The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 32

While debris fell again from the Goldman Sachs building across the street from Ground Zero forcing a stop work order to halt work there over the weekend, steel is finally peeking above street level on the Freedom Tower. Only roughly 1,770 feet or so before it gets topped out. At the pace it's going, it might be a couple of years.

Steve Cuozzo notes that this is a major accomplishment for the Port Authority, but completely lackluster compared to the pace of construction in the private sector:

The Port Authority staged a photo-op yesterday to show that steel for the Freedom Tower had poked above street level for the first time.

But two weeks ago, Goldman Sachs managed to top off its new, 43-story headquarters in Battery Park City, visible all the way from Sixth Avenue and Central Park South.

The Goldman project is a lot smaller than the Freedom Tower, but probably more complicated, thanks to its advanced electronics. And while the bank had a three-month head start over the PA, the Freedom Tower is in no danger of topping off soon.

The bank's speed in contrast to the agency's is an object lesson in private-sector superiority over governmental fumbling downtown - and should be taken into account in the flap over Goldman's claim to a $350 million payout by the PA for the agency's failure to meet Ground Zero deadlines.

Last week, news reports made much of the deal former Gov. Pataki made with Goldman, which required the PA to pay a penalty to the bank if the memorial, PATH terminal and other projects were not completed by 2010.

Meanwhile, NYS EDC Commissioner Avi Schick will be leaving his post in September.

Avi Schick has overseen development at ground zero, Columbia University Atlantic Yards and many other projects as president of the Empire State Development Corporation.

Schick says he told Gov. David Paterson he wants to return to the private sector to spend more time with his family. He will remain chairman at the development agencies in charge of ground zero, downtown Manhattan and Governors Island.

It’s the second departure at the development agency since former Gov. Eliot Spitzer left office. Patrick Foye resigned in March as downstate chairman.

Considering that none of those projects have advanced particularly well, I'd say that Schick didn't exactly advance construction at any of those projects. Governor Paterson, who is currently suffering from migraines, ought to do well to put someone in charge who will not only take charge of the morass of construction projects that have lagged, but inject purpose into these projects to get them on track and on schedule.

Among the contentious issues still to be resolved - how to get the Deutsche Bank building deconstruction back on track, and how to get construction done on various other downtown projects within budgets, including the Fulton Terminal.