The Daily News reports that Larry Silverstein, the principal developer of the World Trade Center site, let these words fall from his mouth yesterday. He also stated, “And I don’t think, after all of this time, all of this delay … people in New York want any more uncertainty.” But Silverstein surely cannot think that when all of the current uncertainty is cleared up everything is going to go his way. As the Downtown Express notes in a nice overview piece, the powers that be in the lower Manhattan development debate are against giving Silverstein a blank check. Some want a strict timetable. Others want allowances for mixed use (against Silverstein’s plan for maximizing commercial uses). Others still want to distribute the bonds to other developers and diminish Silverstein’s role in lower Manhattan.
Silverstein’s plans require $3.35 billion in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to cover the shortfall between his monies from his insurance on the site and the projected building expenses. Those bonds are backed by New York State tax payers and so he has to negotiate and can no longer pretend to dictate. Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki are among Silverstein’s most prominent (and influential) opponents. They are now looking to get assurances on the building schedule and building plans (including adding residential housing) as well as other concessions (including letting other developers take over part of the project) before floating those bonds.
Negotiations are continuing regarding the bond offering and other developers are getting in the mix.
Silverstein’s adamant tone does not befit a man looking for government handouts. If he wants to get busy with the work of building on the site and if he wants to satisfy the people of NYC by getting down to business, Silverstein would do well to temper his opinions and concede to all of these reasonable demands.
I have a feeling that, finally, Silverstein will find that apartments work just fine at Ground Zero.
In the end, lower Manhattan is not just where the WTC was, not just Ground Zero, and not just Silverstein’s investment. It is part of New York City, and we all have to think of what is best for the city when planning and particularly when funding development.
As the Bloomberg-Silverstein struggle gets more personal, Silverstein has struck out in the Daily News with an op-ed “transcript” of a conversation wth the Mayor. Meglomanic vs. Manic Depressive? You decide. The Gotham Gazette’s Wonkster and Gothamist provide glosses on the fracas to help you figure out what is happening.