Federal Judge Rules Airlines Must Stand Trial On 9/11 Negligence

American Airlines and United Airlines have been trying to get a negligence case thrown out against them over their actions on 9/11 that led to the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City. World Trade Center Properties, which is Larry Silverstein's company, had sought to hold the airlines liable for the destruction of the WTC and claimed damages of $8.4 billion.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that the airlines couldn't get the case dismissed on summary judgment, but also capped the damages sought to $2.8 billion (the amount that Silverstein paid for the 99-year lease).

Judge Hellerstein said at this stage he could not reasonably determine the defendants' claim that insurance payments received by WTCP covered the damages the company is seeking from them.

"On this record, before trial, I am not able to make such findings," Judge Hellerstein said in a court filing.

The case is in re September 11 litigation, Case No. 21-MC-101, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

Part of the airlines argument was that Silverstein has already recovered insurance proceeds.

What the ruling indicates is that there's a material issue of fact and summary judgment wasn't warranted.

If Silverstein were to recover at trial, I'd expect the airlines to immediately appeal. A ruling in Silverstein's favor would seriously hurt the airlines' bottom line, which is still on shaky ground (American is in bankruptcy and a judge just threw out the pilots' union contract deal). There's no way that this would settle since so much money is at stake and the airlines' financial situation is perilous.

If Silverstein doesn't win at trial, it would reduce his ability to build at WTC and elsewhere (though the real issue regarding construction of the stalled 2WTC and 3WTC is a lack of tenants who have committed to leasing at the unfinished buildings. Silverstein had also been hoping to build a skyscraper a few blocks away on Church Street, but that too has stalled after demolition of the former Moodys building.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 157

The Freedom Tower is nearing its ultimate height of 105 stories (more than 1,300 feet) before the spire is constructed to top the structure out at its symbolic 1,776 feet.

The building is creeping towards edging out the Empire State Building as the tallest in New York City within the next couple of weeks, but it is the spire that will push the building to the top of the heap as tallest in North America (ahead of the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago).

There have been incalculable challenges in rebuilding at Ground Zero, not the least of which is the ongoing battles between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties, and Tishman Construction has been caught in the middle on more than a few of those issues. This article highlights some of the issues and how Tishman has ended up playing mediator between the parties to get things built. The article focuses mostly on the towers (Freedom/1WTC, 3WTC, and the Transit hub).

That kind of glosses over the fact that the Port Authority continues to be obstinate over construction costs associated with completing the National 9/11 Museum, which was supposed to be completed this fall, but now appears to be heading towards a mid 2013 completion date as work has completely stalled.

It also ignores the fact that the Port Authority, despite being squeezed to find ways to cut costs, refused to bend on limiting costs at the PATH Transit hub, despite the fact that the $2.2 billion costs have soared to $3.8 billion and the extra costs are doing nothing to add capacity. At a time when we should be looking to maximize funds to add capacity, the Port Authority has opted to go with a plan that does not make fiscal sense. At least with office buildings, the Port Authority can recoup the costs over time with higher rents. The same can't be said with a transit hub, though some will point out that the more attractive the hub is, the more rent can be collected from the associated retail rentals that will operate throughout the complex.

Meanwhile, Westfield Properties, which operates the Garden State Plaza and owns the rights to the retail space at the World Trade Center, is selling eight of its properties to fund the World Trade Center construction/buildout costs.

Westfield, one of the world's biggest shopping centre operators, said it would dispose of the eight "non-core" malls in Illinois, New England, California, Ohio and Florida as part of strategic reshuffling plans.

"The proceeds from the transactions will initially pay down corporate debt and then be redeployed in higher return development opportunities in the US, including the World Trade Center," said Westfield co-chief Peter Lowy.

"We have previously flagged the potential divestment of non-core assets in the US and this transaction is an important step in the repositioning of our portfolio to major retail assets with strong retail characteristics," he added in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

Starwood Capital Group, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, would take a majority stake in seven of the shopping centres and "manage and control" the assets. Westfield would retain a 10-percent stake.

The eighth centre, Eastland in California's West Covina, would be "sold in a separate transaction", the retailer said.

The remodelled World Trade Center, which is to include a memorial and museum to the September 11 attacks, will feature 550,000 square feet of retail space due to open in 2015.

New York's Port Authority in February cleared Westfield to take a US$612.5 million 50-percent stake in developing, leasing and operating the site's retail and dining space.

That makes sense considering that prior to 9/11, the WTC mall was one of the most profitable retail centers in the world on a per-square foot basis.

Meanwhile, as the tower comes upon the height of the former Twin Towers, some people are starting to put 1WTC into its context - critiquing it as it gains its final form and moves away from the abstract models that have preceded it for the past 5+ years. This critique is particularly interesting because it notes that when seen from afar, 1WTC does refill the Lower Manhattan skyline - something that had been absent since the towers fell. It does capture the heft and gravity of the former towers, though it lacks its twin (but some will further note that when seen from some vantages in Brooklyn that Gehry's 8 Spruce Street residential building gives Lower Manhattan its twin towers appearance.

That would not include the yet-to-be-completed 2 and 3 WTC, each of which would top out at over 1,000 feet, and would raise the height of skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan surrounding 1WTC. 1WTC would be the tallest of the crowd, but for now, it is a singular achievement.

It is also notable that the upper portion of the tower very much matches the renderings provided by SOM; the lower portion is something of a mystery since the original glass cladding had to be scrapped when it didn't pass muster for security purposes. The cladding for the bottom of the tower has yet to be revealed.

When it does, I'll be around to report on it.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 154

While the Freedom Tower (1WTC) is closing in on being topped out later this year, the financial picture for the World Trade Center redevelopment is grim. In fact, grim isn't quite the word. It's downright scary and awful. An audit demanded by both New York and New Jersey governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie shows just how bleak the situation is.

The Port Authority has so severely mismanaged the project that the audit released this week only scratches the surface on the dysfunction.

First among the problems is the compensation packages provided to Port Authority employees that leads to structural costs that are resistant to change:

• Promotion within the organization is primarily based on seniority, with little evidence of advancement or compensation being tied to performance. As a result, the organization has a concentration of long tenured senior and middle management employees.
• The magnitude of growth in size and cost of the security apparatus warrants an in depth review of its efficiency and relative effectiveness, as is currently being conducted.
• Overtime and other forms of “add‐on” compensation resulted in an additional $20,559 per employee in 2010. Overtime expenses alone topped $85 million in 2010.
• Total “add‐on” compensation, when combined with all other benefits, results in incremental average cost per employee equivalent to approximately 70% of base salary, a relatively high fringe benefit rate.
• 93% of employees make no contribution to their health care; by contrast, 100% of New York State and New Jersey State employees contribute to health care.
• Total cost of compensation and benefits for the average active Port Authority employee is estimated to exceed $143,000 annually.

