"Poor management" at the Port Authority has resulted in billions of dollars in cost overruns at the World Trade Center site, according to an audit requested by Governors Cuomo and Christie, who control the Authority. The report, released yesterday, found the cost of rebuilding at the 16 acre site has risen to $14.8 billion, up from an $11 billion forecast in 2008. Auditors blasted the agency as "dysfunctional," and recommended a "top-to-bottom overhaul" if it is to stay solvent.
Cost Of WTC Project Soars To $14.8 Billion Thanks To "Dysfunctional" Port Authority
Big Spender: One World Trade Center Sinks "Tens Of Millions" In Temporary Loading Dock
On the heels of a report that One World Trade Center is now the world's most expensive building, costing an estimated $3.8 billion, the Post now says a delay with the skyscraper's underground loading dock "can’t be finished in time for [Conde Nast] and other tenants to use the planned 13 cargo bays to move in equipment to build out their space... As a result, the PA is scrambling to construct a temporary, above-ground loading dock with just five bays. The unexpected change in plans will add 'tens of millions' of dollars to the cost of building 1 WTC, sources said." And the temporary PATH station is at fault!
At $3.8 Billion, 1 World Trade Center Is The Most Expensive Building In The World
As One World Trade Center has passed the 90th floor of its construction, it's reached another milestone: It's now costing more than $3.8 billion. The Wall Street Journal reports that it's the "world's most expensive new office tower, according to people familiar with the matter. The new figure [is] up $700 million from the latest public estimate."
Closed: Super-Exclusive Subway Sandwich Shop At WTC
After just two years, the Subway sandwich shop situated inside the under-construction 1 World Trade Center has closed. According to Crain's, even though the lofty location had disappointing sales, "It wasn't financial losses that shuttered the restaurant known for its $5 foot-long subs. The problem was strictly one of logistics. By design, 1 World Trade narrows as it rises, and the restaurant, which needs to be on a top floor to be near the workers, simply ran out of room as construction continued to the building's current 90th floor high point."
World Trade Center Tower 3 May Lose 73 Stories, Become A Mall
It's 2009 again. Because of potential difficulty with finding a tenant for Tower 3 at the redeveloped World Trade Center, developer Larry Silverstein may cut the 80-story skyscraper by 73 stories and transform is into a seven-story structure instead.
Trippy Photo: This Morning's Fog From The World Trade Center
Earlier today, we shared this moody photograph of the Manhattan Bridge in the morning fog. The Twitter account showcasing the building at the World Trade Center, @WTCprogress, just Tweeted this photograph, "For today, check out the morning fog from the 84th floor of T1 - overlooking Jersey and downtown NYC."
Angry Cop Accosts Visitor To 9/11 Memorial For Taking Photographs
Like other public spaces in New York City, it's perfectly legal to take photos at the National 9/11 Memorial. And, like other public space in New York City, some cops will try to tell you otherwise. Meredith Dodson, a Georgia native who relocated to Bed-Stuy six months ago, visited the memorial on September 22nd, and had such a disturbing encounter with an NYPD officer that she was reduced to tears.
Texas Muslim Gets Burger With "Happy 9/11" Drawing On Box
One Texas restaurant employee decided to honor the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks by serving a Muslim customer a burger with a "Happy 9/11" drawing on the box.
Pictures: Tribute In Light On Till Sunrise Tomorrow
The Tribute in Light, which features 88 separate beams of light shooting from the WTC into the sky, has become perhaps the most beloved and evocative of 9/11 memorials. If the sky around the city is clear of clouds, the annual Tribute will be able to be seen from at least 60 miles away. You can still catch the Tribute until sunrise tomorrow, but keep in mind that the project takes weeks of preparation and hundreds of thousands of dollars to construct—so if you want to keep seeing the memorial every year, you may want to consider helping out.
Intense Videos: Daily News Photographers Recount Covering Horror, Heroism Of 9/11
The Daily News has posted six powerful videos featuring News photographers who documented September 11, 2001. The photographers, David Handschuh, Todd Maisel, Debbie Egan-Chin, Andrew Savullich, Susan Watts, and Ken Murray, offer their memories of the day—from the chaos to the unnerving silence after the buildings collapsed—with their photographs, many of which are extremely graphic (Handschuh remembers how people started jumping, Maisel describes body parts falling from the sky).
