NEW YORK | World Trade Center Memorial & Transit Hub

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Roadcruiser1

the site of the Hub still looks like some sort of hole in the ground.

That's exactly what it is.



http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...ors&id=8476680

Sen. Schumer speaks out on Transit Hub fireproofing

Jim Hoffer

There are calls for action after an Eyewitness News investigation reveals the Port Authority has decided not to fireproof a large portion of the new Transit Hub at the World Trade Center site.

There are calls for Governors Cuomo and Christie to step in and force the Port Authority to fireproof the Transit Hub that will be used by some 200,000 people every day. The Port Authority's decision to cut-out costly fireproofing for a major part of the massive steel World Trade Center Transit Hub drew a quick and angry response from a Deputy FDNY Chief of 31 years.

"It's appalling that they could even consider that. It's the number 1 terrorist target; you have 200,000 people every day. They are putting money ahead of lives and safety and I think it's a disgrace," said Jim Riches, a Deputy FDNY Chief (ret.)

New York's Senior Senator says, where's the common sense? "Seems to me in a place that's going to have tens of thousands of people and a great deal of danger that it ought to be fireproofed," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "They're endangering everyone's lives and they're lying to the public and I'll say that and Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo should get involved," Riches said.

[jd3189]

How can the PA be that stupid? Do they actually want another 9/11 to happen?

[Patapsco]

taken December 24, 2011

[Otie]

Dominance on SkyscraperCity

[NYC4Life]

WABC-TV NEW YORK

1 million visit NYC's Sept. 11 memorial, fountains
Thursday, December 29, 2011

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...ork&id=8482997

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Officials at the September 11 Memorial in New York City say the site has had 1 million visitors since opening to the public this year.

The memorial plaza and its two huge fountains now draw about 10,000 visitors each day to ground zero, even as construction continues on the rebuilt World Trade Center.

Visitors are required to get free passes in advance. No more than 1,500 people are allowed on the lower Manhattan site at a time.

The memorial opened on Sept. 12 after its dedication on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
"More visitors than ever before, 50.2 million, came to New York City in 2011," Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "And this year, one million of them were able to add a visit to the 9/11 Memorial to their trip, commemorating the lives of those lost on that unforgettable day."

The memorial's visitors have left tributes at the site, from flowers to first responder patches to personal effects like mass cards and letters, reflecting the scope and diversity of the victims themselves, who were citizens of more than 90 nations.

In testament to the global impact of the attacks, passes to visit the Memorial have been reserved by people in all 50 states and more than 120 countries. Memorial visitors to date have included people from France, Uganda, China, Germany, Brazil, Great Britain, Australia, Lebanon and many other locations both near and far from New York.

For more information or to reserve a free visitor pass to the Memorial, go to 911memorial.org.

Copyright ©2011 ABC Inc., WABC-TV/DT New York, NY. All Rights Reserved.

[NYC4Life]

USA TODAY

NYC mayor says work on 9/11 museum has stalled
Updated 46m ago

http://www.usatoday.com/news/story/2...eum/52274466/1

NEW YORK (AP) – Work on a planned museum at the World Trade Center has ground to a halt because of a financial dispute, and there is now no possibility it will open on time next year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday.

The underground museum commemorating victims of the 9/11 attacks was scheduled to open in September on the 11th anniversary of the disaster, a year after the opening of a memorial at the site that has already drawn 1 million visitors.

But in recent months, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation has been fighting with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey over who is responsible for paying millions of dollars in infrastructure costs related to the project.

The Port Authority, which owned the trade center and is building the museum, claims that the foundation owes it $300 million. The foundation claims that the authority actually owes it $140 million, because of delays in the project.
The dispute has been simmering for some time, and some details of the work slowdown were reported in November, but Thursday marked the first time that the mayor and other officials have acknowledged that the fight would mean the museum will not open in 2012.

"There is no chance of it being open on time. Work has basically stopped," Bloomberg said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on a recent radio program that the Port Authority was "on the verge" of suing the foundation, but both the mayor and the Port Authority said Thursday that negotiations over the matter continue.

