Updated 05/08/2009 09:32 PM
Assembly Speaker Calls For Action At WTC Site
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New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is calling on local leaders to speed up construction on the World Trade Center site.
At the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association Breakfast this morning, Silver said it is time to quit stalling and set a detailed construction schedule for the development of Lower Manhattan.
Silver said he wants at least two towers built with all of the stakeholders sharing in the risk.
He said despite the current state of the economy, the city must build for the economy that it wants in the future.
"I am fed up with the stalling," said Silver, "and I am exasperated by the current state of the World Trade Center project; a site, I will remind everyone, where nearly 3,000 human beings, many of them, New Yorkers, lost or gave their lives. That we are where we are after this much time is an embarrassment to our city, our state, and to the nation."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he agrees and has invited Silver, along with Governor David Paterson, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Port Authority officials, and developer Silverstein Properties to Gracie Mansion to find a way to keep progress moving at the site.
Paterson also joined in the call to bring all stakeholders to the table to negotiate, saying, "The public should not be the ones taking on all of the risk for private development."
Port Authority warned that public funds are scare.
"In this tough economic climate, we have to put public resources toward the biggest public benefit, and we believe that's the memorial and the public projects first," said Stephen Sigmund of Port Authority.
Many Lower Manhattan residents say the sooner there is progress at the site, the better.
"We still have a hole in the heart of lower manhattan which is unacceptable. We have to make sure that neighborhood is revitalized," said Julie Menin of Manhattan Community Board 1. "It's the right thing to do for the families. It's the right thing to do, it's the right thing to do for the country as a whole."
The summit could take place at Gracie Mansion as early as next week.