More WTC Squabbling AND Freedom Tower May Open In 2018

Another week, another World Trade Center dispute! Since the Port Authority—which controls the land at Ground Zero—and WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein have been at odds over the funding of the massive redevelopment project, Governor Paterson decided to personally negotiate with Silverstein a few weeks ago. Paterson had given Silverstein an ultimatum to work with the PA or get out. But Silverstein has rejected Paterson's development proposals—the NY Times reports that in Silverstein's eyes, those plans "were unlikely to lead to building two of three skyscrapers planned for the World Trade Center site," which is what Mayor Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver want, too.

According to the Post, Paterson sent a letter to Silverstein, saying that "he directed the PA to redesign key public projects at the site, including the Calatrava transit hub, so that they can be built even if Silverstein's two towers do not go forward," stating, "This will ensure that, should you and the Port Authority not be able to reach an agreement, the site will no longer be subject to the fate of the real-estate market or these negotiations." But a fight with Silverstein could drag the matter into months of arbitration.

In the other WTC news, the Daily News got a hold of a "secret report" from the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center that projects a 2018 opening for Freedom Tower/1 World Trade Center—four years later than last year's estimate. Plus: "The report says the grandiose transportation hub may not be ready until 2018, while the Sept. 11 Memorial, the site's emotional centerpiece, could be two years behind its 2011 deadline." The PA, which said that the transit hub will be open June 2014, while the memorial will be open either 2011 and 2012, denied the report, with a spokesman saying, "The dates are wrong. Our comprehensive analysis, completed every month, shows we are on schedule to meet the completion dates we released last October."

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By Jen Chung in News on August 4, 2009 10:20 AM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

It's simple: we wait for Silverstein to die and then we build something. Shouldn't take too long :)

morningsider

i won't vote for politicians that are involved in this disgrace

santijose

this whole thing is a total embarrassment to NYCity and the country.

Spirit of 76

So Paterson is impotent as a governor and Silverstein is a greedy SOB. Tell us something we don't know.

Eminent domain. It's the only answer.

yg

Eminent domain wouldn't help: the area is already owned by the quasi-government entity, Silverstein is merely leasing the land. May be the PA should sell it to the developer outright, then the bureaucrats won't be able to do much damage to the development process. And the money can go toward the public transit improvements.

The Man Bat

How much farking money does Silverstein need....!?!?!?

valeriob

he's just a prick with an agenda. he will squeeze so much goddamn money out of every possible crevasse and it will be funneled to corrupt cohorts.

No one will know for another decade, and then we'll all be like, oh yea, that sounds right. That's what delayed everything. what a dicknose.

yg

As much as he can get out of the incompetent Port "Authority".

lpt1

...and the Empire State Building was completed in a year and a half. How about we just get one simple nice park in that time? Or a tree? Or a picture of a tree? I like Paterson's ultimatum to Silverstein. Esp considering it was Silverstein who said the terrorists would win if they didn't rebuild.

hotstepper

just turn it into a landing strip for visitors from outer space with a big neon sign declaring:

"welcome to earth! where leaders run around with their heads up their asses."

valeriob

By the time this thing opens...

Kojak

I feel that if the WTC was originally owned by a private organization, it would have already been finished years ago.

jchez

Something happened after the 70s. Before then, the P.A. built tunnels across the Hudson, put up a lower level on the GW bridge without shutting it down and built the two biggest and tallest office buildings in the world. Now, they can barely paint the GW in under five years.

BTW, Silverstein rebuilt WTC 7 in under 4 years. Also, does anyone remember when the rebuilding of the Wolman skating rink was 4 years behind schedule with no end in sight? Donald Trump said he could do it in one and when given the opportunity did just that.

Thespis

Oh, for goodness sake. Let's just leave it as it is -- finish up anything necessary for transit, and then let it sit as a nearly-empty hole. It can then be a memorial both to those who died and to the utter incompetence and greed of all involved in the rebuilding.

WesleySnipesAlot

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