The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 34

Well, thanks for nothing Gov. Paterson. Not only have you been relatively silent on the excruciating slow pace of reconstruction at Ground Zero and the problems with deconstructing Fiterman Hall and the Deutsche Bank building, but you now want to engage in a review of the whole process, which is sure to add still more delays to the rebuilding.

Top that off with still more delays by the Port Authority. They're not going to make a June 30 deadline to turn over the site of Tower Two to Silverstein Properties as promised.

Also, construction on the Freedom Tower appears to be going nowhere fast, even as towers going up all over the city are proceeding at a faster clip even though they started construction after the Freedom Tower. This report from WNBC makes it appear that construction is moving apace, but that's the situation for some weeks now. That report also notes that Paterson has demanded realistic timetables from the Port Authority:

He has just sent a letter to the latest leader of the Port Authority, Chris Ward, demanding a new "realistic" timeline for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site in less than three weeks.

Paterson wrote that recent developments -- including the second delay in the Port Authority turning over a portion of the Eastern half of the site to developer Larry Silverstein so he can begin to build Tower 2 -- show that the "overall project faces likely delays and cost overruns." Ward has only been in the job for a few weeks and will have little time to put together the timeline and cost estimates.

It makes one wonder what is truly going on at Ground Zero.

The main reason for cost overruns is that the project keeps getting delayed in construction. The longer it takes, the more the costs go up. Reviewing the process will further increase the costs.

Meanwhile, a contract for a dozen fuel cells to power the Freedom Tower and other Ground Zero buildings was approved.

UPDATE:
And the idiot who climbed the new NYT headquarters in Midtown trailing a sign that read that global warming kills more people each week than 9/11 did now says that he didn't mean to disrespect the families. Of course, this idiot happened to fly to New York to pull off his stunt, undermining his own argument. And has no proof to support his argument either.

It's also worthwhile to point out that the NYT headquarters was built in less time it has taken to get construction underway at Ground Zero. Groundbreaking for the NYT headquarters was in 2003, and tenants began moving in Winter 2006. That has something to do with the fact that the private sector does not tolerate delays all that well.