The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 60

The Port Authority released a study they commissioned that showed that the World Trade Center rebuilding project is turning out to be one of few reliable building projects in the metro area for the foreseeable future. It's expected to create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly. From the presser:

Presented at today's Board of Commissioner's meeting, the Port Authority study showed that public investments in World Trade Center projects, including One World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower; the World Trade Center Transportation Hub; the National September 11 Memorial & Museum; World Trade Center retail and other related infrastructure will result in the creation of 26,538 direct jobs, including on-site construction, architecture and engineering, and program and construction management. Including indirect jobs, such as those generated by industries that supply services, materials and machinery to the rebuilding effort, the jobs number grows to 62,336.

The World Trade Center projects also are expected to generate $3.7 billion in direct and indirect wages and total economic activity of $14.5 billion.

The number of jobs at the World Trade Center is rising just as the number of overall construction jobs across the region is declining. A recent report by the New York Building Congress found that New York City's building boom will peak this year, and the number of city construction jobs is projected to fall by almost 30,000 by 2010.

Of course, none of this should come as a surprise. The Port Authority touted the Ground Zero rebuilding as a way to create not only construction jobs, but indirect jobs that support and are based on the construction of the transit hub, Freedom Tower (which seems to now go by the moniker 1 WTC once again) and the 9/11 memorial. Anyone following the PANY/NJ press releases on Ground Zero since 9/11 would know that thousands of jobs would come from this project.

That's part of the reason I've been critical of the pace of the reconstruction efforts; rebuilding benefits all of Lower Manhattan and helps the local community restore lost business. Job creation would be even further along at Ground Zero had construction progressed at a faster pace and key hurdles overcome sooner. As it is, construction on the security center is well behind schedule because demolition of the former Deutsche Bank building has been repeatedly delayed (a deadly fire and subsequent changes to how the building would be disassembled); it's currently scheduled to be demolished by the end of the year.

Fiterman Hall remains an eyesore on the plaza overlooking 7WTC although demolition there is also expected to occur this year.

At the same time construction on the Freedom Tower is proceeding as steel is now more than 100 feet above ground level for the South core. That core will include the elevator banks that allow tenants and visitors access to the building. Among those elevators will be six that are expected to be the fastest in the Western Hemisphere, traveling more than 2,000 feet per minute, allowing travel from the lobby to the observation deck in under a minute. Contracts have already been signed for the design and construction of those elevators with ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation.

Elsewhere on the site, new construction cranes have been assembled over the past few days and preparation for construction along Church Avenue continues.

Leasing across the street at the World Financial Center is about to take a hit as a result of the ongoing mergers and consolidation in the financial industry. Merill Lynch is about to move out of the World Financial Center in its consolidation of space in New York City with Bank of America.

Meanwhile, for those victims of 9/11 who opted out of the Victim Compensation Board efforts to compensate those killed by the Islamic terrorists, closure is nearly at hand. More than 5,500 claims were filed through the VCB, while 95 families chose to sue the airlines, security companies, Port Authority and other parties. 92 of those lawsuits have been settled for a total of $500 million. Three of the suits are moving forward.

Ninety-two families of victims of the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York were paid about $500 million in legal settlements, according to a report approved today by a federal judge.

Unlike the 5,560 claimants who received $7 billion from a victims’ compensation fund, 95 families sued after the attacks with only three failing to reach settlements, according to the report. The remaining cases are scheduled to go to trial.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan formally accepted the report by a mediator who helped settle cases involving the 92 families. Many who sued had lost family members with large incomes or high-income potential and believed the fund wouldn’t adequately compensate them, the judge said in an opinion accepting the report by mediator Sheila Birnbaum. The report included the total settlement amount of about $500 million.

The case is In Re September 11 Litigation, 21-MC-00101, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

UPDATE:
On a safety note, the Port Authority has announced that they've entered into an agreement with the City to abide by city crane rules as they relate to crane operations including jumping, erection, and dismantling of tower cranes.

Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Chris Ward signed an agreement today that will create a new process to verify that any crane or derrick erected, dismantled, jumped, or operated on Port Authority properties in New York City conform to the safety standards set by the NYC Construction Codes and Department of Buildings (DOB) regulations.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Port Authority has agreed to obtain DOB review and approval of a crane or derrick’s prototype before installing and operating it on a job site. In addition, a crane or derrick on Port Authority property will be subject to annual inspection by DOB’s Cranes and Derricks Unit. The Port Authority will issue a certificate of on-site inspection of a crane or derrick when they determine the equipment complies with all of the City’s technical and safety regulations before it is operated. The Port Authority will also ensure that only riggers and crane operators licensed by DOB will erect, dismantle, jump, and use a crane or derrick on their properties.

As someone who regularly commutes through the area, this is good news given that there are so many tower cranes and other heavy equipment in and around the site and that the city has witnessed two major crane accidents within the past year killing several people and causing millions in damages.