As 9/11 Slips into the Past, New York Pauses to Mark Anniversary - Sep 12, 2004
With broken voices and shattered hearts, parents of 9/11 victims read the litany of the lost at the World Trade Center site yesterday to mark the third anniversary of the terror attacks. But the constant noise of traffic on the adjacent West Side Highway was a reminder of how, for many in New York and the nation, the horrors of 9/11 have begun to slip into the past. (New York Daily News)

Some Mourning 9/11 Losses Avoid Ground Zero - Sep 12, 2004
Recent interviews with more than 300 relatives of those killed on September 11, 2001 found that scores have not been to ground zero since the attacks. They have their own reasons: dread. Privacy, a feeling at odds with something as public as a ceremony shown live on television. Anger at officials they believe did not do enough to prevent the attacks. Fear, among some who do not live in Manhattan, of going to the place that was forever changed and that forever changed them. (New York Times )

9/11 Families Make What May Be Last Trip to Ground Zero - Sep 12, 2004
Relatives of those who died at the World Trade Center walked seven stories down to the bedrock yesterday, knowing the descent to the hallowed ground may be their last. (New York Daily News)

Fundraising For Memorial Has Yet to Begin - Sep 11, 2004
Eight months after the World Trade Center memorial design was unveiled, Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg have yet to find a prominent person willing to lead the foundation that's raising the money to build it. (New York Daily News)

New Images Give Best View Yet of Future Ground Zero Development - Sep 11, 2004
A stunning new look of the future World Trade Center site was unveiled yesterday, complete with the world's tallest building, a poignant memorial to the victims of the terror attacks, and a striking new cultural complex and rail station. (New York Post )

Parents Will Read Name at Modest 9/11 Anniversary Ceremony - Sep 10, 2004
Parents and grandparents of victims, will be the emotional heart of tomorrow's Ground Zero ceremony, where they will read the names of all those killed in the attacks. But as older generations step to the podium, they will be presiding over a decidedly trimmed-down day of remembrance. (New York Daily News)

Visitor Center Planned for Ground Zero - Sep 10, 2004
Yesterday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation extended its support - but not any money so far - to the Tribute Visitors Center being planned for a storefront at 120 Liberty Street, opposite ground zero and next to Ladder Company 10 and Engine Company 10. (New York Times )

City Prepares Soggy Ground Zero for Anniversary Ceremony - Sep 10, 2004
The ground was still water-soaked yesterday at the World Trade Center site, but Sept. 11 observances will go on rain or shine tomorrow, city officials said yesterday. (Newsday )

City Trying to Remove Rainwater from Ground Zero to Prepare for Anniversary - Sep 9, 2004
The city launched a round-the-clock effort yesterday to pump 2 feet of rainwater from the lowest levels of Ground Zero, so that the area is dry for Saturday's observance of the third anniversary of the terror attacks. (New York Daily News)

On Eve of Anniversary, A Look at Rebuilding Progress - Sep 8, 2004
The past year has seen plans move forward in re-developing the World Trade Center site, including the start of work on the Freedom Tower. In the following report, NY1’s Roger Clark takes a look at the progress as we close in on the third anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (NY1)

Photographing Ground Zero, Minute by Minute - Sep 8, 2004
In the fall of 2001 when the dust and ash from the World Trade Center were still in the air, Jim Whitaker, a documentary filmmaker, decided to photograph everything happening at ground zero. By the spring of 2002 three cameras were pointed at the pit, each taking one shot every five minutes, round the clock. Months later, three more cameras were added. That was the beginning of Project Rebirth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a historical record of the rebuilding. (New York Times )

Ground Zero Documentary Details "Sad Compromise" - Sep 7, 2004
If you're looking for a fly-on-the-wall view of one of the nastiest architectural catfights in recent memory, be sure to watch Tuesday's "Frontline," which charts the tumultuous first year in the rebuilding effort at ground zero. There are less shameful reasons to tune in too. (Chicago Tribune)

