World Trade Center | The New York Observer

Silverstein Wants $2.6 B. in WTC Bonds—But for What?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:10:39 -0500

Anyone paging through the end of The Times' business section Wednesday might have noticed an unusual legal notice nestled in between the commercial real estate classifieds and a bank ad (a reader had to point it out to us):

NEW YORK LIBERTY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Notice of Public Hearing

World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, it seems, is eager to issue the $2.6 billion in tax-free bonds he was pledged to rebuild office towers at...

The Biggest Shrug

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:56:20 -0400

For years, the World Trade Center occupied a prominent stage in New York politics, as elected officials jostled over questions of design, governance and delays before an engaged public audience. But as the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 approaches and the redevelopment once again is tied up in delays and hurdles, it’s becoming clear that the site has fully lost whatever place it once held, perhaps to the point where...

Is There Life After Larry?

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:37:12 -0400

More than three months into an impasse over the financing for the World Trade Center, officials and executives involved with the project are increasingly contemplating a new scenario: a long-term stalemate in which private developer Larry Silverstein does not build his office towers.
The fight has led the Port Authority, which owns the site, to craft a plan to essentially build around the private developer should two of his 85-foot-deep sites stay fallow.
The...

Paterson (Finally) Jumps Into WTC Mess, Delays Arbitration For Now

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:14:49 -0400

After weeks on the sidelines, Governor Paterson is wading into the battle over financing the rebuilt World Trade Center.

The governor told reporters Monday that he would now be personally involved in talks between landlord Larry Silverstein, the developer for three planned office towers on the site, and the Port Authority, which owns the site. His involvement has delayed a binding arbitration proceeding Mr. Silverstein had threatened to begin Monday. The two sides...

Silverstein Rejects Port’s Latest WTC Financing Plan; Arbitration Could Start Monday

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:38:37 -0400

World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein has rejected the latest offer by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to resolve a financing impasse at the troubled project, leaving the 78-year-old landlord and the public agency at odds as Mr. Silverstein is threatening to bring the matter into arbitration.

Mr. Silverstein on Thursday sent a letter to the Port Authority, which owns the trade center site, officially spurning the agency’s offer to help...

Port Authority Makes an Offer Silverstein Can Refuse

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:01:35 -0400

After months of sparring over the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, the Port Authority has now offered a plan to allow private developer Larry Silverstein to build two office towers.

Mr. Silverstein and the Authority have been at a major impasse over the future of the site, as the developer has demanded the public sector finance two of his office towers (a demand that is effectively an attempt at an out-of-court settlement for the Authority’s...

Silverstein Goes to the Mattresses! Takes Legal Action To End WTC Stalemate

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:11:16 -0400

The private developer of three buildings at the World Trade Center, Larry Silverstein, is taking a legal action to break an impasse over the rebuilding of the site destroyed in 2001. The move is a significant change in course, as it comes after the top elected officials in the city and state attempted, and failed, to broker a revised deal amid the economic crisis.

In a letter sent Monday to other stakeholders involved with...

Quinn Sides With Bloomberg, Not Times, on World Trade Center Development

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:05:59 -0400

Christine Quinn did her best to be diplomatic, but she trusts Mayor Bloomberg over the Grey Lady—on the question of World Trade Center development, at least.

Speaking before the New York Building Congress on Tuesday morning, Ms. Quinn was asked about a Times editorial Sunday that was critical of the mayor’s position in the ongoing World Trade Center redevelopment dispute.

“I love The New York Times with all of my heart...

Port Authority Chief Fires Back at Mayor; For First Time, Names the Names of Projects Sacrificed to WTC Financing

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:03:20 -0400

The Port Authority’s executive director swung back Thursday morning against attacks from Mayor Bloomberg, painting a picture of his agency as a cash-poor entity that already must scale back and scrap major projects including a major renovation at LaGuardia airport and a new midtown bus garage.

Earlier this week, the mayor went on the offensive against the Port Authority, attempting to have it back the financing for two private office towers at the World...

Bloomberg and Silver: Strange Bedfellows in WTC Offensive Against Port Authority

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:58:15 -0400

Mayor Bloomberg, joining forces with frequent adversary Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, has launched a campaign against the Port Authority in an attempt to force the agency to agree to put up more money at the World Trade Center.