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

While Steve Cuozzo, myself, and others take the Port Authority to task for the out-of-control costs for rebuilding the PATH terminal (costs rising from $2.2 billion to now $3.8 billion and rising), but the rest of the site work is a mess.

The auditor takes the position held by the Port Authority that it is owed monies by the city of New York and WTC 9/11 Museum foundation, but that's not necessarily the case. That would add hundreds of millions of dollars more to the costs that the Port Authority can't cover.

All this throws the agency's capital plan into doubt, and that includes the plans to raise the Bayonne Bridge, replace the obsolete Goethals Bridge, airport improvements, and replacement of the stringers on the George Washington Bridge.

Moreover, the problems with the Port Authority are going to lead to further delays on reconstruction efforts that will in turn lead to higher costs. These are on top of the delays and problems once a master plan was settled for the Ground Zero redevelopment - problems that could have been avoided.

Now, the auditor's solution is value engineering, which means using less expensive materials and architecture to arrive at a solution. That's not going to happen as the planning is too far underway for the Port Authority to cut its losses on the PATH hub, even though that is the area most ripe for cost-cutting.

Far from scaling back the costs, the Port Authority seems prepared to see the project through to completion as is, even as it claims that it will attempt to reduce further cost overruns.

Many of the problems can be traced back to the decisions by the Port Authority to stonewall Larry Silverstein in his reconstruction efforts, and the delays that the Port Authority created when it was preparing the siting for 2, 3, and 4 WTC. Those delays also meant that Silverstein could not obtain the critical funding for building the towers and potential tenants stayed on the sidelines while the Port Authority dithered.

This is yet another reason that the Port Authority should have gotten out of the real estate business in all of its aspects. It simply cannot do what it was entrusted in doing - providing improvements to the bistate infrastructure.

The fact that the PATH hub is out of control shows that the agency can't even manage its core functions properly. After all, the Port Authority has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build three temporary stations. The first temporary station, opened in late 2003, cost $253 million. That station opened out on to Church Street and provided five tracks and three platforms. The station entrance on Church Street was then moved north to accommodate construction elsewhere within Ground Zero, but that temporary structure was also demolished and a new temporary station entrance was built at Vesey Street across from 7WTC. That's where the present location is, but it too stands in the way of rebuilding efforts for both the loading docks for 1WTC and the performing arts center that will be built on the site.

The delays are intolerable as it is, but the shifting construction around the site has revealed that the Port Authority has squandered countless hundreds of millions of dollars in shifting the temporary PATH station around the site all while overbuilding the capacity at the outset.

The temporary station is currently using only three tracks and two platforms, yet it was rebuilt in 2003 with 5 tracks and 3 platforms. Why was that even necessary given the planned reconstruction and the need to demolish what was just built. Those are costs that could have been saved on both ends - in not rebuilding with the extra platform and two tracks, and the subsequent demolition that added to costs and complexity.

None of that was addressed by this particular audit, and will get short shrift at the end of the day.

Mind you, I'm a regular rider of PATH and have seen how the site is being rebuilt on a daily basis. It's amazing to watch the structures going up all around, but knowing how much money was wasted in the process of building and subsequently demolishing what was just built is absolutely infuriating.

It is well past time to hold those involved in the process accountable.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 152

Once again, rebuilding at Ground Zero is threatening to come to a screeching halt. This time, Larry Silverstein is warning that rebuilding of 3WTC, which was designed by Richard Rogers, would be capped at a stump of 7 stories, because he can't find tenants and wont build it out on spec.

The discussions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the lower Manhattan site, are based on a 2010 agreement that required the developer to have private financing and an anchor tenant in place, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Meeting those conditions would qualify the project for financial support from the agency, as well as the city and state.

Finding one or more anchor tenants for at least 400,000 square feet (37,000 square meters), as required, has proved tougher than anticipated as New York’s financial companies reduce staff and cut back on their space needs. The tower, designed by Richard Rogers, the Pritzker Prize-winning British architect, is designed to have 2.8 million square feet, according to Silverstein Properties Inc.’s website.

Silverstein said in a statement today that he remains “100 percent committed and determined to build 3 World Trade Center to the top as quickly as possible.” The developer is “fully optimistic” that he can sign a lease in time to complete the tower in 2015, as scheduled, he said.

Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesman, declined to comment.

The plans are flexible enough that Silverstein could reverse the capping of the building should he meet the tenant and financing requirements, said the people familiar with the discussions.
Crain’s New York Business reported the talks on its website Sunday.

While Silverstein could resume construction, it would mean that the area around the WTC site would remain a construction zone for the foreseeable future, and that would further mean that access to the WTC memorial would be constricted due to the ongoing construction of the adjacent areas.

2 WTC, designed by Sir Norman Foster, will only be built to street level at this time, because of a lack of tenants for that tower. 2 WTC would be the second tallest building on the site, and that means that at this point, only two of the four skyscrapers would be completed within the next two years.

That follows numerous reports showing that the Port Authority is having all kinds of issues with one of its steel fabricators, involving cost overruns and change orders that threatens to derail topping out 4WTC. For the moment, steel deliveries continue, but that could change depending on the resolution with the fabricator.

Then, there's the whole mess with the ongoing fight between the Port Authority and the WTC Memorial/Museum Foundation over who owes who how much. Construction to finish the museum has ground to a halt, and the opening date has been pushed back into 2013 from its September 2012 projected opening date. The Port Authority is also falling further behind on construction of the PATH transit hub, to say nothing of the out-of-control costs associated with that project.

The Foundation is back in the news after the Record reported that the salaries of top officials soared in 2011. Those defending the salaries claim that they are in line with other nonprofits, though critics will note that these employees are making money off the terror attacks.

Seven other executives, whose offices overlooked last year's Occupy Wall Street protest in Zuccotti Park, made more than $200,000 at the non-profit, and its president made $378,000.

Some vocal Sept. 11 victims' family members have criticized the compensation as excessive and say the federal government should not hand over taxpayer money without requiring transparency and tighter financial controls.

The foundation is asking federal lawmakers to support proposed legislation that would provide the non-profit with $20 million annually to run the site, or about one-third of its operating budget.

Jimmy Riches, a former New York City deputy fire chief whose 29-year-old firefighter son died in the north tower, said the memorial foundation has become a "commercial enterprise" and he likened Gerner's contract to that of a professional athlete.

"Who is she, Kobe Bryant?" he said. "What they're doing is making money off 9/11. People donate money to 9/11, and they're lining their pockets with it. This is totally wrong, and I think it's disrespectful to people who died."

Foundation officials say the salaries are in line with similar institutions.

"The employee compensation we offer is both competitive and comparable to other similarly situated non-profits," Joe Daniels, the foundation's president, said in a prepared statement. "I couldn't be prouder of the commitment and professionalism of the memorial staff."

Considering that the Foundation continues having issues raising the necessary funds to operate, finding ways to reduce its costs and benefit structure would be in order. Yet, the organization is not taking those steps, and is instead looking for a handout to keep the salaries at their current levels.

