"It will be a tragic mistake if the pool is exhausted," Lieber testified.

"Nothing is more important than the rebuilding of the World Trade Center," added the Downtown Alliance's Carl Weisbrod, who called the site, the "economic engine" of the area.

According to Andrew Alper, president of the New York City Economic Development Corp., $4.8 billion is still available, though a $1-billion allocation for a Goldman Sachs project is among the projects "in the pipeline." He anticipates that approximately $3.5 billion has not been earmarked for specific projects. The program, which is set to expire at the end of the year, started after the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, earmarked $8 billion for commercial and residential endeavors. In February, a five-year extension was included as part of the 2005 Federal budget.