Officials from the city and the bistate Port Authority have been engaged in intense talks as they try to back financing for two office towers at the site, which would be built and owned by private developer...

Bloomberg Versus Paterson and Corzine at WTC

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:22:00 -0400

Just after 6 p.m. on Monday, Mayor Bloomberg’s press office emailed a statement on negotiations surrounding the World Trade Center, where a private developer and the public sector have hit a major obstacle over financing. In May, the various officials involved pledged to try to have a resolution by Thursday, June 11. With no solution then, the mayor asked for a few more days, with the hope of having some sort of plan by...

Mike vs. Larry vs. Jon and David

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:18:38 -0400

Bloomberg Wants Four More Days To Fix World Trade Center

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:25:17 -0400

Following a self-imposed deadline of Thursday to come up with a road map forward on the World Trade Center, Mayor Bloomberg is asking for at least a few more days to figure things out. From a statement his office just sent out:

Governor Paterson, Governor Corzine, Speaker Silver and I spoke today, and – together with Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority – we agreed to extend the conversation through the weekend. Everyone...

Unwitting Gillibrand Tells 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists She Backs a 'Fuller Hearing'

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:40:00 -0400

There's probably a lesson here for anyone new to their office, which is to steer well clear of 9/11 conspiracy theorists with cameras. Here's Gillibrand after a May 27 event in Midtown, being interviewed by We Are Change, the guys who’ve heckled Michael Bloomberg, Joe Biden, Ed Koch and Larry Silverstein, among others. In the interview--the interviewer identified himself as being from "GCN," and as someone who lost a family member in the attacks--she agrees to...

World Trade Center Summit to End Impasse Produces... Roadmap and Another Summit

Thu, 21 May 2009 21:16:01 -0400

It was too much of a nice day Thursday to spend hours inside, negotiating complex real estate deals. So, as expected, the political summit designed to break a stalemate at the World Trade Center was brief (about an hour long), and did not end with any large detailed plan or path forward.

Rather, the attendees—developer Larry Silverstein, Mayor Bloomberg, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Governor Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; and Port Authority executive...

Stalemate City: A Primer on the World Trade Center Imbroglio

Thu, 21 May 2009 08:00:49 -0400

At 3 p.m. today, Mayor Bloomberg is hosting a summit at Gracie Mansion, an all-out attempt to try to break an impasse at the World Trade Center redevelopment. At issue is the fate of three private office towers, which developer Larry Silverstein is unable to build with private lending given the economy, and for which he has asked for financing assistance from the public sector. He now wants to build two, with the Port...

Civic Groups Don't Want Speculative Trade Towers

Tue, 19 May 2009 19:39:28 -0400

With a big summit Thursday to help sort out the future of the World Trade Center site, the Port Authority has won a round of support from numerous large transportation advocacy groups.

In a pair of letters, the Regional Plan Association, the Fiscal Policy Institute, the New York chapter of the American Planning Association, and Transportation Alternatives urged Mayor Bloomberg and the governors of New York and New Jersey (each of whom...

The Perils of Public-Private

Tue, 12 May 2009 18:03:24 -0400

Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Paterson, the Port Authority, developer Larry Silverstein and a list of other top officials are slated to convene in a summit at Gracie Mansion this week to discuss a familiar subject. As done after Sept. 11, 2001, and then again in 2006, the redevelopment of the World Trade Center is being renegotiated, this time with Mr. Silverstein seeking public sector financing to help build two of his three planned office...

Silver Goes to Work on W.T.C. Impasse

Fri, 08 May 2009 15:14:00 -0400

There’s been something of a leadership vacuum in the saga of the World Trade Center lately. The Port Authority, which owns the site, and Larry Silverstein, who is responsible for developing three of the site's four towers, have been at a new impasse that threatens to further delay key portions, including the PATH hub, the retail, the 9/11 museum and other key infrastructure. In the three weeks since the two sides presented their markedly different proposals to...