Work Stoppage Threatens Construction Projects Throughout NYC, Including Ground Zero

The ongoing labor dispute between concrete union workers and developers has meant that work at Ground Zero is slowly grinding to a halt; on the day that the Freedom Tower officially became the tallest building in Lower Manhattan, carpenters walked out in solidarity with the concrete union workers.

Carpenters are refusing to work at a World Trade Center project and other sites in solidarity with cement laborers who have staged a work stoppage as they negotiate a new contract.

More than two-dozen carpenters have joined hundreds of cement workers in a job action at One World Trade Center that began Monday. The cement worker stoppage has slowed construction there and on the World Trade Center's new transit hub, both being built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

I understand that developers feel that they're being squeezed on profits for construction projects and that the level of new construction isn't where anyone wants it to be, but they're spiting themselves to go after the unions seeking serious cuts in salaries for these folks. Depending on who you ask, the unions are being asked to cut salaries by 20%.

But at the same time, several of the job actions have occurred at sites where the unions promised no walkouts or union actions to disrupt construction. Those job actions will mean that the court actions pending against them will not go well for the unions.

Moreover, it affects the bottom lines on several key projects around the city, especially at Ground Zero. The Port Authority and Silverstein Properties can ill afford more delays and more costs resulting from work actions.

Groups that are pushing for the elimination of Project Labor Agreements (which were signed by the parties involved and ostensibly prevent strikes and work actions) are using the ongoing disputes to further their own agenda that they should free developers from having to work with the unionized trades.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 140

Despite the Port Authority's possible toll and PATH fare hikes to cover rising construction costs for Ground Zero reconstruction, the work continues on both the Freedom Tower (1WTC) and 4WTC and workers are moving to complete the 9/11 Memorial in time for the 10th anniversary as the museum and other components are being prepared.

Now, the New York Times is reporting that the major financial firm UBS may be moving back to New York City 15 years after moving its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut. The company has a case of buyers remorse as it has found it can't recruit and retain talent, which would much prefer to live in New York City.

As a result, UBS is seriously considering a reverse migration that would bring its investment banking division and up to 2,000 bankers and traders back to Wall Street and a new skyscraper at the rebuilt World Trade Center, according to real estate executives and city officials.

“They just can’t hire the bankers and traders they need,” said one landlord who has spoken with UBS but requested anonymity so as not to alienate a potential tenant.

The bank is also looking at several Midtown locations, and Connecticut is sure to wage a fierce battle to keep UBS in Stamford, where it is the largest private employer and the biggest taxpayer.

A final decision is perhaps months away, and any move would not take place until 2015.

But over the last week, UBS has engaged in negotiations with the developer Larry Silverstein over the terms of a potential financial deal at 3 World Trade Center, an 80-story office tower that he plans to build at 175 Greenwich Street. The return of UBS would be a boon to New York, which in past decades often suffered from corporate defections that were fueled by a sense that computers and telecommunications had made a Manhattan location more of a luxury than a necessity.

The move would be the latest sign that New York has regained its allure as a caldron for the young and creative. Six months ago, Google paid nearly $2 billion for a large building just north of the meatpacking district, in the same Manhattan neighborhood where many of its employees live.

Considering that Silverstein wouldn't be able to secure the financing for 3WTC without having tenants lined up, this is a significant piece of news. It would mean that another component of the Ground Zero rebuilding could finally get underway - and without the need for government agencies filling up the space in lieu of private companies who would command higher rents (even as those rents are subsidized due to various incentives enacted after the attacks to attract businesses back to Lower Manhattan).

Unfortunately, this would be a big blow for Connecticut, where there's already at 25% vacancy rate in Stamford. Expect the state and city to try and throw more incentives at UBS to stay, but with UBS eying a return to Manhattan to be closer to clients (aka Wall Street), those Connecticut incentives would have to be serious coin to keep them there. Note too that UBS would be able to work with Silverstein to tailor the facilities at 3WTC to their needs (and the design already calls for a major trading floor space).

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 121

This has been something that has been bugging me for more than a year. Since the federal government enacted the ARRA of 2009 (the federal stimulus package), I've been saying that funds set aside by that package should be used to help expedite and complete the Ground Zero reconstruction.

It now appears that Silverstein Properties has recognized the funding source and may be applying for $200 million in Recovery Zone bonds to help finance 3 WTC. The New York region was entitled to $550 million in Recovery Zone bonds, but those bonds may go unused before they expire.

The bonding would be a lower interest rate than bonding and financing obtained elsewhere, which can further reduce the construction and repayment costs at Ground Zero.

At the same time, one has to wonder why the Recovery Zone bonds haven't been utilized in the ARC Tunnel/7 Line extension debate as a way to further the construction efforts at a time when infrastructure spending is considered a top priority by the Obama Administration. It would have come in handy to complete a mid-stop on the 7 Line extension to 34th Street at 11th Avenue, but yet the City and MTA didn't seek use of those funds.

Meanwhile, the NY Post is reporting on a rather old story - that the Port Authority is spending $600 million in upgrading the security on its PATH tunnels under the Hudson River. The Port Authority approved the upgrades several years ago and the purpose is to make the tunnels less likely to flood in a terror attack or natural disaster. It was spurred by the experience after 9/11 when the WTC tubes were flooded for months after the collapsing towers severed major water mains and severely damaged the tunnel infrastructure and then by thwarted terror plots targeting the PATH system. The upgrades include flood prevention doors and bomb proofing the tunnel lining, which are sensible steps considering the fact that the PATH system has been repeatedly targeted by al Qaeda.

On a happier note, it appears that the construction workers on 1WTC (Freedom Tower) have installed Christmas colored lights on some of the lower floors. Green and red tinted lights now mark some of the lower floors after dark.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 112

Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority are set to make a deal to complete financing on two of the office towers planned for the site.

The deal has been in the works since a handshake agreement in March. How did the Port Authority agree? Well, it was simple horsetrading.

According to multiple people familiar with discussions, in order to win the support of the Christie administration and the New Jersey side of the Port Authority board, the New York side of the Port Authority agreed to commit significant funds toward New Jersey regional transportation projects when the agency reevaluates its priorities for its capital plan in the fall.

The funding is justified as a means of achieving balance after the new World Trade Center deal, which is valued by the agency at about $1.2 billion in new subsidy and foregone rent. That expenditure is being treated as a New York-specific project, and thus, by the one-for-one logic often employed in Port Authority capital plans, corresponding money should go into New Jersey.

This is not all that unlike the trading that went on for years in the New York Legislature, when a governor and lawmakers wanting to spend money on a large project in New York City would need to devote an equal sum to some project upstate in order to make it politically palatable. (Former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has boasted that this is how he won the money to rebuild the Albany airport.)

Still, it's hardly the cleanest system in the world to have deals such as this one. In the extreme, such trading paints a portrait of the Port Authority as an entity that is simply a vehicle for two separate governors who spend money on two separate sets of priorities. This is opposed to the ideal: an agency that solely has at heart the interests of the region as a whole, and prioritizes spending on transportation projects accordingly.

