The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 92

Redevelopment of the entire Ground Zero site is still a major bone of contention with no sign of letting up anytime soon. Larry Silverstein is apparently pissed off at Mayor Bloomberg - vowing that he would never walk away from Ground Zero until the entire site is rebuilt.

Silverstein, who was at a public event with Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki, rebutted the mayor's charge that he doesn't have the money to finish the project and would abandon a partially built trade center while pocketing a $500 million profit.

"That's totally inaccurate, totally inaccurate," Silverstein bristled when asked about City Hall's bleak financial analysis released earlier this week. "I think I've said as much as I'm going to say."

But Silverstein did go on to say he's "committed" to an agreement signed with the city, state and Port Authority to rebuild all the office space. "We all executed agreements that specify exactly what would be done on that site," he said.

Pataki, who controls redevelopment at Ground Zero, gave Silverstein a vote of confidence, saying, "We've made very real and significant progress with our private partner, and that's Larry Silverstein."

Silverstein has a problem despite the fact that he's got Pataki's support. Pataki will not be governor past January 2007, which means that Bloomberg and whoever is the next New York governor - most likely Eliot Spitzer - will be calling the shots, and that doesn't bode well for Silverstein's plans.

Silverstein has to get shovels in the ground to get work started as quickly as possible, not only to silence his detractors, but to take advantage of the current political climate in Albany. His continued work at the entire Ground Zero site depends on playing nice with City Hall, and wooing the next governor to see things his way as far as the rebuilding schedule goes.

More schematics and diagrams of the WTC site can be seen on the Silverstein Properties website, and the overall site development map raises a question that I've been noting for some time. The Freedom Tower was moved and redesigned because of traffic on West Street and to better protect the lower floors from a car/truck bombing. With traffic being restored through the site on Greenwich Street, the rest of the buildings in the complex are now similarly exposed. Will they too have the reinforced base floors? And if they are, why not simply duplicate the design of the Freedom Tower - why build one when you can build two at twice the price? Not only do you get a restored Twin Towers feel to the site, but you can actually decrease the height and footprint of the other buildings - expanding the park/memorial space even further.

UPDATE:
The NYP editorial staff is happy that Bloomberg is showing an interest in Lower Manhattan but wonders where City Hall gets off saying that there isn't going to be demand for Lower Manhattan office space when they're pushing West Side development that doesn't even have a subway line built to service the area.

Via the Gothamist, here's Silverstein's retort to City Hall's characterizations of Silverstein's problems.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.