Silver Cracks the Leadership Whip at World Trade Center; Bloomberg Calls a Summit

Fri, 08 May 2009 14:02:42 -0400

In the three weeks since the two sides presented their markedly...

Big Contractors, Port Authority Part Ways on New Trade Center PATH Hub (Updated)

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:20:29 -0400

The troubled Santiago Calatrava–designed PATH station at the World Trade Center is facing a new obstacle. After years of what multiple executives and officials described as a rocky relationship and headaches over a tremendously complicated project, the Port Authority on Thursday broke off its relationship with Phoenix Constructors, a conglomerate of some of the city’s top construction firms that was managing the building of the $3 billion station.

The Port Authority, which owns the...

What's the Public Benefit of Silverstein's Trade Center Towers?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:39:00 -0400

Once again, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center is caught in a public fight. Developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority are sparring over a renegotiation of a development agreement for the site, as the economic crisis and lending drought have rendered impossible the existing timetable, which called for the three towers to be privately financed and built by 2014. The debate has flared in public and through the media, and if the Port...

What's the Public Benefit of Silverstein's Trade Center Towers?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:19:54 -0400

Once again, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center is caught in a public fight.

Developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority are sparring over a renegotiation of a development agreement for the site, as the economic crisis and lending drought have rendered impossible the existing timetable, which called for the three towers to be privately financed and built by 2014. The debate has flared in public and through the media, and if the...

Port, Silverstein at Odds Over Last Two Towers; Bloomberg to the Rescue?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:13:31 -0400

Developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority are struggling to reach a resolution over the fate of three planned office towers at the World Trade Center, entering a stalemate that could further delay completion of the site.

On April 3, the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center site, delivered to Silverstein Properties a proposal to remake the existing agreement for the three towers, mostly rebuffing an earlier request by Mr. Silverstein for the...

Freedom Tower's Broadcast Deal Has Collapsed

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:06:00 -0400

A deal to broadcast 11 stations from atop the planned Freedom Tower has fallen apart, seemingly bringing to a close years of negotiations. According to multiple people familiar with discussions, the Metropolitan Television Alliance, a consortium of local television stations, last month informed the Port Authority that it would not be proceeding with a deal for its members to broadcast from an antenna atop the 102-story tower at the World Trade Center site. The collapse...

Signal Trouble at Freedom Tower

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0400

So Much for the 'Freedom Tower'

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:18:00 -0400

Like virtually everything else involved with the World Trade Center redevelopment, the official phasing out of the name “Freedom Tower” has been a slow process. The moniker designated by Governor Pataki in 2003 for the site’s tallest building—which is slated to rise to 1776 feet, if you count the tower’s 408-foot antenna—the name has never been popular with the Spitzer and Paterson administrations and it seems to have been slowly (or delicately) drifting off official...

So Much for the 'Freedom Tower'

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:28:50 -0400

Like virtually everything else involved with the World Trade Center redevelopment, the official phasing out of the name “Freedom Tower” has been a slow process.

The moniker designated by Governor Pataki in 2003 for the site’s tallest building—which is slated to rise to 1776 feet, if you count the tower’s 408-foot antenna—the name has never been popular with the Spitzer and Paterson administrations and it seems to have been slowly (or delicately) drifting...

Freedom Rings Up! First Lease at World Trade Center Site

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:25:03 -0400

The first office lease in the rebuilt World Trade Center is expected to be signed on Thursday, according to officials and others familiar with plans, as the China-based Beijing Vantone Real Estate Company has completed negotiations to take about 190,000 square feet of space in the Freedom Tower.

The Port Authority, which is developing the Freedom Tower, is slated to approve the deal at its Thursday board meeting, allowing the lease to be signed, those...

Mayor Says Developer Has Little to Lose at World Trade Center Site

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:27:00 -0400

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Michael Bloomberg weighed in on the World Trade Center negotiations between the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein, painting the 77-year-old developer as a man with little to lose, someone who “doesn’t really have a lot of skin in the game.” Silverstein has no equity in the World Trade Center site right now, according to people familiar with discussions. The comments came after Silverstein approached the Port Authority, which owns the World...

