Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 44

If the Port Authority can stick to its latest deadline, and it's anything but a sure thing, there's only 867 days left before the permanent PATH transit hub opens for business, along with the connector to the New York City subway system.

However, before that happens, we're going to have to put up with even bigger headaches. Vesey Street, which forms Ground Zero's northern border, will be closed to pedestrians so work can begin in earnest. However, that means that tens of thousands of people will have to be diverted around the block.

If you've ever seen this stretch of street during rush hour, it's wall to wall humanity pressing forward.

Construction is moving forward with elements of the Santiago Calatrava designed transit hub, as this video shows. Specifically, this is part of the East-West connector.

Meanwhile, the Port Authority is capping its contribution to the 9/11 memorial at $195 million. The 9/11 Memorial Foundation has to come up with the remaining $530 million, and their last official statement was that they had raised about $350 million, when they announced that Billy Crystal would be joining as a board member. There are reports that the project is expected to cost $1 billion, but the Foundation denies that there are budget issues. I'm skeptical of that given the cost issues with every other aspect of the project thus far.

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