12 Years Later: Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2001. New Yorkers were heading to the polls to vote on the next mayor of the city. It was a morning full of promise and baseball fans were excited about the Yankees' chances of making the playoffs, the Mets thinking about the future, and the start of the new football season. In other words, it was a day not much different than those September days we've been experiencing in the New

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 169

Yesterday's commemoration of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks also coincided with news reports about a deal struck to resume construction on the National 9/11 Museum, which had been in limbo since the Port Authority and Memorial Foundation fought over who was responsible for construction costs.

The Port Authority claimed that the Foundation owed it $300 million, but ended up settling for

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 168

The new Fiterman Hall, which is part of the Borough of Manhattan Community College Campus, is set to reopen next week. The original building was heavily damaged by the collapsing Twin Towers and 7WTC during 9/11. It sat in limbo until 2009 when city and state officials agreed upon a course of action to demolish and rebuild the structure.

The building differs greatly from the design aesthetic of

Read More

Junior High School Students Tossed From 9/11 Memorial For Tossing Trash

The NY Daily News is reporting that students from JHS 292 in Brooklyn were kicked out of the National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center for throwing trash into the reflecting pools that are intended to symbolize the destruction of the Twin Towers.

A group of Brooklyn students on a school trip to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum were booted from the hallowed site after they

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 165

There's been little movement on the resumption of construction of the National 9/11 Museum, despite a visit from President Obama last week and the principal politicians and bureaucrats involved in the museum and memorial process all present at the same time.

New York and New Jersey Governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie have called on the National Park Service to get involved in the memorial

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 163

The problems with completing the WTC Museum continue. The earliest that the museum will be open is mid 2013, and that's growing increasingly unlikely considering that the money issues between the Memorial Foundation and the Port Authority remain unresolved. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at issue, and each side blames the other for delays and costs that should inure to the other.

Meanwhile,

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 162

Despite the fact that there's been no work done on the WTC 9/11 Museum for months, that doesn't mean that the fight over what the museum will contain and display hasn't continued.

I find it mind-boggling that there's a fight over whether to include photos of the 19 Islamic terrorists who carried out the attacks. We need to see the faces of those who are responsible. It's like having a museum

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 161

Construction remains at a near standstill on the WTC Museum. The anticipated September 2012 deadline will be missed and it's looking like mid 2013 is the earliest that anyone should expect the museum to be opened. That's perhaps being optimistic considering the money involved and that the Port Authority and the Museum Board, which includes Mayor Mike Bloomberg are fighting over the development

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 158

It looks like the Port Authority and the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum have come to an agreement on construction costs. Payments will begin going out to subcontractors starting today, but the deal still requires finalization and approval by the Port Authority's Board. The subcontractors were caught in the middle of a dispute between the Port, which owns the World Trade Center site, and

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 156

1 WTC (the Freedom Tower) is poised to be the tallest building in New York City within the next two weeks. It's just a matter of time before the steel perimeter reaches its apex and work can proceed on the roof and antenna levels. "The World Trade Center perimeter steel is up the 100th floor," said Foye, at a press conference following the authority's monthly board meeting today. "I think if not

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 154

While the Freedom Tower (1WTC) is closing in on being topped out later this year, the financial picture for the World Trade Center redevelopment is grim. In fact, grim isn't quite the word. It's downright scary and awful. An audit demanded by both New York and New Jersey governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie shows just how bleak the situation is.

The Port Authority has so severely mismanaged

Read More

Sen. Tom Coburn Rejects Funding For WTC Museum

Funding for the WTC Museum and Memorial has been a longstanding problem. This is a national memorial and shrine to those who were killed in the attacks, and a museum to educate future generations as to what happened. So it is extremely disappointing to see that Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican is blocking a $20 million funding proposal of the WTC memorial and museum.

U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, a

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 153

The cost for the Freedom Tower (aka 1WTC) is now expected to top out at nearly $3.8 billion dollars. That's $700 million more than the last estimate given, and billions more than the originally estimated cost for the tower. It now ranks as the most expensively constructed skyscraper in the world.

Much of the cost is due to the increased and enhanced security and safety measures built into the

Read More

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 152

Once again, rebuilding at Ground Zero is threatening to come to a screeching halt. This time, Larry Silverstein is warning that rebuilding of 3WTC, which was designed by Richard Rogers, would be capped at a stump of 7 stories, because he can't find tenants and wont build it out on spec. The discussions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the lower Manhattan site, are

Read More

A $440 Million Spat Has Put Future of WTC Museum In Doubt

Leave it to the Port Authority of New York to find yet another way to slow down the reconstruction efforts at Ground Zero. This time, they're claiming that the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Foundation owes them $300 million. The Foundation, whose chairman is none other than Mayor Mike Bloomberg, claims that the Port Authority owes them $140 million. That's a $440 million spread, and one

Read More