"I'm sure we are going to work something out with the Port Authority," Bloomberg said. "They've got a difficult budget situation. I'm sympathetic to that."

Despite security hurdles and ongoing construction, tourists from around the world have already made the memorial at the site a regular stop on their visits to New York City. Since it opened to the public Sept. 12, more than 1 million people have visited the memorial plaza, officials said.

The site now draws about 10,000 visitors a day, which would put it on pace to match or exceed the 3.5 million who visit the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building annually.

© 2011 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion...Ff6EE2TMbyONjP

World Trade money-suck

By STEVE CUOZZO
January 6, 2012

The Port Authority’s gargantuan World Trade Center Transportation Hub is costing the cast-strapped agency nearly $900 million, a Post analysis finds — though it was supposed to cost nothing.

That makes it the true worst culprit in the PA’s desperate fiscal plight.

But Gov. Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have publicly held their tongues, pointing fingers instead at PA excesses like overtime abuses that are peanuts in comparison to the Hub debacle. Christie’s silence is understandable, since the Hub is a Jersey-driven project. But why has Cuomo yet to speak out?

...the Santiago Calatrava-designed terminal won’t add one inch of new trans-Hudson rail capacity. Yet the best-case final PA tab of just under $900 million vastly dwarfs any other PA boondoggle.

So what keeps the Hub project going? It’s the pet of the PA’s Jersey faction. Last February, an influential Jersey PA commissioner, David Steiner, actually told the Star-Ledger he viewed the Hub — not 1 WTC — as the site’s “iconic” centerpiece.

Its main hall is larger than Grand Central Terminal’s. But where Grand Central is used by 700,000 commuters a day, just 40,000 come and go daily through the existing WTC PATH station. Those Jersey commuters will have the run of several concourses, each longer and wider than a football field.

Hailed as resembling a bird in flight when it was first shown in 2004, the Hub has devolved (thanks to money-saving design changes) to a “slender stegosaurus,” as The New York Times’ David Dunlap gently put it.

But now it’s the stegosaurus in the room — the money pit that Cuomo and Christie ignore as they blame Mayor Bloomberg and former PA Executive Director Christopher Ward for alleged WTC overspending.

Sorry: Bloomberg doesn’t spend the PA’s money, and Ward was simply trying to un-stall all Ground Zero rebuilding.

[Don098]

Please God get this damn thing built before they pull the plug. I've always worried about the cost of this, and how this country only cares about that above ALL else... The NY Post wrote an almost identical article a few months ago; it almost sounds like they're on a crusade to bury this project. The 40,000 to 700,000 commuter comparison has been used before, but it's so misleading because there currently aren't 4 NEW OFFICE TOWERS full of people sitting right on site in addition to the memorial and museum traffic. I've always wondered if this station could be used in the distant future as a high speed rail stop with the other New York stop at one of Midtown's stations...just a thought.

[Davidsam52]

ALWAYS take everything you read in the NY Post with some healthy grains of salt....remember this fine publication is brought to you by the same "fair and balanced" people who bring you other icons of objective journalism such as Fox News....

[KVNBKLYN]

Originally Posted by NYguy

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion...Ff6EE2TMbyONjP

World Trade money-suck

By STEVE CUOZZO
January 6, 2012

But where Grand Central is used by 700,000 commuters a day, just 40,000 come and go daily through the existing WTC PATH station.

Metro-north only carries about 270,000 passengers per day TOTAL. Considering not all of them are headed to or from Midtown, how exactly do 700,000 commuters pass through Grand Central? Even the Grand Central subway station only has a ridership of 144,000 according to the MTA. Does the Post even bother with fact checking, or do they now rely solely on truthiness?

Meanwhile, what is referred to as the transportation hub at the WTC is by and large a mall, not a train station. This mall, however, will provide access directly to the PATH station, the rebuilt 1 Cortlandt station, the R Cortlandt station, and the A/C/E/2/3 at Chambers/World Trade Center/Park Place. It will also provide underground connections between all the office buildings on the site and a connection to the WFC and Battery Park City. And probably most importantly, because it will be one of the highest grossing malls in America (like its predecessor), it will bring in a lot of revenue for the Port Authority.

