http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008..._port_aut.html
World Trade Center deal between Port Authority, Silverstein hits a wall
By Douglas Feiden
October 8th 2008
An ugly $300,000-a-day feud erupted Tuesday between the Port Authority and developer Larry Silverstein over the rebuilding of Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned.
The bistate agency claimed it had turned over "construction-ready" land at the site on Sunday to the builder to construct two enormous office towers - and no longer has to shell out late fees totaling $2.1 million a week.
Not true, says Silverstein. The plot hasn't been fully excavated and he can't start building Towers 2 and 4, the developer insists. Noting that PA Executive Director Chris Ward had left a steel-and-timber retaining wall smack dab in the middle of the site, Silverstein executive Dara McQuillan joked, "Mr. Ward, tear down this wall."
Hanging in the balance is the fate of Tower 2, a 79-story, 1,270foot skyscraper on Church St. that will be taller than the Empire State Building, and Tower 4, a 64-story giant a block south that will become the PA's headquarters.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._of_sha-3.html
World Trade Center's 300G-a-day wall of shame hampers plans
BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
October 9th 2008
The is the Berlin Wall of Ground Zero.
Hulking and forbidding, the barrier has ignited a $300,000-a-day war between the Port Authority and developer Larry Silverstein - and could trigger costly new delays at the World Trade Center site.
The 40-foot-tall retaining wall runs north-south for 400 feet through the southeast corner of Ground Zero - where Silverstein is supposed to construct the 64story Tower 4.
Silverstein says the 7-foot-wide steel-and-timber barrier makes it impossible for him to dig the skyscraper's foundation and impedes his access to the site.
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http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_284/wtc.html
W.T.C. office to tackle neighbors’ concerns
By Julie Shapiro
The Port Authority has a new plan to rebuild ground zero and a new office to coordinate it — but the community’s quality of life concerns remain the same.
The new plan came from Chris Ward, the Port’s executive director, whom Gov. David Paterson appointed last spring.
But the Port’s focus on the community doesn’t mean the community will always win. “There may be times when the needs of the site exceed the capacity to address community concerns,” Ward told City Councilmember Alan Gerson during a hearing Monday.
Another sacrifice the community will likely have to make is the closure of Vesey St. between Church and W. Broadway. Silverstein Properties would use that block of Vesey St. to stage the construction of Tower 2.
“The contractor would like nothing better than to shut it down within the next few weeks,” said Sam Schwartz, the Port’s newly hired traffic coordinator with the Program Logistics Office.
Schwartz, better known in traffic circles as “Gridlock Sam,” likened Lower Manhattan’s streets to an obstacle course and said he would do everything he could to keep Vesey St. open. But
the Port has already widened the sidewalks on blocks of Barclay St. and W. Broadway, in preparation for Vesey St.’s closure.
The community wants Vesey St. to stay open because it is a key east-west thoroughfare connecting Battery Park City to the Financial District. Many pedestrians who used to traverse the W.T.C. use the Vesey St. bridge to cross West St., and while the bridge will not be affected, pedestrians will have to go several more blocks out of their way in order to use it. Vesey, site of the temporary PATH entrance, can see 15,000 pedestrians an hour and 150,000 to 200,000 pedestrians a day, according to the Port.
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