Results tagged “rebuilding”

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!).

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."