The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 170

It's a done deal. The Port Authority approved the deal with Silverstein to develop the site, and have given him until 2013 to build the three office towers along Church Ave. A failure to get them built will mean that Silverstein loses all his development rights. And because the construction depends on the Port Authority getting the site prepped for construction there's a penalty provision that the Port Authority would have to pay Silverstein $300,000 a day in penalties if they fail to do so. Sites for towers 3 and 4 are scheduled to be prepped ready by Dec. 31, 2007 and Tower 2 will be ready for construction by June 2008.

The Bergen Record would like to see the order of construction reversed, with the memorial and Silverstein towers built before the Freedom Tower. They cite the usual issues - the question of whether workers would be willing to work in the Freedom Tower, security concerns, and whether Pataki's nagging need for a legacy project at Ground Zero trumps economics and common sense. I think the Record's wrong on the economics, as the growth in Lower Manhattan shows that there is a strong need for more office space. As to whether workers will want to move to the Freedom Tower or other buildings on the site, it is an issue that has lurked in the background since the moment that the Port Authority began considering designs for rebuilding at Ground Zero.

Nicole Gelinas explores the economics of the deal, and notes that Silverstein's towers will not bear the stigma attached to the Freedom Tower and are more likely to be influenced by market forces than the Freedom Tower.

Meanwhile, families of 9/11 victims are likely to receive letters in coming days that the Medical Examiner's office is preparing another round of DNA identification using advanced techologies that weren't previously available. The 9/11 attacks spurred a tremendous advance in DNA identification technologies, permitting identification using badly decomposed and damaged tissue samples, and this new round of testing might yield more identifications of remains being held by the Office.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein, mount sinai, respiratory ailment, wtc cough, bloomberg.