FDNY Battalion Chief on 9/11: "It Has Become Something Big, Unmanageable, Not Easy To Understand"
This week, we spoke with Tom McCarthy, the Battalion Chief of the 13th Battalion in Washington Heights. He opened up to us about his personal story of the haunting events of September 11th for the first time in public, as well as his frustrations with the politicization of the day. He told us one thing in particular that has been stuck in our heads all day: "Don't forget, on September 11th, 2001, it was just another day. And now it has become "9/11" or "the events of 9/11." He continues: "It has become something big, unmanageable, not easy to understand. On that particular day it was just the worst catastrophe, but it was just one more while dealing with lots of catastrophes. The life it has taken on since has been distorted, or deformed."
Photos Of September 11, 2001: From Twin Towers To Dust
With nearly wall-to-wall coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks' tenth anniversary, the images from that day are being replayed over and over again. You can see old footage at the Internet Archive. And here are a few images from our readers from that day.
Officials Worried Terror Threat Suspects May Be Posing As Construction Workers
The NYPD has flooded the city with checkpoints and bomb detectors as they search for suspects in a "specific, credible but unconfirmed threat" involving car bombs to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11. According to the Daily News, officials are now nervous that the terror threat suspects may be posing as construction workers to get close to tomorrow's memorial service. Currently, they are searching for three missing vehicles, including two belonging to Tully Construction in Queens, which is doing roadwork on West Street near WTC.
For Freedom And Lightning: 1 World Trade Center Will Be Taller Than 1776 Feet
Years and years ago, a number of city and state officials gathered together to figure out what kind of building should be the centerpiece of World Trade Center redevelopment. Freedom Tower, at 1776 feet (including spire and antennae), was unveiled in December 2003, only for the Daniel Libeskind-design to be scrapped for one by Skidmore Owings & Merrill's David Childs. But that revised design remained a patriotic 1776 feet, even if officials say the building should be called "One World Trade Center." Now, it looks like the tower will be actually even more patriotic than previously thought.
FDNY Battalion Chief Reflects On Responding To WTC Collapse, Today's 9/11 Politicization
FDNY Battalion Chief Tom McCarthy recounts his personal story of the haunting events of September 11th: "On that particular day it was just the worst catastrophe, but it was just one more while dealing with lots of catastrophes. The life it has taken on since has been distorted, or deformed."
Interactive 9/11 Street Art Memorial On Fifth Ave Remembers With Sidewalk Chalk
There's an impromptu 9/11 memorial on Fifth Avenue this morning using cups, chalk, and good old NYC sidewalk. A sign explaining the installation, which starts at 14th Street and continues for almost ten blocks up the avenue, says that a group called "Illegal Art" has marked each of the 110 floors of the World Trade Center in chalk, heading north for 1,368 feet, the height of the taller of the two towers. "Passersby, like yourself, are encouraged to walk the height of the once standing buildings along 5th Avenue and write any words that express your feelings or experience related to 9/11."
Video: Check Out Construction, CGI At One World Trade Center
With the tenth anniversary just days away, World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein has created a video that shows the progress (which has been remarkable) at the site and what the site and One World Trade Center (the former Freedom Tower) eventually will look like, courtesy of some CGI.
11 Things To Do This 9/11
Sunday, as you might have heard, is the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The official NYC 9/11 memorial service at the site of the attack is not open to the public, but it will be broadcast on TV and radio, and you can bet the boob tube will be wall-to-wall 9/11 (on VH1, the ten-year-old Concert for New York City will be rebroadcast at 4 p.m.). A little of this goes a long way, so you'll want to get out of the house at some point and at least take a walk. If you haven't yet figured out what to do with yourself all day, here are some good options:
9/11 App (Virtually) Restores Twin Towers To Skyline
Just in time for the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, an area man has successfully restored the Twin Towers to the NYC skyline. The "augmented reality app" has been in development since early summer, when Greenpoint resident Brian August began raising money through Kickstarter. He soon gathered $25,000, and a Chicago-based company made his dream come true. Here's a video showing how it works:
Photo: This Is The Official NY State 9/11 Flag
Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the official 9/11 Memorial Flag. A press release explains, "The symbols on the flag evoke what was lost on September 11th and what still endures. The 40 yellow stars represent the fatalities from United Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The five-sided figures represent the Pentagon, where 125 people died. At the center of the flag are the Twin Towers, where the greatest loss of life occurred that day."
