Paterson To Negotiate With Silverstein Over WTC

2009_07_paterwtchl.jpg Now that the State Senate stalemate isn't occupying his time, Governor Paterson is directing this energy towards another mess: Ground Zero! World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and WTC owner the Port Authority have been squabbling over who will finance planned towers—Silverstein wants the PA to foot most of the bill while the PA wants Silverstein to raise the money. Paterson said yesterday that public financing was out: "I think it’s unfair to the taxpayers, because you could go to the private equity firms, and they don’t want to extend that kind of credit. So I don’t think that the taxpayers should run a greater risk than what makes good business sense for a number of private institutions." He also floated the idea of public-private partnerships. The Port Authority said, “We appreciate Governor Paterson’s leadership and agree with his principled position on protecting public resources. In the meantime, the Port Authority will continue to make daily and visible progress on the Memorial, One World Trade Center, the Transportation Hub and the other public infrastructure," while Silverstein said, "I appreciate the governor’s direct involvement. I look forward to continuing these discussions.”

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One can never beat the combination of great minds.

When will Bloomberg just tell them all to shut up and he will pay for the towers out of his own pocket?

At this point Paterson knows his future isn't gubernatorial and maybe he can get Larry to give him some no show work after his political days are over.

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