WTC Site So Close To Being Ready For Silverstein

Photograph of the site and the under-construction 1 World Trader Center (aka Freedom Tower) by Joe Woolhead/Silverstein Properties

The Port Authority says it will turn over the World Trade Center site to developer Larry Silverstein in the next few days. Which means that the Port Authority, which owns the site, is within its target handover period the agency mentioned last month—yet it's still over a year past the various deadlines set to turn the land over. These delays have resulted in tens of millions in penalties (they rack up at $300,000/day) the Port Authority must pay to Silverstein.

Of course, the Port Authority and Silverstein are locked in a battle of wills, political egos (courtesy Governor Paterson, Assembly Speaker Silver, and Mayor Bloomberg) and money over the fate of additional, non-Freedom towers at the site—Silverstein wants the PA to finance it, the PA doesn't want to. Here's Silverstein's letter noting the binding arbitration.

In other WTC news, the Port Authority says the WTC Memorial's waterfalls for Reflecting Absence will be ready for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks near year. PA Executive Director Chris Ward told the City Council, "It's not a pit anymore. With all the progress that is taking place on the site, it's not even Ground Zero anymore."

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By Jen Chung in News on August 20, 2009 9:55 AM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

"It's not a pit anymore. With all the progress that is taking place on the site, it's not even Ground Zero anymore."

It's still a pit.

HOTCUP

i'm half-pissed, but also half-hopeful that the freedom tower will never be built. such a damn ugly building to be the new centerpiece of the NYC skyline, and on such a supposedly sacred site.

Knickerbocker

They should just poke a hole in the bathtub and let the Hudson fill it up - making it the biggest urban swimming pool in the world.

endoubleu

Man, the name 'Freedom Tower' is so 2004. Can we call it the 'Universal Health Care Tower' instead?

TrippinJoJo

Frankly, I don't give a flying fuck anymore about what happens there. It is insulting to see that almost 10 years after the attacks these morons with the big bucks cant get this done already.