The result in the fall, particularly if there is a revenue increase, will likely be more money devoted to projects such as the renovation or replacement of the Bayonne Bridge, a top infrastructure priority of New Jersey (they want it raised up, or replaced with a higher bridge). Presumably this means there will be comparatively less to go around for New York priorities, such as Moynihan Station.

Since the Port Authority is a bistate agency, New Jersey interest demanded something to offset the expenditures at Ground Zero - so they got $1.6 billion or so in projected money over the next couple of years for projects that would benefit New Jersey. This is how business is done at the bistate agency and makes a mockery of the whole notion of a coordinated policy of improving infrastructure to benefit the region (the purpose of the agency in the first place).

Instead of treating the World Trade Center site as a separate entity not subject to the typical bistate bickering, it's fallen into the same politicking that has caused incessant delays in rebuilding. The problem had nothing to do with Silverstein Properties, and everything to do with the behind-the-scenes politics within the Port Authority.

The deal will enable construction of Tower 3 and Tower 4 (which is already underway at and above the pedestal base across the street from Russell Simmons' loft).

This is what's being built at Ground Zero except that the Foster and Partners designed 2WTC, which would have been at the corner of Vesey and Church has been delayed indefinitely. The financing deal will not cover that site.

It's a huge mistake and consigns the site to construction for the indefinite future because that building will eventually be built - the only question is when. Since the site construction is ongoing, it would have been best to build the site out at one time so as to minimize the impact on the surrounding community as much as possible. Instead, the immediate vicinity (including the 9/11 memorial and museum and transit hub will be adjacent to an empty hole/work-site for the foreseeable future.



Considering that the real estate market is showing signs of strength in Manhattan, with Vornado getting approval to build a skyscraper rivaling the Empire State Building in height two blocks from the iconic tower and an ongoing demand for Class A office space, this is a serious mistake on the part of the Port Authority. The funding should have been made available to ease Silverstein's access to financing to rebuild the site in a timely manner.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 105

Leave it to the New York Times to sound downcast over how the Port Authority had selected the Durst Organization to operate and market the Freedom Tower (1WTC). Let's not forget that the Times is a real estate venture as much as it is a newspaper publication, and its midtown skyscraper headquarters competes with the construction at Ground Zero. The paper had repeatedly downplayed the viability of office space at Ground Zero.

The authority’s board met Wednesday and selected Durst over the other finalist, the Related Companies, one of the city’s most prolific developers. The authority and the Dursts plan to negotiate a final agreement over the next 30 days. If the deal is completed, the Dursts will invest at least $100 million for an undisclosed stake in the project and take over leasing and management of the building.

The authority figured that it was good at building but would need an expert to lure top-notch tenants from the United States and abroad. In one of the more intriguing possibilities, the publishing giant Condé Nast has expressed interest in moving to 1 World Trade Center from a Durst building in Times Square.

“We’re extremely pleased that some of the most prominent developers in the country saw market value in this world-class office tower, and engaged in an extremely competitive process for a stake in it,” said Anthony R. Coscia, the authority’s chairman. “What is most important is that we reach an agreement that is good for the building, for the World Trade Center site and for the region.”

So far, the Beijing Vantone Industrial Company, a Chinese real estate firm that signed a lease for the 64th through 69th floors, a total of about 190,000 square feet, is the sole private tenant. The authority has preliminary agreements with the state and federal governments for one million square feet.

The authority had explored selling the building in 2007 to a private equity firm, but the recession quickly wiped out that possibility. In January, the authority solicited interest from a select group of developers who might be interested in a partnership deal. Six responded: the Durst Organization; Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, a national real estate company; Mortimer B. Zuckerman, chairman of Boston Properties and the owner of The Daily News; Brookfield Properties, one of the largest landlords downtown; Hines, an international developer based in Texas; and Stephen M. Ross, chief executive of the Related Companies.

Well, the naysayers were wrong - as I'd been saying all along. There was strong competition for the right to manage the site and have a stake in the construction project. That belies the claims that the tower would be a white elephant and remain empty even with a poor real estate market.

That there was such strong competition for the rights shows the folly in forcing Larry Silverstein out of the project in the first place. He was in a position to get the tower built quicker and yet the Port Authority dragged its feet, leading to delays throughout the site.

But that's all water under the bridge now as the Freedom Tower is now about 25 stories tall.

So, who is the Durst Organization? It's one of the City's largest real estate family ventures, and among its holdings is the nearly completed environmentally friendly Bank of America tower at Bryant Park in NYC and 4 Times Square.

UPDATE:
The Daily News further points out that Doug Durst had a turnaround of his own on the feasibility of the Freedom Tower - he had questioned the feasibility of the project just a few years ago.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 103

Is NYU going to come to the rescue to help get the site of the former Deutsche Bank building developed? It seems that the university may do just that. The NYU master plan is looking to develop a skyscraper for housing, and the former Deutsche Bank building site would fit their needs perfectly. It would be far less controversial than the university's planned expansion in Greenwich Village around its existing campus and is far more likely to bring life and vitality to the Financial District and Lower Manhattan as a 24-7 destination than other options.

The demolition of the Deutsche Bank building is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year (better late than never).

Meanwhile, after a FoxNews story claimed that one of the developers seeking to operate 1WTC (Freedom Tower, the Related Companies, has ties to various Middle East groups, Steve Cuozzo (of the Post) writes about his conversation with Related Cos. boss Stephen Ross:

"I'm furious. They're trying to get the victims' families rather than the Port Authority to make the decision," fumed normally even-tempered Ross, who wouldn't say whom he meant by "they're."

"The partners they're talking about don't have an equity interest in our company," Ross said. "We have only two equity partners -- Goldman Sachs and Michael Dell's MSD Capital."

Related's Mideast partners, he said, "are just debtholders. They have a subordinated debt position with no rights.

"They have no seats on our board. There are no covenants that give them a say in anything."

The uproar erupted when Fox News Channel's Peter Johnson Jr. said on-air yesterday morning that Related is "substantially bankrolled by the most powerful Arab corporate interests in the world," and questioned whether it would be an appropriate partner at the site where nearly 3,000 were killed by terrorists on 9/11.

"For anyone who suffered loss, the news may be dizzying," Johnson said.

In fact, Related announced its debt agreements with Mideast funds Mubadala Development, Olayan Group and Kuwait Investment Authority in 2007, when the story was widely reported.

But Ross yesterday seethed over what he clearly regarded as an attempt to manipulate the PA into rejecting Related's bid at Ground Zero.

The PA wouldn't have been in this position at all if they simply got out of the way and let Larry Silverstein build the towers years ago, but chose instead to drag their feet, watched as the credit and real estate markets collapsed, and resulted in it becoming even more difficult in getting the site built out as per the master plan.

