Late Delivery of the 2 World Trade Center Site

By David W. Dunlap
W.T.C.Excavation work in late April at the site of Tower 2 at the World Trade Center. Across Vesey Street from the site, at right, is the 90 Church Street office building. (Photo: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times)

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on Wednesday that it is running more than a month behind schedule in delivering the site of Tower 2 at the new World Trade Center to the developer, Silverstein Properties. The authority will pay Silverstein a $300,000 daily penalty, beginning July 1, until the site can be turned over fully excavated, some time in August.

The authority said the excavation and foundation construction of the site, at Church and Vesey Streets, is 90 percent complete. Because of the delay, the contractor, Phoenix Constructors, will forgo an on-time bonus that would have ranged from $8 million to $14 million.

Despite the delay, the developer will begin preparing the Tower 2 site even as the authority is wrapping up. “Everyone at Silverstein Properties is eager to start select work in July and looking forward to expanding over the entire Tower 2 site later this summer,” said Janno Lieber, president of World Trade Center Properties, an affiliate of Silverstein.

Tower 2, formally 200 Greenwich Street, will be the second-tallest building in New York on its completion in 2012. Only 1 World Trade Center, also called the Freedom Tower, will be taller. That building is now under construction.

Facing many difficulties earlier this year, the Port Authority was 48 days late delivering the Tower 3 and Tower 4 sites to Silverstein Properties, which cost $14.4 million in penalties. Deducting a $10 million unpaid on-time bonus, however, the authority calculated that its actual cost was $4.4 million.

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don juan June 12, 2008 · 12:30 pm

There should have been a park built on the entire WTC area, with trees, a waterfall, benches and a memorial. It would be done already and it would be beautiful. But no, instead we get a 10 year mud pit with delays and beaurcratic nightmares that are far from over. What a shame.

Street Superintendent June 12, 2008 · 6:55 pm

Stand on the NW corner of the WTC site and look at Goldman Sachs going up and it will be done soon. Then look at the WTC Site that is still below grade. They started close to the same time. This country has forgotten how to do public work well. It is embarassing.

Tal Barzilai June 15, 2008 · 7:10 pm

I am not surprised to hear that this whole project is becoming behind schedule and overbudgeted. However, this is not something new for me or those who have been following the process for some time. If the Port Authority and Governor David Patterson knows what’s right, they should scrap this entire plan and have the Twin Towers rebuilt instead, which will cost much less. Don’t be surprised if they miss another deadline on having the official plan being built in the upcoming months, because this wouldn’t be the first time for those who only caught on just now.

Risa June 16, 2008 · 3:14 pm

There is no will to build because the design and plans for the site are wrong.

What we have to do is to be realistic with plans and designs, starting with the realization that the WTC is not built on land; rather, it is architecture over the river, on “land” claimed from the Hudson.

Buildings need to be situated realistically, not ideally (according to local community and developer’s artistic ideals). The lay of the bedrock at river bed is a reality that even the sweetest architecture renderings cannot change.

The lay of the rockbed in the river over which the WTC site sits must be realized and faced, and this, in turn, will require the location of the planned towers to be moved to suit reality of how to actually build the site out to something that marvels the world, as surely as the twin towers were a marvel in their time.

The answer lies in the rock.

Deadlines and plans are on paper are subject to negotiation and change. Not so the bedrock. It is where it is.

The site appears to be inland, but it is not in land, it is in/on the Hudson River.

Matching the bathtub enclosure (that holds the river water at bay) to the fanciful designs is not practical, as is becoming evident. The site has to be approached the other way around – the building designs and locations must be amended to what is possible and realistic based on the bedrock and where it lays under the site.

PJ June 17, 2008 · 10:29 pm

Why, Hey! We could strike a blow against terrorism and honor the memory of our fallen by using that $300K/day and multi-million dollar bonus and say….feed and clothe and assist the 50,000 some OTHER victims of 9/11 (and 9/12 and 9/13 and…) – the ones who die EVERY DAY worldwide from lack of food, water, and medicine!!!
NO?! You’d rather build towers for hedge funds managers, buy Hummers and Jimmy Choos, Fly hither and yon, Buy HD Plasma screens and on and on and on…
And you’re NOT a terrorist? Witholding the means of survival for another is just a different kind of murder. Why don’t you think about that before you get all righteous about your “victimhood”…

logan September 11, 2008 · 5:00 pm

this a sad thing with equipment it would look like their building something but their cleaning up after a big burn

keaton kammermayer March 17, 2009 · 10:42 pm

i’m 14 yrs old and live in canada, and i think that we should rebuild the world trade center to let the terrorist know that we are not afraid of them. building the freedom tower will let them know they have won. I would also like to see the world trade center for the first time and i think that it would be neat.