And Steve Cuozzo wonders why a lot of money is being spent on it. He's one of the worst newspaper columnists in one of the worst newspapers in the country.

[RobertWalpole]

Cuozzo and Lois Weiss are mental, and the NY Post is feces.

[meh_cd]

Originally Posted by Don098

Please God get this damn thing built before they pull the plug. I've always worried about the cost of this, and how this country only cares about that above ALL else... The NY Post wrote an almost identical article a few months ago; it almost sounds like they're on a crusade to bury this project. The 40,000 to 700,000 commuter comparison has been used before, but it's so misleading because there currently aren't 4 NEW OFFICE TOWERS full of people sitting right on site in addition to the memorial and museum traffic. I've always wondered if this station could be used in the distant future as a high speed rail stop with the other New York stop at one of Midtown's stations...just a thought.

And keep in mind that the WTC hub will get more people as Jersey City increases in size. Not to mention Brooklyn. Midtown is the go-to place now, and it will be for quite some time, but Downtown is undergoing quite the transformation and will continue to do so for decades.

[Dac150]

If Downtown wants to compete with Midtown (especially in the office market) then a transportation hub such as this is very necessary. I'm looking forward to the 'new' Downtown, however if transportation is undermined then that 'new' identity will not be realized. As someone said above, this project is also much more than a transportation hub . . . it essentially will be the 'heart' of Downtown.

[Roadcruiser1]

The WTC Transportation Hub is an example of "If you build it they will come". If the hub isn't built then Downtown Manhattan would be screwed for a long time to come.

[Dac150]

Originally Posted by Roadcruiser1

The WTC Transportation Hub is an example of "If you build it they will come". If the hub isn't built then Downtown Manhattan would be screwed for a long time to come.

I wouldn't go as far as to say 'screwed' . . . it would more like stunt the possibilities and growth of the area.

The Hub is being built . . . the concern is will it be built as shown.

[NYC GUY]

I hope they fireproof the hub.

[THE BIG APPLE]

Ofcourse they'll fireproof the Hub, it's mandatory for all buildings in NYC (building code).

[meh_cd]

Originally Posted by THE BIG APPLE

Ofcourse they'll fireproof the Hub, it's mandatory for all buildings in NYC (building code).

Funny. Tell that to the Port Authority. From NY Guy's post on December 22nd:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...ors&id=8476680

There are calls for action after an Eyewitness News investigation reveals the Port Authority has decided not to fireproof a large portion of the new Transit Hub at the World Trade Center site.

There are calls for Governors Cuomo and Christie to step in and force the Port Authority to fireproof the Transit Hub that will be used by some 200,000 people every day. The Port Authority's decision to cut-out costly fireproofing for a major part of the massive steel World Trade Center Transit Hub drew a quick and angry response from a Deputy FDNY Chief of 31 years.

"It's appalling that they could even consider that. It's the number 1 terrorist target; you have 200,000 people every day. They are putting money ahead of lives and safety and I think it's a disgrace," said Jim Riches, a Deputy FDNY Chief (ret.)

New York's Senior Senator says, where's the common sense? "Seems to me in a place that's going to have tens of thousands of people and a great deal of danger that it ought to be fireproofed," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "They're endangering everyone's lives and they're lying to the public and I'll say that and Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo should get involved," Riches said.

[Rizzo]

You don't have to be in the AEC industry to know this out outrageous. Yes, there's minimum or average standards to meet code compliance, but there's also design and life safety prudence where it's just a good idea to plan for the worst. It can apply at all levels for life safety.

For example, IBC says you don't need guard rails on less than a 30" drop. But architects put them in anyway. Why? Because it's just a good idea, and a fall is a bad thing whether it's 30 inches or 30 feet.

[THE BIG APPLE]

Basically this Hub will be aboveground and the rest underground, and lets say a fire does indeed start on the Hub that'll have limited fireproofing like I just found out now, then all the people underground are toast. Stupidity, indeed. But not sure how they'll follow through with their current plans.