So far, in fact, no evidence that the governor takes even his own deadline seriously.And Post also notes that the Port Authority, as a bistate agency, has a competing agenda that may actually find itself rooting for Silverstein to fail so that it could get back in the real estate business and make more money for the agency, rather than continue down the privatization of the Authority's real estate holdings.
No surprise there, though: Nobody else does, either.
Today, it's clear that all of last week's overwrought theatrics - including the governor's ad hominem attacks on Silverstein's character and integrity - served no constructive purpose whatsoever.
Here's the dirty little secret: No one really seems to be in a rush for a deal.
Let's recap: Friday, Silverstein sent PA officials a new offer. The authority rejected it and pledged to produce a counter-proposal. There were reports of back-channel discussions, possibly with the governor's office playing intermediary.
Then, nothing.
The two sides reportedly scheduled a meeting for staffers for today. And everyone is expecting the next developments, at the very least, to bring the sides formally back to the table.
Meanwhile, NY Metro runs a story on the various 9/11 related conspiracy theories, some of which show a complete and utter lack of scientific understanding and grasping at straws. For instance, you've got some folks wondering how the towers can collapse if steel melts at 2700F and hydrocarbon fires only get to 1700F. Quick clue: steel doesn't have to melt for there to be a collapse, it only has to soften in order to lose its strength. Once the steel melts, it loses the strength and ability to carry the weight above it. That's exactly what happened at the WTC. Steel trusses carrying the weight of the floors above failed, pancaking on top of each other, which combined with the failure of the steel outer skin caused the collapses.
And we now have yet another example of a skyscraper collapsing after a fire. This time it was in Nigeria, where a 22 story building partially collapsed after a fire struck two floors several days ago. The building collapsed during a heavy rain.
Now, before those same conspriacy theorists think that the Nigeria building proves their point, remember that there's a different scale of construction involved, and that a collapse in the middle of a 22 story building may not be sufficient to take down the entire building, but a collapse in the middle or even top third of a 110 story skyscraper would be.
UPDATE:
The New York Times has an in-depth piece on how construction workers are preparing the memorial site and protecting remnants of the WTC columns and foundations for the eventual memorial. Of course, some folks don't think the efforts go far enough:
When the memorial opens, after the protective enclosure is removed, most of the 84 column remnants from the north tower and about half of the 73 remnants from the south tower will be visible and publicly accessible on the main level of the museum, 70 feet below ground.
Preservation-minded relatives of 9/11 victims, like Anthony Gardner, who led a campaign three years ago to save the column remnants, believe this gesture does not go nearly far enough. They favor keeping as much as possible of the towers' remaining structural foundations and are suing in State Supreme Court to stop the memorial project until alternative designs are considered. A hearing is scheduled tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the protective enclosure around the north tower footprint is nearing completion. Could Mr. Mendes have imagined in 2002 that he would one day treat these column stubs like revered artifacts?
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein.
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