September 8th - September 14th, 2012

NYC WTC Developer Brushes Off Concerns About Competition

September 7 - Silverstein Properties still expects to land tenants for its three delayed downtown World Trade Center skyscrapers despite competition from established and planned midtown competitors, said Silverstein President Janno Lieber. Reuters reported that officials from Silverstein Properties, named after developer Larry Silverstein, were demonstrating the progress that has been achieved in redeveloping ground zero before the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Two Silverstein skyscrapers still have no completion date after political infighting and clashes over finance, designs and security added years to the rebuilding. Many firms favor midtown locations because their clients are clustered there and their employees commute through midtown train stations to the suburbs in New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island. Threatening to shift to the WTC is a common bargaining tactic, however. Lieber noted the WTC complex has 11 subway lines that make the site an easy commute for workers who live in Brooklyn and New Jersey coastline cities. Tax-exempt financing that the $2-billion skyscraper qualified for helped cuts its cost by 30 percent. Three WTC can only be built seven stories high, so shops can open, until Silverstein has raised $300 million and pre-leased 400,000 square feet (37,160 square meters). Two WTC can rise no higher than street until Silverstein secures tenants.

Zadroga Act to Cover Dozens of 9/11-Related Cancers

September 10 - On the eve of the September 11th attacks, the federal government announced Monday that 50 types of cancer are being added to the list of World Trade Center-related diseases covered by the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, reported NY1 and other news outlets. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health announced Monday that up to 50 types of cancer will be covered under the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Federal medical researchers have found that the dust at the WTC may have contributed to cancers, as well as respiratory disease, according to Michael Barasch, who along with Noah Kushlefsky is handling thousands of first responders and residents cases. Cancer originally was not covered by the $4.3 billion World Trade Center health program created under the act. September 11th health czar Dr. John Howard said at the time there was not enough evidence linking cancer to the toxic smoke from the World Trade Center. Advocates say the change is long overdue.

Ex-Member Wants to Disband LMDC

September 11 - A former member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. -- which has a glut of staffers -- slammed the agency yesterday for hoarding funds and demanded that it be dissolved, according to the NY Post. Julie Menin, who sat on the LMDC when she was chairwoman of Community Board 1, said the $450 million in unused federal funds should be immediately allocated to redevelop and create jobs in lower Manhattan. There is no reason why 11 years after 9/11, this sum of money should remain unspent, Menin wrote in a letter to LMDC Chairman Avi Schick yesterday. Menin, a likely candidate for Manhattan borough president, also reiterated her call for the LMDC to close its doors, claiming its operating costs are too high.

World Trade Center museum deal may lead to land sale-sources

September 11 - A long-delayed sale of land that is part of the WTC redevelopment could become a reality under a new accord between the Port Authority and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, four sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Reuters reported that the property, called Site 5, could fetch $135 million to $200 million, two of the sources said. Site 5 is owned by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp, a city-state agency created to rebuild that part of the city after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Across from the WTC, the land had been occupied by the Deutsche Bank building, which was damaged in the attacks and later demolished. The accord between the Port Authority and National September 11 Memorial & Museum announced on Monday obliges the LMDC to fulfill a 2006 agreement by turning Site 5 over to the Port Authority. In exchange, the Port Authority would give the museum title to the eight acres of land it and the memorial occupy on the 16-acre (6.5 hectare) WTC site. The memorial honors nearly 3,000 people who perished as a result of the attacks. The land swaps were delayed by a political standoff over who would run the annual Sept. 11 anniversary ceremonies held on the memorial plaza, two of the sources said. The sources asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Nation Mourns 9/11 Anniversary

September 11 - With bagpipes and somber bells sounding a sharp counterpoint to the commemorative moments of silence, the nation on Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack that brought down the WTC in Manhattan and shattered the country's political psyche, according to ABC News and other news outlets. At ceremonies in New York and Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, relatives and friends mourned the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack by Islamic terrorists. The scenes were as moving as those from previous ceremonies, though they also seemed more personal than in the past, especially compared to last years 10th anniversary. Unlike past events, authorities did not raise any special security alerts this year. The sun rose on a cool, crisp morning remarkably similar to that which dawned 11 years ago. At all three sites - the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pa. - the focus was on the victims who died when terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners. The Manhattan ceremony also honored the six people killed on Feb. 26, 1993, when attackers set off a truck bomb beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A total of 2,983 people died in the 1993 and the 2001 attacks, the latter of which brought down both World Trade Centertowers.

BPCA President to Take Senior Post at Corporate Investigations Firm

September 12 - Gayle Horwitz, president of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) since the fall of 2010 has announced that she is leaving to become chief operating officer of Nardello and Company, a leading corporate investigations firm. Before coming to the BPCA, Horwitz served as First Deputy Comptroller during the tenure of then-City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who brought Ms. Horwitz with him when he joined the Authority as chairman in 2010, after an unsuccessful 2009 mayoral bid. Mr. Thompson resigned from the BPCA board earlier this year, and is expected to run again for mayor in 2013. If he is elected, many observers predict that Horwitz will join his administration.

Deal Reached Between 9/11 Memorial and the Port Authority

September 12 - Though the hiatus on construction of the National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum looks like it is coming to an end, the museum still will not be open until late next year, at the earliest, reported the Downtown Express and other news sources. On Mon., Sept. 10, The Port Authority and the 9/11 Memorial Foundation reached a preliminary agreement to move ahead with construction of the underground WTC museum starting later this month. Work at the site significantly slowed down in the past several months due to a financial stalemate between the Port, the sites construction manager, and the foundation, which is responsible for financing the memorial. Per the deal, the two parties will be meeting on a regular basis to discuss budgetary needs, ongoing operation costs and construction schedules. Additionally, the Port Authority and the foundation will work together toobtain federal funding for the museums operating expenses, according to a Memorandum of Understanding issued jointly by the Port Authority and the memorial. Joe Daniels, who recently voiced disappointment in the project delay, told the Downtown Express that he does not see shortfalls in this deal -- even though there is no mention of the foundations receipt of close to $150 million it was demanding from the Port Authority for expenses caused by museum construction delays. As part of the deal, the memorial has agreed to fork over $12 million to the Port Authority for construction-related costs.