The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 134

Via Gothamist, John Whitehead, head of the LMDC, has resigned. No doubt this has something to do with the fact that the WTC memorial has come under harsh fire for being too expensive, too little fundraising, and poorly managed at all levels, all of which might lead to a redesign.

The Post reports that the handling of the whole memorial process is causing serious problems on the WTC foundation board. And just what we need - grandstanding from Speaker Shelly Silver:

Meanwhile, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday he plans to haul the major players at Ground Zero before a hearing on May 18 to get to the bottom of the delays in rebuilding efforts.

Silver, in announcing a hearing, said "people throughout the state, the city and my lower Manhattan community have become more and more frustrated by the lack of progress, lack of coordination and lack of leadership."

Considering that Silver and Bloomberg have undermined projects near and dear to each other, the problems in WTC reconstruction could very well end up in Silver's lap because he canned Bloomberg's pet project- the West Side Stadium, and Bloomberg has sniped at various Silver project since including Ground Zero rebuilding on a variety of grounds.

Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch is looking at what it will do when its leases expire at the neighboring World Financial Center. One possibility includes consolidating operations in one of Silverstein's new WTC towers, tweaked and personalized for Lynch's operations.

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