A Long Island City concrete firm won a contract to provide $103 million worth of "slabs, decks, walls and enclosures" for the September 11 memorial at the World Trade Center site. According to the NY Times, Navillus Contracting will be responsible for 45,000 cubic yards of concrete for the memorial itself as well as "adjacent underground areas" and the Port Authority's executive director Anthony Shorris said, "This contract will move us to the next......

Mayor MIchael Bloomberg's largess makes him the country's seventh biggest charitable donor. The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Top 50 Donor List (less sexy than the Forbes list, but possibly more worthy) notes he committed $205 million to various institutions last year. Bloomberg's giving has been generous ever since becoming mayor, prompting the Sun to note that "the largest jump in his contributions [occurred] last year, amid mounting speculation he will run for president." And as if......

It looks like the World Trade Center Memorial has hit a delay. Originally scheduled to open on September 11, 2009, the Port Authority said today that it won't be ready until 2011, the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The delays only came to light after construction began and the agency could give a more realistic timeline. A Port Authority spokeswoman said, "We see the reality, and want to operate on responsible timelines. We'll work......

Mayor Bloomberg's generosity has been noted from educational institutions (like his alma mater Johns Hopkins) and even city organizations (like the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation). He gave staffers on his re-election campaign payouts as big as $300,000-400,000. And when Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff announced he would leave City Hall to become president of the mayor's business, Bloomberg LP, it suggested that the Mayor rewarded staffers he trusts. Well, the NY Times now looks......

Arno Herwerth, the Long Island man who the DMV rejected his GETOSAMA vanity plate, then sued them now wants to have a 9-11 commemorative license plate available to the Empire State’s motorists – something several other states have for their drivers. However, in New York then Governor George Elmer Patkai vetoed the idea in 2006 and put the brakes on any new optional license plates thanks to a pro-life groups suing states, including New......

New York City was amply represented during last night's National Design Awards at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The Landscape Design award went to PWP Landscape Architecture, the firm that won the World Trade Center Memorial design competition (with Michael Arad). PWP Principal Peter Walker thanked Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki and described the last four years as "difficult," presumably for the number of redesigns and challenges with moving the project forward, but he......

Mayor Bloomberg visited the Shanksville, Pennsylvania site where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001. The Mayor has headed the National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation (formerly the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation) ever since last October, and had been traveling across the country to raise money for the memorial. And his effect on the foundation has been noticeable: The memorial is close to its $350 million goal, with $325 million raised so......

Staten Island's World Trade Center Memorial, Postcards, was defaced yesterday. The memorial has plaques of Staten Island's 1993 and 2001 attacks victims' names; the plaques also has victims' profiles water-jet-cut on them. The plaques of Cantor Fitzgerald employee Jason DeFazio and firefighter Jeremy Olsen were destroyed. Olsen's family had been planning on visiting the memorial today, because it would have been Jeremy's 37th birthday. The memorial is located on the St. George Esplanade, near the......

The NY Times takes a careful, detailed look at the rising Museum of Arts and Design building at 2 Columbus Circle more than two years after preservationists failed to stop plans to radically alter the 1964 Edward Durell Stone building. Yale School of Architecture dean Robert AM Stern was one of the better-known critics (after novelist Tom Wolfe, of course), arguing that the original structure was an important Modernist landmark. The fight helped paved the......

The city's medical examiner's office classified that a woman's death was due to dust from the World Trade Center wreckage dust. Staten Island resident Felicia Dunn-Jones, a lawyer for the U.S. Department of Education with a husband and two children, was covered in dust on September 11, 2001 from the first collapse. She later developed sarcoidosis and died on February 10, 2002. Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch wrote in a letter, "It is likely, with......

Moving onto a new job is always exciting - and it's always another opportunity to have a farewell party from your old one. But it seems that partying got the better of former deputy commissioner of the Community Assistance Unit Christopher Coffey. The Daily News reports that Coffey was pulled over in his car after the police got a call about a "rowdy drunk" - apparently Coffey had been "stumbling around and pounding on cars"......

We image Mayor Bloomberg had some talking-to with the new governor! A few days ago, Governor Eliot Spitzer dipped his toe into the dispute about how victims' names would be arrange at the World Trade Center Memorial. Spitzer said a "very public discussion" should be had to satisfy still-lingering unhappiness from some victims' families about the WTC Memorial Foundation's plans. The foundation, led by its chairman, Mayor Bloomberg, decided not to signify civilian victims' names......

We were happy to read in the NY Post that the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation turned down a $30,000 donation from National Collector's Mint. The WTC Memorial Foundation said, "We weren't comfortable [with the donations] because of the history," proving that even though the foundation needs donors, no one wants money from horrible companies trying to profit from the tragedy. NCM is the company behind those horrible ads offering coins made from silver "found......

Politicians believe more names need to be mentioned at the World Trade Center Memorial Museum. Assemblyman Michael Gianaris of Queens and State Senator Marty Golden of Brooklyn will be introducing a bill that would ask that the names of deceased Ground Zero workers be included. Jimmy Nolan, carpenter who worked at Ground Zero tells the Daily News, "I'm a carpenter who's now allergic to wood. I was there for my country and my city, and......