Delegates Continue to Flock to Ground Zero - Sep 1, 2004
Energized by speeches that framed President George W. Bush as the right leader in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, Republican delegates flocked to Ground Zero Tuesday to see the site where they say a presidency was forged. (Newsday )

For New Visitors, An Emotional Tour of Ground Zero - Aug 31, 2004
The difficulty of visiting ground zero is more than emotional and spiritual, though it is certainly that. After all, this is where 2,749 people died on Sept. 11, 2001. The difficulty is also practical. There is no one place to take it all in, no public vantage that offers an all-encompassing panorama of the World Trade Center site and neighboring towers, some of which — it may shock you to see — are almost as ravaged now as they were that Tuesday morning. (New York City)

Delegates Find Emotion and Debate at Ground Zero - Aug 31, 2004
Even more than usual, cultures clashed at ground zero. Ruled off limits to formal political protests or organized patriotic parades, the edges of the scarred 17 acres became a place for people to act out the stresses and strains that are natural when a tidal wave of Republicans washes up on a rocky Democratic shore. (New York Times )

9/11 Families Approach Convention From Different Perspectives - Aug 29, 2004
Jimmy Boyle, who lost his firefighter son Michael at the World Trade Center, will be attending the Republican National Convention. David Potorti, whose brother James was also killed on Sept. 11, is in the city for the event as well. But the two men are driven by very different motivations and will play very different parts. (Newsday)

Toys Showing Airplane Flying into Twin Towers are Recalled - Aug 28, 2004
Bags of candy left a sour taste when parents found it included a grotesque toy - an airplane flying into the World Trade Center. (New York Daily News)

Protesters to Ring Bells and Form Ring Around Ground Zero - Aug 28, 2004
In a dimly lit room in the back of Cafe Figaro on Bleecker St. on a recent Sunday afternoon, Christian Herold and nine other individuals were getting down to details. (Downtown Express)

Preservationists File Suit Over WTC Development - Aug 27, 2004
A coalition of 9/11 families sued the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and the Port Authority yesterday, alleging the agencies are violating a federal law requiring them to preserve historical artifacts — a move that could halt construction at Ground Zero. (New York Post )

Ground Zero Artifacts to be Preserved in Transit Hub - Aug 27, 2004
A 66-foot-long, travertine-paved remnant of the original World Trade Center concourse - still used every day by hundreds of commuters walking between the Eighth Avenue subway platforms and the PATH station - will be permanently preserved as part of the new trade center transportation hub, the Port Authority said yesterday. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Ad Removed - Aug 24, 2004
The MTA has decided to remove a bright electronic advertising screen at the top of the Cortlandt Street subway station, near Ground Zero, after a lawmaker argued it would interfere with ceremonies marking the anniversary of 9/11. (New York Post)

Advertising Arrives at Ground Zero - Aug 19, 2004
Having mournfully contemplated the place where 2,749 people perished on Sept. 11, 2001, you may be ready to plan your next ski vacation. If so, you can read all about the All for One Pass, which entitles you - for as little as $349 - to admission at six New England resorts, including Killington and Mount Snow. The information is displayed about 25 feet from the viewing wall at ground zero, animated and bright as daylight, atop a stairway to the Cortlandt Street subway station. You can't miss it. (New York Times)

Will WTC Cultural Center Be Built on Greenwich and Fulton, or Somewhere Else? - Aug 12, 2004
"RISK-TAKING." That is a quality that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation says it will seek in choosing architects for the cultural buildings at the new World Trade Center. The question is whether any architect will risk a prospective commission by challenging the current planning orthodoxy which requires that the museum complex be located within the memorial precinct. (New York Times )

