As the time approached for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to announce its plans for divying up the remaining $1 billion of federal money for revitalizing Downtown, Community Board 1 voted on its own wish list for the money.

Although board members weren't sure of the scope or cost of many of the ambitious projects that they favor-bringing new life to the East River waterfront and creating below-market-rate housing, for example-they made it clear they did not want the proposed Long Island Railroad and JFK Airport rail links to compete for the funds.

However, while advocating for the project on April 23, Sen. Charles Schumer said the funds had already been set aside by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation for the rail-link.

"I believe we have a once in a generation chance to connect Downtown to Kennedy Airport and the labor pool of Long Island, which will spur new business development, create jobs in Downtown and ensure the region's economic growth for generations to come," he said.

Schumer made the remarks during a speech at a Regional Plan Association conference.

An LMDC spokeswoman denied that a decision had been made to use the funds solely for the link. The LMDC board was scheduled to complete a study of alternative rail-link options and their costs, and to choose one plan, at the end of April, she said.

The community board, after more than an hour of emotional debate, excluded the rail link from its 12-item list of priorities for the remaining Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money awarded for Downtown economic revitalization after Sept. 11.

The board's resolution urged the LMDC, the New York State Department of Transportation and Gov. Pataki to instead take the $1 billion that would pay for a proposed West Street tunnel and spend it on the rail link.

It also urged that $350 million allocated for improvements to the South Ferry subway terminal be tapped for the rail link project.

Funds from the CDBG should only be available for the rail link in the event of a shortfall, the board said. The board also wants the right to review all projects to be built with CDBG funds.

In excluding the rail link from its list of priorities, the board rejected a plea by Carl Weisbrod, president of the Downtown Alliance and a director on the LMDC board.

Weisbrod told the board that the rail link was a vital quality of life project for the area and could not happen if it did not get "a chunk" of the CDGB money.

"If it doesn't get funded, it is going to be a very serious problem to the future health and growth of the business community which provides so many jobs to so many residents in Lower Manhattan," he said.

But Councilman Alan Gerson told the board it would be a mistake to allocate a large portion of the funds to the project.

"It would be a terrible missed opportunity if the remaining CDBG funds were to be exclusively or even substantially allotted only to the Kennedy airport connection," he said.

The final resolution was a compromise for some on the board who felt that the group's position on transportation projects, particularly on the proposal to bury part of West Street, should have been more passionately stated.

The resolution's original draft called for the highway project to be abandoned, claiming that it is "overwhelmingly opposed by local residents."

But some argued that at least a portion, even a sizeable one, of the grant money should go to transportation projects.

"There are urgent transportation issues and they are minimized here," said board member Bruce Ehrmann, likening the priorities to a "pork barrel list from a Southern congressman."

The board's top funding priority is the revitalization of the East River Waterfront. The last item on the list is mitigating the impacts of pending construction in the area.

In between are the completion of the Tribeca segment of Hudson River Park; improvements to Fulton Street; a new elementary school on the east side; a community center and support for smaller community and arts organizations such as Manhattan Youth; upgrading of NYU Downtown Hospital; and a new public library branch in Battery Park City.

District Manager Paul Goldstein said the list includes projects that CB1 has advocated for many years.

"This is the most important issue that the board is going to face in the next 20 years," he said.