Mayor Says Developer Has Little to Lose at World Trade Center Site

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:19:20 -0400

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on the World Trade Center negotiations between the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein, painting the 77-year-old developer as a man with little to lose who “doesn’t really have a lot of skin in the game.” Mr. Silverstein has no equity in the World Trade Center site right now, according to people familiar with discussions.

The comments came as Mr. Silverstein has...

Crucial Deal Falters for Church Land By World Trade Center

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:41:05 -0400

Back in July 2008, less than four weeks after state officials conceded major complications and delays in the World Trade Center rebuilding process, the Port Authority quickly pushed through a long-sought agreement with the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed on September 11, 2001. At the time, the deal, which involved the Port Authority investing up to $60 million to move the church’s land a block east, was treated as...

Coin Toss!

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:00:09 -0400

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum is taking a numismatic turn.

After a four-year effort to raise money from big donors locally and nationally, the memorial’s foundation is now trying to win support for the minting of a commemorative coin that could bring a few million dollars in new funding.

The coin requires Congressional authorization, traditionally a competitive process as various nonprofit organizations—along with their sponsoring lawmakers—jostle for a limited number...

World Trade Center Construction: A Photo Tour

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:42:40 -0400

On Friday, the folks over at the Port Authority were kind enough to take me on a tour of construction at the World Trade Center site, which the agency owns. I last went down there a little less than a year ago, and the most notable difference was that we spent almost all the time below street level then, as all the action was quite a few feet down. Now, the core of the...

Refi in FiDi! Silverstein, Port Talk WTC Dates, Funds

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:17:54 -0400

The redevelopment of the World Trade Center, probably New York City’s most high-profile development, has hardly been exempt from the effects of a lending market gone dry in this greatest of recessions. Yet to date, the official project timeline, where developer Larry Silverstein is contractually obligated to build three office towers with 7.5 million square feet in all, has remained unchanged, as he must deliver all three towers in five years.

David Shuster, Freedom Tower Fighter

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:49:43 -0500

Here’s a clip of David Shuster, host of MSNBC’s "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," interviewing/lecturing Port Authority executive director Chris Ward on Friday about the delays surrounding the World Trade Center redevelopment. The interview capped off a weeklong series on the redevelopment, with Mr. Shuster on an apparent crusade to scrap the current redevelopment plans and instead rebuild the original World Trade Center towers.

The plan that Mr. Shuster is pushing has...

Ward to Silver: WTC Transparent Enough; Silverstein Begs To Differ (Updated)

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:05:03 -0500

As the local representative for Manhattan and one of the most powerful people in state government, Sheldon Silver quite often gets his way with regard to decisions downtown. So it was a bit surprising today to hear Mr. Silver, at a rare Assembly hearing that he convened and led, call for new third-party oversight at the World Trade Center rebuilding project, only to be (politely) rebuffed by the Port Authority, which owns the...

$61 M. Up for Grabs Downtown with JPMorgan Tower 'in Hiatus'

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:16:37 -0500

It’s been 10 months since anyone involved in Lower Manhattan development took seriously JPMorgan Chase’s pledge to build itself a new 40-story investment banking headquarters across from the World Trade Center site. The financial titan’s shotgun marriage with a dying Bear Stearns last winter seemed to mostly kill the deal, as Bear Stearns had its own, newer midtown skyscraper for investment bankers, and JPMorgan was apparently less than eager to spend $3 billion...

The Money Pit

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:50:02 -0500

When Dick Ravitch went before a room full of reporters on the 38th floor of the governor’s midtown offices in December to present his plan to save the M.T.A. from fiscal upheaval, transit advocates who closely followed the process were surprised at an omission.

As expected, the former M.T.A. chairman called in his 21-page report for East River bridge tolls, a new payroll tax and structural reforms to the...

Silverstein Wins Dispute With Port Authority Over WTC Excavation

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:08:30 -0500

Larry Silverstein has won a spat with the Port Authority over the sites for his Towers 2 and 4 at the World Trade Center site, likely costing the Port Authority more than $20 million in delay penalties.

An arbitration panel ruled that the Port Authority did not fully excavate and prepare the two excavated sites for Silverstein Properties, violating the terms of its agreement with the developer, according to a...

