re: #10 ProLifeLiberal

Yes, the Port Authority was dragging its feet and was actually forced to pay Silverstein $100,000 a day because it hadn’t done the excavations by the contract date. They went over by more than a month if I recall correctly.

Only in the last couple of months did they come to agreement to build the platform on which the St. Nicholas Church will be rebuilt (it was obliterated by the collapsing South Tower, which damaged the Deutsche Bank building that once stood next to it as well).

The Port Authority delays on 2, 3, and 4 WTC have hampered the ability for Silverstein to rebuild. It cost him financing and terms at every step of the way, and the Port Authority essentially forced Silverstein out of the 1WTC process, even though Silverstein was able to rebuild 7WTC within short order and without the craziness of the rest of the site.

But since the site is owned by the Port Authority, they got to call the shots, and we’re all paying for their delaying tactics (which aren’t exactly explainable either). The agency had been trying to get out of the real estate business (when they signed the 99 year lease to Silverstein right before the 9/11 attacks). They’ve been trying to find a way back ever since - even though neither NY nor NJ wants them in the real estate business. That’s the real mess here - they should be focusing on port development (air, rail, transhudson river travel, ports), not building an office complex (again).