by Lionel Bascom — August 16th, 2006 — No comments
The hope that the buildings on the site of the World Trade Center will rise, now lies in the future, not with the past any longer.
Late next month, the Port Authority holds a board meeting where it is hoped that a binding agreement for redevelopment of the new World Trade Center is expected to be signed.
The PA will be expected to juggle lots of balls all at the same time. These include construction of the Freedom Tower, a WTC memorial, the Memorial Museum and the Visitor Education and Orientation Center. It has pledged to put up nearly $200 million to support the Memorial Foundation projects.
Meanwhile, the PA and the states of New York and New Jersey await insurance payments from insurers who are still withholding funds, saying transferring ownership of the building site toppled all existing agreements. Other insurers have abandoned this stance and have agreed to pay up.
At the same time, there is major construction to build a transportation hub beneath the Freedom Tower while the site is being prepped for construction of Towers 2, 3 and 4 along Greenwich Street.
So, there is more than just hope rising downtown.
Perhaps we should start calling all of this the Phoenix project. I know this is a cliché, but sometimes these little chestnuts like this work best when other words fail to express what could be called our little Miracle on Greenwich Street.