But since we're in this position, Related is definitely right to get pissed about this attempt to sway public opinion against the company in the right to operate 1WTC on little more than innuendo and a lack of facts.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 102

UPDATE: I posted this and didn't notice the date - from October 2008 - my apologies:

The Port Authority says that its timeline to build the major components of the WTC 9/11 Memorial are on track to be open by the 10th anniversary - just over a year away - if things go as planned.

Instead of being delayed until 2013 or 2014, the World Trade Center memorial — or at least important elements of its plaza — can be opened on Sept. 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on Thursday.

But in what is supposed to be the most realistic timetable and budget [Text] ever presented publicly for the rebuilding of ground zero, the authority’s executive director, Christopher O. Ward, was careful to note that even that date was not so much a guarantee as it was a reasonably confident projection, based on hard facts but also on the assumption that many things will go right from this day forward.

“This report allows us to say with certainty what we’re building, who’s building it, when it will be built and for how much,” Mr. Ward told the authority’s board of commissioners at a morning meeting.

However, that doesn't mean that all is well. To complete the memorial, the Port Authority and the MTA are going to have to suspend service on the 1 Line that runs through the heart of Ground Zero for several weeks so as to complete work on underpinning the subway line. PATH will also see sporadic weekend closures to get critical work done.

Under the new timetable:

* The National September 11 Memorial and Museum, including the underground exhibition galleries could be completed by the first quarter of 2013, though it might be delayed until the second quarter. Much of the above-ground plaza will be ready by the third or fourth quarter of 2011. The authority did not release a budget figure for this project, but it is understood to be $610 million; $530 for the plaza and the galleries, $80 for an above-ground entrance pavilion.
* The World Trade Center Transportation Hub could be completed in the fourth quarter of 2013, though it might stretch out to the second quarter of 2014. The cost is now estimated at $3.2 billion, 50 percent higher than the original budget. When it was announced in 2004, officials said the hub, which is principally a PATH terminal, would open in 2009.
* One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, will be completed sometime between the first and fourth quarters of 2013, five years later than originally planned, at a budget of $3.1 billion, or about three times the original estimate.
* The underground Vehicle Security Center, a series of checkpoints, ramps and roadways serving the cars and trucks coming to the trade center, can be completed in the first quarter of 2012, but no later than the third quarter of 2012. Its current cost, $633 million, is almost one-third higher than the original estimate.
* The recreation of Greenwich Street, which was eliminated by the original trade center, will be completed as early as the second quarter of 2012 or as late as the fourth quarter, at a cost of $281 million, which is under the transportation hub budget.

Currently, the Freedom Tower stands at around 250 feet - or about 1/8th its ultimate height of 1,776 feet.

The former Deutsche Bank building still must be deconstructed and the demolition proceeds at a glacial pace. The pace of building Fiterman Hall isn't much faster, and the pace of construction at 4WTC, which is diagonally across from the Freedom Tower, has slowed down.

Construction is moving ahead with the Freedom Tower, including the use of a cocoon safety system that wraps the uppermost floors during construction.

At the same time, two major real estate developers are duking it out for rights to manage and market the Freedom Tower - the same Tower that the Port Authority wrested control over from Larry Silverstein. It looks like Silverstein was right all along and that the Freedom Tower is a whole lot more valuable than the Port Authority thought (and quite a bit more expensive due to all the delays due to Port Authority foot-dragging).

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 99

Is the announcement of a deal between Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority that was made yesterday nothing more than vaporware and bluster because it doesn't actually insure that 2 and 3 WTC actually gets built?

It would appear that the devil is in the details. There's no guarantee that the towers will get built, and 2 WTC, which was designed by Sir Norman Foster and is the one tower that won plaudits for its design, has apparently been shelved permanently.

Steve Cuozzo notes that this "breakthrough" accomplishes nothing whatsoever, and the mess with rebuilding 2 and 3 WTC remains just that - a mess.

In fact, the new "framework" pushes back construction of Towers 2 and 3 indefinitely, while promising only Tower 4 by 2013.

It includes "immediate construction" of a "transit and retail podium" at the Tower 3 site. Construction by whom? Silverstein has long said no to putting a shopping mall up before the rest of the building because it would push his office lobby up many floors above the street.

In fact, the tower might never get built, thanks to new pre-leasing and financing requirements unlikely to be met for years.

The parties almost made utter failure to make progress sound like a great step forward. There was too much public, political and media pressure for them not to. But how will they talk their way out of the hole next time?

4 WTC is currently underway in the southeast corner of the site, and it's expected to be the headquarters for the Port Authority, so there's no reason not to expect it to be completed. 2 and 3 WTC remain an open question, despite the fact that those towers should get built as quickly as possible because of the immediate impact it will have on the job market, and will encourage businesses to look at Lower Manhattan as more than just a perpetual construction zone, but as a world class business destination for class A office space that conforms to the latest environmental and safety standards.

That the parties can't seem to find the money, and that the politicians are even more clueless is an absolute travesty. At a time when billions are being thrown around by the federal government to engage in economic stimulus projects, the absence of money for rebuilding Ground Zero stands in stark contrast. This isn't just about the perception that such funds would go to a private developer - it is also about making sure that the towers get rebuilt following a devastating terrorist attack that destroyed the buildings on which he assumed a long term lease. A deal needs to be done, and this latest pronouncement isn't it.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 98

A deal has been tentatively reached that would enable Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority to build 2 and 3 WTC using a combination of insurance proceeds and Liberty Bonds. The buildings would fill the space in the lower right foreground of the image to the right:

The Port Authority is already building 1 World Trade Center, a 1,776-foot tall skyscraper; a $3.2 billion transit center; the national memorial, and new streets and utilities that serve the site. Mr. Silverstein, who held a lease on the twin towers when they were destroyed and has continued to pay rent to the Port Authority, has the right to build three other towers at ground zero.

Unable to secure financing in the current real estate market or corporate tenants for the three towers, Mr. Silverstein asked the Port Authority to finance them. Under the tentative deal, the Port Authority would finance one of them, a 64-story building on Church Street. The city and Port Authority have already agreed to rent space in the building.

The authority, Gov. David A. Paterson and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg would agree to secure contributions of equal amounts of money to serve as backup financing for the second, 71-story tower, providing that Mr. Silverstein raises $300 million in cash and signs leases with corporate tenants for a portion of the space, about 400,000 square feet.

All sides have agreed to pool the remaining insurance money from the 9/11 attacks, about $1 billion, and tax-free Liberty Bonds for the two buildings. Mr. Silverstein’s third tower would be delayed until some future date.

The total proposed public investment in Mr. Silverstein’s buildings was still unclear. On Wednesday the various parties were still working out possible limits on development fees Mr. Silverstein could earn.

UPDATE:
In a related development, the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania is on track to be completed by next year's 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 96

There's going to be a rally out in front of 7WTC at noon today to protest the ongoing stalemate between Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority over the construction of 2 and 3 WTC. Union workers who would stand to benefit from the construction of those two towers, the building of which is now in doubt because no one appears willing to fund this.

