Rebuilding of Trade Center mired in anger, feuding

NEW YORK -- In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with the ruins of the World Trade Center still smoldering, political leaders from New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to President George W. Bush vowed to quickly rebuild the site, bigger and better than before.

"The skyline will be made whole again," Giuliani said. And as a sign of the city's resilience, initial plans called for the rebuilding to be complete by 2011 -- the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Eight years later, the site known as ground zero remains mostly a giant hole in the ground. A projected completion date has been pushed back years, if not decades. The project has been beset by repeated delays, changing designs, billions of dollars in cost overruns, and feuding among the various parties involved in the complex undertaking.

"It's just one big political nightmare," said Jim Riches, a retired New York deputy fire chief, who lost his firefighter son, Jimmy, on 9/11 and who has attended meetings on the progress of the construction. "I think it's a national disgrace," Riches said. "I really think it's horrible. We can put a man on the moon, but we can't get all the politicians in New York ... to build the World Trade Center back up again."

What happened over the past eight years is a story of grandiose plans clashing with practical realities; of the flush of early emotions giving way to cold, financial calculus; of public officials fighting with a private developer; and of bureaucrats battling one another at almost every level with no one really in charge.

"Nobody wants to accept responsibility," said former New York mayor Ed Koch. He joined others in laying blame before two chief agencies: the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the land, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which was created to channel all federal aid pouring in. "It's shameful that they have failed in their responsibility to build this in a measured and responsible way," Koch said.

Rebuilding the World Trade Center site was always going to be an extremely complex undertaking. At 16 acres, the site is larger than the downtown of many other American cities. It sits atop the intersection of several major city subway lines and a commuter train line to New Jersey. Its location in a densely packed part of Lower Manhattan makes it difficult for construction crews to work, while its proximity to City Hall, police headquarters and the federal courts prompts security concerns.

The initial reaction after the attacks was to rebuild the twin towers exactly as they were before, as a show of defiance to the terrorists. But some family members -- many of whom were never able to retrieve the remains of their loved ones from the dust -- insisted that the footprints of the original towers be left untouched, out of respect for those who died.

A 2005 design called for a spiraling glass skyscraper, named Freedom Tower, that would rise a symbolic 1,776 feet in the air. But after the design was unveiled, the New York Police Department said the new building would be too vulnerable to truck-bomb attacks and sent the architects back to the drawing board. A redesign moved the tower back from the street and placed it atop an impregnable 200-foot steel-and-concrete base.

Then, this year, the name was changed to World Trade Center One, out of fears that Freedom Tower would become too tempting a target for terrorism.

The ambitious plan now calls for four office towers, including World Trade Center One, with a memorial and two tree-lined reflecting pools standing on the footprints where the old twin towers stood. Cascading waterfalls lead down to a subterranean museum, 70 feet below ground level. The plan also includes a massive, futuristic-looking transportation hub to rival Grand Central Terminal.

The projected costs have soared far above the $15 billion budget, construction is years behind schedule, and the developer of three towers, Larry Silverstein, is locked in a dispute over financing with the Port Authority. The matter recently went to arbitration.

"We're mad as hell, and getting madder at the prospect of additional delay," said Alan Gerson, the City Council member whose district includes ground zero. He said "the site needs a sheriff" to oversee the various agencies, troubleshoot, mediate disputes, and solve engineering and financial problems.

As time has passed since the 2001 attacks, some are now questioning the complexity of the plan. Others are wondering whether a city hit hard by the recession -- with a shrunken financial sector and with a glut of cheap commercial space -- really needs to be spending billions to add 9 million square feet of office space.

"The design of that site was done in a political and emotional environment," said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit business group. "All of America wanted to show our resilience. As time has gone by, it's become increasingly clear that we can fight back and show our resilience and strength, but we have to do it within the constraints of how much we have to spend."