"Safety and security are of the utmost importance to the Silverstein organization. We have worked for the more than a year to design the Freedom Tower in accordance with the Port Authority's extremely rigorous safety standards, which far exceed all applicable building codes," the Silverstein statement continued. A statement from the governor's office offered similar sentiments. "Everyone involved remains committed to achieving a spectacularly rebuilt World Trade Center that will serve as the spiritual and economic heart of a revitalized Lower Manhattan," Silverstein's spokesman concludes.Silverstein recently filed an application for additional Liberty Bond funds for the WTC rebuilding effort.

In late 2003, plans were unveiled for the 1,776-ft Freedom Tower, a collaboration between Daniel Libeskind, who devised the master plan for the site, and David M. Childs, who was hired by WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein to give form to that design. It was designed to have 2.6 million sf of office space on 60 stories. The base was to be made of concrete and a structure of tension cables that will brace the building. At that time, Childs pinpointed a number of key elements the design team took into account including making the structure part of the city's grid as well as making the building safe and ergonomically efficient. The tower design was expected to rise to 1,500 feet and be toped by a 276-sf spire.

At that time, while the governor would like to see the top out of the steel by the fifth anniversary of the attacks, Silverstein said he hoped Pataki would consider that to be a "soft commitment." Silverstein also "expected and hoped" for a second office on the site in 2010 and one each year until five are completed by 2013.