The two towers were part of the current master plan and are shovel ready projects in every sense of the word, so why is no stimulus funds from the ARRA of 2009 available to make this happen? It would clearly be a project tailor made to benefit from federal funds (or at least low interest financing) so that the project can build out Ground Zero without dooming the site to decades of construction, which now appears to be the case.

There has been some movement on the negotiations between Silverstein and the PANY, but no decision has been reached (the deadline is March 11).

At the same time, there's new acrimony between the Port Authority and the FDNY following an accident yesterday at the Freedom Tower. A construction worker fell 14 feet between two stories of the Freedom Tower and FDNY personnel who arrived were thwarted from rendering assistance.

Jose Jerez, 28, was working on a doorway 100 feet above street level when he plummeted about 14 feet, landing on a plywood floor inside the skyscraper-to-be, Port Authority officials said.

The Port Authority, which owns and has sole jurisdiction over the former World Trade Center site, dispatched its own police and emergency responders, who reached Jerez "within a minute or two" of his fall, said spokesman Steve Coleman.

The first FDNY unit to reach Ground Zero, Engine 10, arrived at the site's northern end, along Vesey St., but was not permitted entry by the Port Authority, FDNY sources said.

A short time later, six members of the FDNY's Squad 18 unit arrived at the western edge of Ground Zero and were allowed to assist in removing Jerez from the site, the FDNY sources said.

Port Authority rescuers lifted Jerez out from inside the building in a wire basket and used a hoist to lower him to the ground. An FDNY ambulance took him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was initially listed in serious condition, FDNY sources said.

While the rescue was unfolding, several additional FDNY units joined Engine 10 outside the Vesey St. entrance but also were kept at bay.

Officials said an FDNY battalion chief fumed when told the Freedom Tower could not handle the 50 or 60 additional firefighters who showed up.

When asked about the decision to restrict FDNY access, Coleman would say only that the firefighters "were properly admitted as needed."

FDNY spokesman Jim Long downplayed the spat, saying both the FDNY and Port Authority "had the best intentions" of providing care to Jerez as quickly as possible.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 95

Scott Pelley of CBS News takes an in depth look at the situation at Ground Zero and calls it an outrage that the situation isn't as far along as it should have been. It's a situation that I've been detailing for years. Welcome to the party pal. Where have you been? CBS News has offices uptown, but they most certainly know that Lower Manhattan is still missing the towers at Ground Zero as promised. This isn't a surprise.

What is a surprise is that it took CBS News years before they sent 60 Minutes to Ground Zero to take a look at the sorry state of affairs that I've been cataloging since before I started blogging it on A Blog For All. It's a disgrace that the Port Authority is passing the buck and blaming Larry Silverstein for delays when the Port Authority is years behind on its own schedule for rebuilding the transit hub and repeatedly delayed handing over the site in a condition suitable for rebuilding.

Silverstein had sued the Port Authority for $2.75 billion over the delays and while the court found that the Port Authority had indeed repeatedly delayed handing over the site in accordance with prior agreements, Silverstein was not entitled to damages.

Moreover, the LMDC, a public entity, has still been incapable of demolishing the former Deutsche Bank building that was severely damaged on 9/11 and it was only a few short months ago that Fiterman Hall was finally demolished after it stood hulking over the triangle in front of the newly rebuilt 7WTC, which Silverstein had rebuilt within three years time.

Each delay builds on the next, which is why fanciful schedules and timelines claiming that various components of the rebuilding will be completed come with expiration dates and probability charts. More often than not, the Port Authority will not make its deadlines, pushing the rebuilding even further into the future.

The lack of urgency in rebuilding is still omnipresent. The failure to obtain sufficient funding for this shovel ready project is also astounding. At a time when the federal government is throwing hundreds of billions of dollars around to stimulate the economy, where's the money to help rebuild Ground Zero? 4 WTC was pretty much canceled last week because of a lack of financing, which is simply unconscionable. That means that should the building be reconsidered at some point in the future, it will mean a far higher cost and inconvenience to those who commute through the site to say nothing of those who live and work in the area who have to deal with the ongoing construction that will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 94

Say goodbye to Tower 2 at the World Trade Center, because Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority can't seem to find the money to make it happen.

An iconic 79-story skyscraper long planned for Ground Zero that would have been taller than the Empire State Building appears to be dead.

Developer Larry Silverstein has proposed a new financing scheme for the troubled site that discards the 1,270-foot Tower 2, sources familiar with the project say. In the past two weeks, he has come under intense pressure from Gov. Paterson to resolve his bitter war with the Port Authority.

Acting after Silverstein was slapped down last month in his bid to snag $3.5 billion in penalties from the PA because of building delays, Paterson urged him to throw more cash into the project and scale back his demands.

Tower 2 would have been designed by Sir Norman Foster and reached more than 1,250 feet into the air. It was also the one tower design that most people seemed to like (and even more curiously, was the one tower that most closely resembled the original Daniel Libeskind master plan sketches and plans for towers with sloping roof lines). The site has been plagued with Port Authority delays in getting the site prepped for construction, so this is the latest problem for that tower. Meanwhile, Tower 4, where the Port Authority intends to house its offices is underway just to the south.

All the while, the hulking ruin of the former Deutsche Bank building hovers over the entire site, as its deconstruction timetable affects construction through the site since the Deutsche bank building location is critical for future operations in the site.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 92

A recent decision by an arbitrator to refuse to give Larry Silverstein billions of dollars in compensation because of missed opportunities to secure financing was just one part of a larger problem. Construction is progressing at Ground Zero, but the continuing mess that is the former Deutsche Bank building demolition looms ever larger.

The building has to be demolished before construction can proceed on the Ground Zero Vehicle Security Center. Without that center, businesses wont be able to conduct business through the rest of the site even if the office towers are built.

But the VSC situation might be the most meaningful, and ominous, of all.

The VSC, one of several projects for which the PA is responsible, won't be finished until late 2013, according to a confidential PA report cited by the arbitrators.

The further delay in that already twice-delayed job gives Silverstein reason -- or an excuse, depending on your point of view -- for not wanting to build his towers any time soon.

Without the VSC, trucks won't be able to get to them, thus making lease-up and servicing impossible.

After all, why put up towers costing $1 billion each with no certainty they could actually be used?

According to the 2006 master development agreement between Silverstein and the PA, the VSC was supposed to be done by February 2011. Then, PA Executive Director Chris Ward's "Roadmap" of October 2008 moved the "target" to finish the VSC back to early 2012.

But that report also said the VSC's "probabilistic" -- i.e., more likely -- completion was the third quarter of that year.

Now, the arbitrators have bared a confidential PA analysis stating that the VSC won't be finished until September 2013. (The PA apparently regarded all previous targets as "aspirational," a level of fantasy even beyond "probabilistic.")