Bloomberg: Time To Call Ground Zero "World Trade Center" Again
Mayor Bloomberg is gearing up for this Sunday's tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks by heralding downtown's turnaround. At an Association for a Better New York breakfast this morning, he proclaimed, "As we look back on the past decade, and as the picture of what has happened here comes into sharper focus, I believe the re-birth and revitalization of Lower Manhattan will be remembered as one of the greatest comeback stories in American history. And I believe it will stand as our greatest moment to those we lost on 9/11 and to our unshakeable faith in the moral imperative of protecting and preserving a free, open, democratic society."
UPDATE: Tiger Woods's Ex Unhappy Post Said She Was "Almost Happy" Her Fiance Died On 9/11
With the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks coming up, the Post caught up with a woman who was featured on a cover back in 2001 while holding a photograph of her fiance, slain in the World Trade Center. That woman is Rachel Uchitel, better known as Tiger Woods's former mistress. Uchitel said of James Andrew O’Grady's passing, "I believe Andy was meant to die because he was too good." I’m almost happy it ended the way it did because I’ve learned so many lessons from him. It would have been tragic if we got into fights and then divorced."
Man Who Stole $10 Million From WTC Fund Fighting To Keep $400K
The man who stole $10 million from a city fund to help identify World Trade Center victims is fighting to hold onto the $400,000 he has left in an Indian bank account. The Daily News spoke with Natarajan Venkataraman from a New Jersey federal prison, and said he "whined about jail conditions and apologized repeatedly for his crime," but when asked about his fight for the remainder of the money, he said, "All the issues are still pending in the court."
Breaking: Rudy Giuliani Remembers 9/11 For Us All
With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 only nine days away, it seems only appropriate that the Mayor of 9/11 Town himself gets to start off commemorating the tragic day. Rudy Giuliani sat down with the Associated Press to talk about "the worst experience of [his] life." Watch him recount the the day below, which he calls "so far beyond what we'd contemplated."
Homeland Security Doesn't Think Al Qaeda Has 9/11 Anniversary Plot
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano spoke to the editorial board of the Dallas Morning-News and believed that if a 9/11-style plot would not happen today. However, she admitted, "There are no guarantees," though there is more intelligence sharing, "better targeting of airline passengers who need 'special attention,'and background checks at flight schools." Also, maybe White House officials should take White House Briefs titled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US" seriously.
Top World Trade Center Cop Accused Of Racism, Pushing Quotas
The current commanding officer at the World Trade Center has been accused by a fellow police sergeant of pressuring Bronx cops to make ticket quotas, and of routinely using racist language. In his lawsuit, Sgt. Christopher Groben has also accused Inspector Donald McHugh of ordering him to give negative performance evaluations to two "well-regarded" black sergeants when he was commander of the 41st Precinct in the Bronx between October 2008 and September 2010.
Video: A Look Back At The Twin Towers On The Big Screen
The Twin Towers have made it to the big screen more than a few times, and now Dan Meth has compiled a reel of all of its cameos between 1969 and 2000. From King Kong to The Wiz to Ghostbusters II to Superman and of course Manhattan, he did a pretty thorough job. Too bad Man On Wire didn't make it in there though... those WTC shots were filmed in 1977, even if the documentary wasn't released until 2008. What else should have been included?
Drink To Remember 9/11 With Weeping Superman Twin Towers Flask
As the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, we're encouraged to reflect upon how the country and indeed the entire world changed after the events of that horrific day. Oh, and buy stuff. Spending money is important otherwise the terrorists will win. Coins, wine, cartoons, whatever. But if you make only one jingoistic 9/11 purchase this year, log on to Etsy and make it the Superman On September 11th Stainless Steel Flask.
NYC ME's Office IDs 1,629th Victim From 9/11 Attacks
Yesterday, the NYC Medical Examiner's Office announced that it had identified the 1,629th victim from the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center. Using a DNA sample, the ME's office confirmed remains belonged to Ernest James, a 40-year-old Harlem resident, had been an IT employee at Marsh & McClennan.
Video: World Trade Center Memorial Construction Time Lapse
With the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks and the opening of the 9/11 memorial just three weeks away, this time lapse video of the construction at the World Trade Center site from 2004 to 2011 puts nearly eight years of bickering and slow-going into perspective. No word on whether there will be a time-lapse video of the hours of political speechifying that may go down during the memorial ceremony.

