The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 71

Over the past few days, Governor Paterson has announced that he's going to force Larry Silverstein to accept whatever half-baked deal that the Port Authority comes up with rather than make sure that Silverstein gets the financing he needs to build at Ground Zero. He's basically threatening that Silverstein will be pushed aside to allow the Port Authority to go ahead with its own agenda. That includes the Port Authority drawing up plans to finish the 9/11 memorial and the PATH transit hub, and nothing else.

If you want a reason why Ground Zero remains largely a hole in a ground, there's your answer.

The 9/11 WTC Memorial and Museum is being built - largely because public pressure to have a gaping maw present come time for the 10th anniversary would be political poison to everyone even remotely associated with Ground Zero. However, all the other projects are behind schedule and subject to delays, modifications, or cancellations.

In fact, the Freedom Tower (aka 1WTC), which now peeks out over the northwestern portion of Ground Zero is hopelessly stalled, and a new report indicates that it will not be completed before 2018, at least 4 years after the Port Authority claimed just a few months ago. Anyone looking at the Tower can see that it's stalled out, as the northern core remains barely visible from ground level.

Moreover, that report indicates that the 9/11 memorial and museum wont be completed until 2013, two years after the 10th anniversary, and well after the dates provided by the Port Authority:

A 2018 opening for the iconic, 1,776-foot building would come more than four years after the opening date the Port Authority trumpeted just 10 months ago, the government report found.

The July 14 "confidential draft...risk analysis" by the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center (LMCCC) found that every blockbuster project at Ground Zero has fallen years behind time lines the PA unveiled in October.

The report says the grandiose transportation hub may not be ready until 2018, while the Sept. 11 Memorial, the site's emotional centerpiece, could be two years behind its 2011 deadline.

The report contradicts the "aggressive yet realistic schedules" PA boss Chris Ward gave Gov. Paterson.

Every one of those delays adds to the costs of rebuilding, and which makes an already expensive rebuilding project, even more expensive.

First and foremost, the Port Authority continues dragging its feet on the preparation of the site for Silverstein's office towers that were part of a previously negotiated settlement over how to rebuild at the site. The Port Authority continues to have to pay daily fines for failing to have the site ready.

The credit market collapse last fall has meant that financing remains a key stumbling block, and Silverstein's attempts to get the Port Authority to provide the financing has fallen on deaf ears. So too apparently has it fallen on the deaf ears of the New York Congressional delegation, from Senator Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillinbrand, to the members of the House.

At a time when the Obama Administration wants to get shovel ready projects going that would provide jobs and economic incentives, the rebuilding at Ground Zero is clearly the highest profile project, and one that would get support from a wide cross section of New Yorkers and all Americans in general.

Instead, we get treated to an ongoing battle, where Silverstein gets painted by the politicians as the bad guy, when the Port Authority and the other state agencies involved in rebuilding in and around Ground Zero can't get their own acts together to rebuild in a timely fashion.

If you want proof that this situation, look no further than Fiterman Hall and the former Deutsche Bank buildings. Both were heavily damaged during the 9/11 attacks, and both should have been demolished long ago. Yet, they're only now beginning to get around to it.

Silverstein long ago rebuilt 7WTC, showing that there is still someone who can get the job of rebuilding done.

Silverstein needs the financing to move ahead, and he needs the Port Authority to quit dragging its heels on site preparation. Everything is getting delayed because the former Deutsche Bank building hasn't been deconstructed, and is crucial to the infrastructure at the site since it is the site for the vehicle security center for vehicles entering the site.

Silverstein has threatened to take the matter to arbitration, and I suspect that he'd win on his claims, since there is more than adequate proof that the Port Authority is purposefully dragging its feet in the site reconstruction and efforts to prepare the site for Silverstein's office towers.

Curiously, for the first time in a while, Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver has noted that Gov. Paterson's nonsensical statements are a guarantee that there will be years more delays.