No one is going to want to take leases on office space if they can't actually stock the offices or maintain their daily operations if they can't get the daily supplies through a non-existent VSC. Those delays continue mounting and the interminable delay in demolition is taking its toll on Silverstein to secure leases for the office towers he's supposed to build.

It now appears that taking down a single floor every few weeks is overly optimistic - and there are 20+ floors remaining on the site.

It's little wonder that the construction schedules are all out of kilter for the 3 and 4 WTC sites; there's little impetus to move ahead when the LMDC and Port Authority can't guarantee a start date on the VSC (let alone a completion date).

Meanwhile, New York City is again sifting through debris from Ground Zero to look for remains of those murdered in the 9/11 attacks.

Anthropologists and other forensic experts will hand-sift 844 cubic yards of soil and other material - about the amount that fits in a dump truck - that was gathered since December 2007 from various sites around Ground Zero. A prior sifting operation resulted in identifying 27 additional victims.

To date, 1,629 victims of the World Trade Center attacks have been identified, out of 2,752 killed.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 91

While construction continues throughout Ground Zero on the Freedom Tower, 4WTC, the memorial/museum, and the transit hub, there are still lawsuits to be had and an arbitrator ruled today that Larry Silverstein was not entitled to money for the Port Authority's failure to meet deadlines. He had sought $2.75 billion and free rent from the Port Authority for delays that led to problems with Silverstein obtaining tenants and financing for two other towers at the site.

The long-simmering dispute pitted Mr. Silverstein, backed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, against the Port Authority and the governors of both New York and New Jersey.

With the two sides deadlocked, Mr. Silverstein, chief executive of Silverstein Properties, or S.P.I., took the matter to the arbitration panel in August, claiming that long delays by the Port Authority in rebuilding the infrastructure at ground zero had undermined his ability to attract tenants and get the financing. He asked the panel to rule that the Port Authority had breached its obligation and sought 10 years of free rent and billions of dollars in damages as a remedy.

But the arbitrators ruled that Mr. Silverstein “has not shown any action or inaction by the P.A. to date has actually delayed or damaged S.P.I. in its construction of the towers.” Indeed, the arbitrators said that witnesses for Mr. Silverstein acknowledged that construction of the towers could proceed “if the funding problem did not exist.”

The arbitrators did say that the Port Authority performed inadequately in 2006 and 2007 in meeting its obligations under the development agreement at the site. But since Christopher O. Ward became executive director of the Port Authority in 2008, the arbitrators said “much has changed, contracts have been let, and the infrastructure work is moving head. Meanwhile, the P.A. has invested or committed over $2.3 billion to redevelopment of the site.”

They also said that the authority had made “significant concessions and adjustments” for Mr. Silverstein.

The arbitrators did, at Mr. Silverstein’s request, eliminate a “cross default” provision in the development agreement that would have put him in default on all three towers if he failed to meet the construction schedules for any one building. The Port Authority had sought an order directing Mr. Silverstein to begin construction immediately.

The Port Authority and Silverstein are expected to go back to the drawing table to work out a timetable for construction of 2WTC and 3WTC, which run along the eastern side of Ground Zero.

The arbitrators pretty much point to the fact that rebuilding was delayed under the prior head of the Port Authority, and that current head Chris Ward has managed to get things back on track.

9/11: Eight Years Later

*** This post will remain on the top of the page. Scroll down for other coverage. ***

It's pretty hard to believe that eight years have passed since the deadly 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were murdered by 19 al Qaeda terrorists who hijacked four airliners with the intent to crash them into the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon, and either the White House or Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

The vivid memories of the attacks have faded, and have instead been replaced with asinine ad campaigns for the WWF.

Local television networks are contemplating the extent of coverage of the memorial service at Ground Zero, which will include the reading of the names of all those murdered at the Twin Towers.

On the morning of the 9/11 anniversary, it's expected all the local stations will once again go wall-to-wall with coverage of the name-reading ceremony at Ground Zero.

They'll do as they have for the previous seven anniversaries, tossing out commercials and carrying the coverage until the last victim's name is read.

However, there's a growing reluctance to do so, one partly driven by money.

"This is crazy," said one station insider. "Nobody wants to be the first to pull out."

From a moral standpoint, station officials know well that airing the ceremony is the right thing to do. The ceremony is New York, and it has been an emotional event each time before.

They eventually will stop covering this, although it is only two years until the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and the nation's collective memories will fade even further. The problem is that many are still living with the effects of the attacks, particularly in the New York metro area, and Jay-Z has responded with a benefit concert (and whose tickets were promptly scalped for up to $3,000 when face tickets started at $54.50). Proceeds from ticket and concert merchandise sales will go to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund.

The tragic circumstances of the aftermath is continuing to take lives. Reports indicate that the number of people who have died as a result of their exposure to Ground Zero has increased. Moreover, several responders have committed suicide.

More than 800 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 -- and cancer has killed at least 270 of those heroes, new data show.

The figures also show that 33 WTC responders committed suicide.

State researchers have tallied 817 deaths of workers and volunteers who toiled at toxic Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill, where rubble was sifted.

Benny Gordon will be racing on September 11 in Virginia in a NASCAR event in a car adorned with 9/11 themed logos to raise awareness for the fundraising efforts for the National 9/11 Museum and Memorial at Ground Zero.

It is interesting to see the difference that a year of construction makes at Ground Zero. This is a photo taken of the Freedom Tower from across West Street at the Vesey Street overpass last year:

While much of the site is still below the level of the streets surrounding the 16 acres, tower cranes are erecting steel and concrete for 1WTC, the Freedom Tower, and 4WTC on the opposite corner. The memorial and museum are underway (new renderings of the memorial and museum pavilions were released September 10 and picked up by Curbed), although construction deadlines are in doubt whether they will be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks (the museum is scheduled to open in 2012 and the memorial should at least be partially open by September 11, 2011).

Here's a photo taken from nearly the same vantage point just over a week ago:

 

Meanwhile, the cornerstone that was dedicated in 2004 is back at the shop where it was originally fabricated and no one knows what will become of it. In the meantime, it will be placed in a garden at the fabrication facility in Hauppaugue.

Still, the work on the Freedom Tower is a tangible sign of progress, which stands in stark contrast to the lack of visible work on the former Deutsche Bank building and Fiterman Hall. Fiterman Hall is finally being deconstructed, and it's likely that the Deutsche Bank building will follow. Both should have been deconstructed long ago, but the City, State, and public authorities responsible for the sites failed miserably to do what had to be done.

It's only been in the last few weeks that Larry Silverstein gained control over the site for 2WTC and 3WTC, and there's no timetable for when those projects will be completed because there's some effort underway to build the towers as nothing more than stumps that will be finished when the business climate improves. I think that's a terribly shortsighted mistake, and it means that construction in and around Ground Zero will persist for decades to come.

