Construction costs for the 1,776-foot tower have been pegged at $2.478 billion, up from the $2.2 billion estimate for steel, concrete, glass and labor projected last spring.Some of the costs could have been avoided had the design and construction on the site started earlier. For this, I fault Pataki and his inability to get the shovels in the ground other than for the photo opportunities afforded by groundbreakings and the laying of the Freedom Tower cornerstone (which was subsequently moved because the entire location of the tower was moved out of security concerns).
But the latest tally included in the Port Authority's capital budget includes an additional $507 million for "nonconstruction" costs that include security at the site, integrity monitors to keep an eye on contractors, the cost of selling bonds to finance the project, marketing the office space and fitting it out for tenants, The Post has learned.
Adding all the costs, the price tag for the Freedom Tower budgeted by the bistate agency is $3 billion - making it not just the tallest building in the city, but also the most expensive.
The WTC Memorial Foundation rejected a $30,000 donation from a Westchester, New York company because that company was involved in the production and marketing of 9/11 commemorative coins.
Joseph Daniels, the foundation's president and CEO, said the National Collector's Mint in Port Chester sent in the contributions as part of a campaign to peddle a "Freedom Tower Silver Dollar" in late 2004.
"We weren't comfortable because of the history," said Daniels. "They were investigated by the Attorney General's Office and ended up settling."
The private firm had boasted that each coin was minted from silver recovered at Ground Zero.
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