Families of some September 11 victims have started an advertising campaign to express their unhappiness over the planned naming scheme for the World Trade Center Memorial. Last December, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the names of victims would be grouped by company or association. However, civilian employees would not have their employers listed while city workers, like firefighters, would have their companies listed. The names at the North Pool will have those at Tower 1......

Here is part two of our semi-chronological look back at the top stories this past year (here is part one): Queens Blackout The Blackout of 2003, as irritating as it was, happened to the whole city, could be blamed on other states and didn't last too long. When parts of Queens lost power in July, Con Ed wrote it off as an isolated event affecting only a few thousands customers. But as Queens spent days......

Officials announced that victims names will be arranged at the World Trade Center Memorial, instead of being placed randomly. WTC Memorial designer Michael Arad's original plan was for a random listing of victims. From his winning submission:The names of the deceased will be arranged in no particular order around the pools. After carefully considering different arrangements, I have found that any arrangement that tries to impose meaning through physical adjacency will cause grief and anguish......

A judge ruled that World Trade Center insurers do not have to pay an extra $700 million for current construction. Developer Larry Silverstein and his insurers had been arguing whether additional improvements to new buildings should be someting the insurers pay out. But U.S. District Judge Harold Baer decided that the money paid out should only cover what it would cost to build the original, pre-September 11 World Trade Center design. Silverstein is still......

We always knew Mayor Bloomberg was a busy guy, but a NY Times article today makes him seem especially crunched for time. The article's first sentence says it all: New York City’s bid to land the 2008 Democratic National Convention is in jeopardy because Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is spread so thin with fund-raising commitments that he may not be able to raise the money from private donors needed to pay for it, an official......

This morning, workers will take down the iron cross at Ground Zero and prepare to move it to St. Peter's Church this afternoon. There will be a small ceremony for the cross's transfer, and St. Peter's will be its home until the World Trade Center Memorial Museum is open. If you're near the site, you may see a flatbed truck bringing the cross to St. Peter's around 2PM. WABC 7 explains the cross's history: "The......

Government and World Trade Center Memorial Foundation officials tell the media that Mayor Bloomberg will become the head of the troubled foundation. Earlier this year, after the foundation stopped its fundraising efforts when estimated costs for the project spiraled out of control, Mayor Bloomberg wasn't very happy. And whadya know, he "secretly" donated $10 million to the foundation this summer - ain't that a coincidence, though at least the Mayor is putting his money where......

- Thing you've got bocce balls? Then you should test your stuff this weekend at the 12th Annual Citywide Bocce Tournament. Over 200 bocce enthusiasts from around the New York City area will compete Saturday and Sunday to see who's got the best. The tournament is free and open to adults of all ages. The prelims are in four of the five boroughs (sorry Manhattanites) with the finals to be played Sunday in Pelham......

Were you in NYC on September 11? There's a fascinating article in the NY Times about psychological and perceived differences between New Yorkers who were here on September 11, 2001 and those who were not. Lots of interesting quotes, like:“I think for the people that seen it on TV, it is more painful than for the people who saw it here,” said Paolo Gonzalez, 29, who manages a parking lot under the Brooklyn Bridge......

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has kicked off another phase in its marketing campaign to raise money for the memorial. Back in July, they introduced ads that said we needed the spontaneous memorials then and we need one (as in donating to one) now. The new ads come as we head to the fifth anniversary of September 11 - they ask "Where Were You When It Happened". There are TV, radio, and print......

Hooray, the Port Authority has officially agreed to build the World Trade Center Memorial. Whether to take advantage of construction efficiencies or to just do what others seem unable to do (there's some advantage to being affiliated with the state), we just hope the memorial gets built at some point. But then there is the matter of the $170 million still needed for funds. Which is why the city and state turned to ad......

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has approved the scaled down design for the World Trade Center Memorial . Last week, builder Frank Sciame had released plans for a revised and less costly plan that has been generally welcomed. But one thing that hasn't been resolved is how victims' names will be featured - the LMDC will have to decide on that later. And Newsday reported that the WTC Foundation has podcasts from "victim'sfamily members,......

Last week, builder Frank Sciame met with Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg to discuss possibilities for the downsizing/costcutting of the World Trade Central Memorial. Some ideas kicked around were to remove the waterfalls and move the victims' names aboveground, and today, a new plan was revealed. The waterfalls are still in, but the names will move aboveground. There will be space underground for contemplation, but there will only be one below-grade entrance, not two,......

Ever since one contractor estimated it would cost $1 billion to build the World Trade Center Memorial, it's been a downhill process at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Actually, it was probably downhill from earlier than that, but the $1 billion price tag helped prompt cover stories about the memorial mess, create more teams to figure out a solution, and lead to the resignation of the WTC Memorial Foundation president. Anyway, the WTC Memorial's builder,......

There's a fascinating NY Times article about the challenge of maintaining and organizing materials from September 11, 2001 as there's no official organization up to the task. The World Trade Center Memorial Museum is easily years from happening, all while there is so much information from the "best-documented catastrophe" that needs to be sorted through. According to Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, there may be thousands of possible collections. Some mentioned: - Camera......

The NY State Democratic Convention is taking place in Buffalo today and tomorrow (the NY State Republican Convention is in Long Island on Wednesday and Thursday), and the gloves are coming off as the Democrats are looking to grab the Governor's house. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic frontrunner for the gubernatorial nomination, called the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation "an abject failure". Well, of course he would say that - didn't recently resigned LMDC......