Tomorrow, the city will remember the thousands of victims from the September 11, 2001 attacks during the annual reading of the victims' names. The ceremony will be held at Zuccotti Park (because of construction at the World Trade Center site) and the names will be read by family members as well as those involved with the rebuilding. A letter from Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg explained that relatives would be "paired with representatives involved in its redevelopment including architects and engineers, construction workers and administrators." And, as usual, rebuilding at the site is a theme during this time of year. Esquire's Scott Raab recently visited Ground Zero, which is a veritable beehive of activity, and wondered, "How come all these asshats are still calling it just a hole in the ground?" more ›

With much of the activity at Ground Zero below surface, it's only been in recent months that passers-by have seen buildings actually emerge from the World Trade Center site. On Tuesday, we went on a tour of the Port Authority's projects at the World Trade Center site, where about 1,400 constructions workers are on site daily and working on the array of projects. more ›

Last week, the Port Authority and World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein struck a deal to jumpstart (again!) rebuilding at Ground Zero. The plan, which involves financing from the Port Authority, city and state as well as a promise from Silverstein to find private investment, was hailed as a "breakthrough." But today Post columnist Steve Cuozzo writes, "The new World Trade Center will be a mere shadow of the original in terms of office space -- at best. At worst, it will be a shadow of a shadow, with as little as 2.7 million square feet available for private-sector use compared with 10 million pre-9/11." more ›

Silverstein has argued that the Port Authority should help him finance building at the site (the PA is building Freedom Tower), but the agency refused up until a few weeks ago, when there was talk of the PA possibly changing its mind. The PA will finance one building, while the PA, NY State and NYC will each kick in $200 million for the financing of a second tower while Silverstein must raise $300 million in private investment and lease 400,000 square feet of the space. more ›

In March 2008, a a construction site's crane toppled from East 51st Street into neighboring buildings, killing seven people and causing much damage. A four-story townhouse was leveled by the crane, and owner Jean Squeri has been trying to rebuild it, but now she's been told it can only be three stories. According to the NY Post, back in 2005, Squeri, whose family bought the building in the 1930s, sold the air rights above the brownstone for $2.25 million: "When Squeri informed MUS 1 in September that she planned to rebuild her 4,822-square-foot building, the developer insisted Squeri was limited to building only 3,606 square feet, a full story shorter." Squeri says the documents she signed had incorrect figures for the height of the building and now the 75-year-old has filed court papers asking for permission to build a four-story home. Her lawyer told the Post, "[The developer is] trying to take horrible advantage of someone who's been traumatized." Squeri and her husband had lived on the top floor—the day of the crane collapse, her husband was out and she was running an errand, headed to the drugstore when she turned around and saw the crane decimate the building (neighbors amazingly found their cats, too!). more ›

While the Port Authority confirmed there will be many rebuilding delays at the World Trade Center site, executive director Christopher Ward told lower Manhattan residents the WTC memorial will be ready by 2011. The Daily News reports that at a Community Board 1 meeting, Ward said the memorial should be completed by the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but "accomplishing this will very difficult...You cannot build a memorial by forgetting its interconnection to the rest of the site." more ›