Photograph of the World Trade Center site by New York Daily Photo

We got a NotifyNYC alert this morning:

The Port Authority will be doing construction blasting at the World Trade Center site today beginning at 8 a.m. There will be a total of 7 controlled blasts during the day. This is a routine construction operation and there is no cause for concern.

The only cause of concern is how the Port Authority has incurred millions of fees for not turning over the Ground Zero parcels to developer Larry Silverstein on time. The PA was supposed to hand over part of the WTC site on December 31, for Silverstein to start work on Towers 3 and 4, but excavation has been much more difficult than predicted.

On the upside, the Port Authority completed an agreement with Westfield Group, an Australian-based developer of shopping centers, to operate half a million square feet of shops and restaurants at the site. Westfield told the Wall Street Journal, "We're back in there because we actually believe it's going ahead and that the buildings will be built, the space will get leased and people will come back down there to work." Still, it seems unlikely that the buildings will be complete by 2011 (the date bandied about) and that 2013 or 2014 seem more likely.

This past weekend, the NY Times showed an interactive look at the so-called "bathtub" at Ground Zero.