Port Authority Finds WTC Cost Overruns, Delays

NEW YORK CITY-As GlobeSt.com previously reported, Gov. David Paterson called on the Port Authority to assess the overall rebuilding effort at the World Trade center site and on Monday, the P.A. did just that. Although significant progress has been made in the rebuilding efforts, the P.A. admitted there were significant delays and cost overruns.

Although the P.A.’s assessment team did attempt to correlate each project at the site with a completion date and cost, the agency found at least 15 fundamental issues critical to the overall project had not yet been resolved. The P.A., which owns the 16-acre World Trade Center site, says in its report to Gov. Paterson that if it were to forecast completion dates and costs before those issues have been resolved, it would set more commitments and expectations that are unrealistic.

One example the P.A. noted was that until the agency completes the final design of the WTC Transportation Hub, it cannot predict a completion date or total cost, nor can it predict other projects linked to and dependent on the Hub. The Port Authority also pointed to the Vehicle Security Center, which is dependent partly upon the decontamination and deconstruction of the former Deutsche Bank building. As GlobeSt.com previously reported, a source from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that owns the building at 130 Liberty St. and is in charge of demolition, says the building is on track for its scheduled demolition for the end of this year.