of another neighborhood that is growing as fast,” said Julie Menin, chair of Community Board 1, which conducted a survey of downtown residential buildings, both occupied and under construction. The survey showed that by 2013, when most new buildings are completed, the downtown population will top 65,000 – a far cry from the 34,420 residents counted during the 2000 Census. Two new schools are due to open in the neighborhood in 2010. .