Wall Street Exodus Leaves Country's Financial Markets Safer - Aug 8, 2004
America's financial markets are more insulated from the effects of a terrorist attack because the nation's financial hub is expanding beyond Wall Street to the New York City metropolitan area, principally into New Jersey. The result of the scattering of financial offices throughout the metro area is that it is unlikely a limited-scale terrorist attack would bring the American financial industry to its knees, as it did in the days following the Sept. 11 attacks. (Allentown Morning Call )

Verizon Receives $77 Million in 9/11 Funds - Aug 8, 2004
Verizon Communications Inc. received another $77 million in federal funds earmarked for restoring utilities and rebuilding infrastructure damaged in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a regulatory filing Friday. (Newsday)

Libeskind Will Be Among Architects Competing to Design Cultural Buildings - Aug 7, 2004
aniel Libeskind, who devised the master plan for the World Trade Center site but has not yet fully designed a building there, will be among the architects competing to design one or both of the cultural complexes planned for the redevelopment. In issuing a request for proposals this week, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation painted the fullest picture to date of what visitors might find when the two complexes are completed in 2009. (New York Times)

A Cartoonist's Account of 9/11 - Aug 7, 2004
Unlike most cartoonists, the Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman, 56, tends to focus on the big traumas of contemporary history and their impact on his life. Mr. Spiegelman's graphic novels about how his Polish-Jewish parents survived the fires of World War II, "Maus I" and "Maus II," sold 1.8 million copies in the United States, according to his publisher, Pantheon Books. Next month Pantheon is releasing "In the Shadow of No Towers," Art Spiegelman's artistic response to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as an expression of his deep opposition to the war in Iraq. (New York Times)

WTC Cultural Institutions Tell Residents What to Expect - Aug 7, 2004
Representatives from the four cultural institutions selected for the arts and museum complex at the redeveloped World Trade Center site told residents what kinds of amenities they could expect when the complex opens in five years. (Downtown Express)

City Gains Control of Streets at Trade Center Site - Aug 6, 2004
New York City - and not the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - will own and control the streets and sidewalks that run through the World Trade Center site, under an agreement that lifts a 37-year-old cloud over ownership of the property. (New York Times)

Post Office to Reopen at Trade Center Site - Jul 28, 2004
The post office across the street from the World Trade Center site reopens next week after extensive work to repair the damage it sustained in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, postal officials said yesterday. (New York Post )

Judge Tells WTC Developer, Architect, to Settle Dispute Through Mediation - Jul 22, 2004
A judge yesterday ordered World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein and disgruntled architect Daniel Libeskind to submit their $800,000 fee dispute to mediation. (New York Daily News)

Silverstein Accuses Libeskind of Freedom Tower Shakedown - Jul 21, 2004
Architect Daniel Libeskind held out "approval" on the Freedom Tower design in an attempted $800,000 shakedown, twin towers leaseholder Larry Silverstein charged in court papers yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Congressman Fears Health Hazards from Deutsche Building Destruction - Jul 20, 2004
Rep. Jerrold Nadler yesterday blasted the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s planned demolition of the Deutschebank Building, saying it could release toxins that may pose a health hazard to residents. (Newsday)

New York Slow to Fix 9/11 Flaws, Says Commission - Jul 19, 2004
New York still has not fixed some of the crucial problems faced by city cops and firefighters on 9/11, the commission probing the 2001 terrorist attacks will say this week. (New York Daily News)

Wrong Date Put on 9/11 Plaque - Jul 16, 2004
The date of Sept. 11, 2002, was mistakenly put on a plaque attached to a fence at Ground Zero, officials admitted yesterday. (New York Post)

Libeskind's Lawsuit Lays Bare the Tensions of Rebuilding - Jul 15, 2004
A mere 10 days after Governor George Pataki presided over an optimistic and buoyant ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center, Ground Zero master planner architect Daniel Libeskind filed suit against Larry Silverstein, the developer who is building the 1,776-foot-tall spire. The filing of this lawsuit marks the low point in the often tempestuous relationship between the 58-year-old Mr. Libeskind and the 73-year-old Mr. Silverstein. (New York Observer)

