WTC Museum Rebuilding Schedule In Doubt
That’s the amount of money in dispute between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center complex and the WTC National Museum and Memorial Foundation (chaired by NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg no less), which is overseeing the museum and memorial.
The Port Authority claims that the Foundation owes it $300 million. The Foundation claims that the Port Authority owes it $140 million.
The Port Authority has repeatedly dragged its feet on reconstruction, causing interminable delays throughout the Ground Zero site, including the Freedom Tower and other skyscrapers in fighting with Larry Silverstein and Silverstein Properties, the St. Nicholas Church on adjacent property, and has been squabbling with the Foundation over costs to build out the museum.
The museum was scheduled to be completed by September 2012, but work has come to a standstill on the project as both sides are likely headed to court over the conflicting claims.
Meanwhile, the Port Authority has shown a complete and utter inability to contain costs elsewhere on the site, including at the PATH transit hub, where costs ballooned from an estimated $2.2 billion to build to now $3.4 billion and growing.