The business climate and the financial market meltdown has meant that demand for office space has declined, but it will eventually come back, and Class A space will be in high demand at some point. In other words, top quality office space is always in demand, and at favorable rates, it will draw businesses to consider working in Lower Manhattan. Turning Ground Zero into a perpetual work zone is a guarantee that those businesses wont come, because they wont want the hassle of working in such an environment.

Yet, local politicians aren't making much of an issue of Ground Zero redevelopment during the current election season. It's not even an issue, despite the fact that we're talking about $10 billion in redevelopment ongoing in and around the site. Redevelopment has become an afterthought, and no one in government has taken it upon themselves to stand guard and make sure that development takes place. Instead, we get a muddled mess and resigned indifference.

It's hoped that the 9/11 memorial will be finished in time for the 10th anniversary, but other memorials have been completed around the region, including one on Staten Island.

 

This is a closeup of the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial, which sits across from Lower Manhattan. The defining feature of this memorial is that not only are the names and ages of those murdered in the attacks provided, but each person's silhouette was carved into their stone marker. It's a very personal touch, and a powerful one at that. Family and friends have left photos and other personal effects from time to time.

Never forget.

There are memorials all around the nation, yet none is more powerful than the absence of the Twin Towers and the tribute of light that shines from near ground Zero in a silent testimony to those murdered on 9/11.

 

UPDATE:
Others carrying remembrances and commemorating 9/11: Don Surber, Lorie Byrd, Ed Morrissey, The Anchoress, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, and more will be posted as I get a chance.

UPDATE:
Today's commemorations in New York City are taking place under gloomy conditions with heavy rain and strong winds, which is quite unlike the startling beautiful morning immediately prior to the first of two planes to crash into the WTC.

For my prior year recollections and postings, see September 11, 2008, September 11, 2007, September 11, 2006, and September 11, 2005, in which I wrote:

As I write this, the names of the WTC victims are being recited at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.

What is thus far the enduring memorial? The Times discusses the ad hoc memorials that sprang up around the city in the days and weeks following the attacks. However, the article itself doesn't mention who did the attacks. There is a passing reference to terrorism, but how are people supposed to remember the day if they don't remember who did this to us? It would be like remembering Pearl Harbor day on December 7 and not saying that it was Japanese fighters that launched the attack, which brought the US into World War II.

So, for the record, let me restate this day. 9/11/2001 was the day that 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners with the intent to kill tens of thousands of Americans while they were at work, play, travel, and engaging in life, crashed those planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center's Twin Towers, and murdered more than 3,000 people. Al Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group with ties to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and a host of other failed states, claimed responsibility.

Yet, there are still a significant portion of the US population who think that the US government was either behind the attacks, or knew of the attacks and did nothing to stop them. Just as bad is the view across the Islamic world, where many simultaneously believe that someone else besides Muslims were behind the attacks (Jews/Israel among the top choices), and cheer that al Qaeda carried out the attacks, despite all the evidence and the fact that al Qaeda has repeatedly taken credit for the heinous attacks.

UPDATE:
The New York Times looks back on the fearful times that immediately followed the 9/11 attacks, and how many people thought that life would never be the same - and that skyscrapers were too dangerous and that another attack could come at any time. Eight years later, the NYC skyline has seen several notable additions, particularly in Midtown, including the NYT headquarters. It should be remembered that President Bush did manage to prevent another mass casualty attack in the US since 9/11. We can only hope that President Obama keeps up the fight and continues that string of good fortune.

UPDATE:
Trooferism is still alive and well. It most recently bubbled to the surface in relation to Van Jones, who was tapped by President Obama to oversee the Administration's Green agenda. It was claimed that he signed a petition calling for additional investigations in to 9/11 and a government role in the attacks. Salon contacted numerous other signatories and wanted to know if they would again sign such a petition. Quite a few said they would, including Ed Asner and quite a few academics. One expressed sadness that Jones recanted, while another, Paul Hawken (cofounder of Smith and Hawken) said he wouldn't, because he never signed the original.

UPDATE:
Legalbgl, my friend and coblogger, has posted a remembrance of Hagay Shefi as he has done remembrances for others murdered on 9/11 in past years.

UPDATE:
Kudos to Bing.com and Ask.com for commemorating the anniversary of the attacks. Google (which also happens to own blogspot) and Yahoo! have no such commemoration.

UPDATE:
For an interesting look back at the events of the day, check out Mediaite.com, which has screen shots taken of major websites in the course of September 11, 2001. Also, check out Instapundit's postings through the course of the day.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 72

Mayor Mike Bloomberg came out and gave a blistering attack against the Port Authority for bungling the rebuilding efforts and standing in the way of Larry Silverstein rebuilding office space on the site. Moreover, he criticized the bistate agency because it was falling behind on deadlines to rebuild the 9/11 memorial, museum, 1WTC, and the transit hub.

Meanwhile, Silverstein announced that he's going to arbitration to compel the Port Authority to carry out its obligations.

Mr. Silverstein said in a statement that the authority’s inability to complete the transit hub, a vehicle security center and other projects at the World Trade Center site had undermined his company’s ability to build three office towers along Church Street, a claim that was immediately disputed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Mr. Silverstein has insisted in recent months that the authority finance two of the towers because he is unable to obtain real estate loans and corporate tenants for the project. Reluctant to invest in speculative office space, the agency has asked Mr. Silverstein to risk his own money before it agrees to put up additional funds.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and separately, Gov. David A. Paterson, have tried to resolve the impasse with no success.

“Today’s action is designed to provide a complementary — and expedited — route to resolving this impasse,” the developer’s statement said. “One way or another, we must resolve, once and for all, the disputes that have arisen as a result of the Port Authority’s continued and admitted delays.”

The Port Authority is clearly at fault for the delays, and would lose at arbitration, which makes its position all the more curious.

The Port Authority, which managed to rebuild the PATH temporary station (twice), now appears to be dragging its feet and doesn't feel the slightest bit of urgency in completing work necessary to prepare the site for Silverstein to build the office towers as per their contractual obligations.

Then, there's the whole issue of financing. This is a project of national importance, and yet no one appears willing or able to contact the Obama Administration to inquire about obtaining the necessary financing to get the projects built.

Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver also finds the Port Authority at fault for dragging its feet and not doing enough to make sure that the site is rebuilt. While he calls on Silverstein to increase his financial commitment to the site, the real issue is obtaining financing, and no one seems willing to tackle that issue in any serious manner.

Instead, we're going to be left with a hole in the ground that will stand as a monument to the failure of the politicians to rebuild; one that dishonors all those who were murdered on 9/11 because of the lack of political will to see the reconstruction through to completion.

UPDATE:
The Port Authority released its updates on Ground Zero construction, and they claim they met 19 of 20 construction milestones. Curiously, one of the milestones includes jumping one of the two tower cranes on 1WTC 68 feet. But, if you look carefully, the steel forming the tower hasn't grown in size during the quarter. Some progress was made on the North core of 1WTC, but it's still lagging behind.