Charles Gargano’s “greedy” comment is taking on a life of its own. The state economic development chief backed down yesterday on using that language to describe developer Larry Silverstein, saying during a television taping, “Emotions got a little high the other day and I think it's time to look to see how we can go forward."

Davidson Goldin thinks it was intentional. In today’s Sun, he writes “I've interviewed Mr. Gargano on live television countless times. The former ambassador simply doesn't say anything he doesn't want to say--and hadn't planned to say.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg is backing the Governor on this one strongly, and that means a lot. “When Larry came back and said, 'My way or the highway,' the governor said, 'I represent the people of the State of New York and I'm not going to make a bad deal,'" The News quotes Bloomberg as saying. Who brought us to this point at which the whole ownership of the site gets re-thought out, after all? Certainly not Pataki nor the Port Authority.

-Matthew Schuerman