According to the report, Q3 milestones include: the completion of installing jumbo perimeter columns for One World Trade Center; the start of work to install 694 pieces of steel to fill in the last major section of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum; and the award of a major construction management contract to Tishman/Turner Construction for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

One of the missed Q3 milestones—the deconstruction of the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St.—is outside the PANYNJ's control. The authority says it's evaluating the impact of the delay on construction of the WTC's vehicle security center, part of which must be built where 130 Liberty now stands. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which took control of the property in 2004, recently announced that deconstruction work would resume this month.

In light of what the quarterly report calls "the continued uncertainty with respect to the schedule for the development of Towers 2, 3 and 4" at the WTC, the PANYNJ has begun formulating revised design for the WTC Hub that will allow completion of the WTC site's public components "independent of construction of Towers 2, 3 and 4." In August, Gov. David Paterson ordered the PANYNJ to come up with an alternative plan as discussions between the PANYNJ and developer Silverstein Properties Inc. on the timetable and construction financing for the towers reached a dead end. The disagreement between SPI and the PANYNJ is currently in arbitration.