The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 87

Firefighters cannot sue New York City or Motorola over faulty radios that may have contributed to additional deaths among firefighters and rescue personnel on 9/11.

Meanwhile, Snohetta, which is designing the cultural center, has reduced the footprint by 30% and will open up vistas to the memorial plaza and eliminate some engineering concerns.

Craig Dykers, a founding partner of Snohetta, said the change in program permitted greater flexibility in locating the building on the site.

"We've attempted to create an open and welcoming atmosphere that will allow the memorial quadrant to complete itself toward the corner of Fulton and Greenwich Streets," Mr. Dykers said, "but will also allow for new and more open orientation space."

As originally envisioned, the cultural center would have run about 240 feet along Greenwich Street and 160 feet along Fulton Street, creating a wall between the memorial and the PATH terminal, the performing arts center by Frank Gehry and Tower 2 of the office complex, which is being designed by Norman Foster.

Now, the Snohetta building will have only 65 feet of frontage on Greenwich Street and none on Fulton Street. It will also be shorter than the original, said Stefan Pryor, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

UPDATE:
As if my readers need any reminder over the New York Times' flawed coverage of real estate matters, Steve Cuozzo gives a primer.