The Power Builder

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:08:05 -0500

Location: This is a horribly anxious time to be in New York real estate, especially if you’re one of the city’s biggest builders. What keeps you up at night?

Mr. Sciame: I like to say that I sleep like a baby: I sleep for two hours and I cry for two hours. Only kidding. … Any major builder in this town in 2008 is having a very good year. And we’re having a very...

City and State: Market Will Determine Silverstein Schedule at WTC

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:09:19 -0400

Missing from today's new World Trade Center timetable was any mention of the schedules for the planned 6.2 million square feet of office space in developer Larry Silverstein's planned three towers at the site.

The response of the mayor and the Port Authority's executive director, Chris Ward: The market will decide that, but the infrastructure will be in place.

"The market will respond as it needs to respond," Mr. Ward said...

The WTC Schedule: Version 2008

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:48:32 -0400

Target dates at the World Trade Center have been moved by months and years for the more than $16 billion project, with the target end-date for the Port Authority to finish all of the site's components by the end of 2013, the agency announced today.

Delays have been known publicly for months, and since June the Port Authority, which owns the site, has been working to resolve about 15 outstanding issues...

WTC Report To Call for Closing No. 1 Train for Months Downtown

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:47:57 -0400

The Port Authority is slated to recommend a closure of the No. 1 train south of Chambers Street for a series of months, likely during the summer, according to multiple people familiar with the agency's plans.

The recommendation is expected to be part of the Port Authority's report on dates and budgets, which will likely announce the rebuilding effort is facing around $1.7 billion in cost overruns.

The closure would...

Zero Hour at Ground Zero

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:06:12 -0400

In the first weeks of 2007, the two new state officials responsible for Lower Manhattan’s redevelopment were called to a downtown meeting on risks regarding the World Trade Center rebuilding. In the final months of the Pataki administration, the city- and state-run Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center had undertaken an analysis to highlight potential roadblocks at the World Trade Center site, and with new officials at the helm, a briefing seemed in...

$1.7 B. in Overruns at World Trade Center Site

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:33:37 -0400

As the Port Authority gears up for its big bare-all report Thursday on World Trade Center dates and costs, the price tag of the site stands to rise significantly.

According to numerous people familiar with discussions, the Port Authority is planning to announce the total amount in overruns is about $1.7 billion for the whole site. The amount presents the public sector with a large gap to fill in a time of...

Mayor on Memorial: Cascading Water by 2011; Port Should Eat Overruns

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:39:04 -0400

Here's Mayor Bloomberg on his Friday morning radio show with John Gambling on the World Trade Center and the Port Authority's commitment to open the memorial by Sept. 11, 2011:

We all agree that the critical thing is that we have to have on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 the Memorial built with people being able to get to it--the platform, the water cascading down, the trees, the names. The museum underground can take...

Agreement Near on Modestly Simplified Calatrava WTC Hub

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:03:58 -0400

With a report due in just one week that sets new timetables for the World Trade Center redevelopment, a decision is near on one of the most complex--and controversial--elements at the site, the multibillion dollar PATH hub.

The Santiago Calatrava-designed station has been a massive headache for officials and engineers since at least early 2007, when it became clear that the design was too costly given its $2.1 billion budget and could delay multiple other...

Coming Oct. 2: The September WTC Report

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:05:36 -0400

Port Authority officials rushing to create a comprehensive report on the World Trade Center redevelopment by the end of the month are getting a small reprieve. The report, which is expected to have a new timetable for the site's completion and a new (higher) price tag, was once slated for issuance Sept. 29 but is now due to be released Oct. 2.

The reason, according to a Port Authority spokesman:...

Who You Calling Fastest-Growing Neighborhood in the Nation?

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:44:21 -0400

On the day prior to the seventh anniversary of New York’s darkest moment, Mayor Bloomberg penned an impassioned plea in the Wall Street Journal calling for more accountability and action at the terminally delayed World Trade Center site.

Commendable as the op-ed was, it’s possible that the mayor engaged in a bit of hyperbole to make his case. The offending passage:

Today, Lower Manhattan is the fastest-growing residential neighborhood in the country, bustling...