Libeskind Sues Silverstein Over Design Fee - Jul 14, 2004
Just a week after the Freedom Tower cornerstone was laid in place, Daniel Libeskind, the master planner of the World Trade Center site, yesterday sued Larry A. Silverstein, the tower's developer, for $843,750 in architectural fees that Mr. Libeskind says he is owed. (New York Times)

Family Members, Survivors Want 9/11 Commission Briefings in NYC - Jul 14, 2004
The 9/11 Commission is set to release some of its findings this month and plans to brief families in Washington, despite the fact that the bulk of the victims of the attacks died in the New York City area. Family members of New York victims are trying to persuade the members of the federal Sept. 11 commission to hold briefings for the relatives of the victims and survivors of the attacks in New York as well as in Washington. (Newsday)

Workers Prepare for Demolition of Last Structural Obstacle to Freedom Tower - Jul 12, 2004
Deep within the smoke-blackened ruins of an underground parking garage, 30 workers are installing tendonlike bundles of steel cable, called tiebacks, to anchor the concrete perimeter foundation wall to bedrock. This will permit the demolition in coming months of the last major structural vestige of the old World Trade Center. (New York Times)

Convention Planners Fear Train Bombing - Jul 11, 2004
Security planners for the upcoming political conventions are highly concerned about a train bombing and are taking unprecedented steps to safeguard subway and commuter lines in host cities New York and Boston. (Newsday)

Tribute in Light Gets Funding for Next Five Years - Jul 9, 2004
Intended originally as an ephemeral memorial, the twin-beam "Tribute in Light," which simultaneously marks the presence and absence of the World Trade Center, has been guaranteed a place in the night sky every Sept. 11 for at least the next five years. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board voted yesterday to give $3.5 million to the Municipal Art Society, which helps produce the memorial. (New York Times)

Silverstein Wants to Use Remaining Liberty Bonds for Ground Zero - Jul 9, 2004
World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein wants all of the $3.5 billion or so that's left of the Liberty Bonds to go directly toward rebuilding the site. He may need it. (New York Daily News)

Grants Coming for Ground Zero Cultural Institutions - Jul 8, 2004
The agency leading the Ground Zero rebuilding is expected today to approve $1.5 million in grants for the creation of a cultural center at the site, sources said. (Newsday)

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Appoints New Board Member - Jul 8, 2004
Robert Balachandran has been appointed to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's Board of Directors. (NY1)

On Cornerstone, Inscription Speaks with Local Accent - Jul 8, 2004
It could have been imperial Trajan. Or elegant Bodoni. Or generic Helvetica. But the search for the ideal typeface to be inscribed on the Freedom Tower cornerstone at the World Trade Center site ended simply, in Gotham. (New York Times)

Timeline of Freedom Tower's Key Moments - Jul 7, 2004
Key events in the planning for the World Trade Center's new skyscraper: (Newsday)

Libeskind Speaks About Rebuilding as Construction Begins - Jul 6, 2004
On July 4, a granite cornerstone was laid down in lower Manhattan for Freedom Tower, marking the beginning of a new structure for the former World Trade site. Freedom Tower is the symbolic focus of the design, the work of architect Daniel Libeskind, who won a competition to design the master plan for ground zero in February 2003. For the final installment of Morning Edition's Intersections series, NPR's Brian Naylor spoke with Libeskind about his inspirations for rebuilding the site. (National Public Radio)

Commuters Get First Glimpse of Ground Zero Construction - Jul 6, 2004
Starting today, commuters will get their first look at the construction of the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. (New York Daily News)

Visitors Flock to Ground Zero to See Cornerstone - Jul 6, 2004
The newly unveiled cornerstone for the Freedom Tower became lower Manhattan's latest attraction as visitors from around the world descended on Ground Zero yesterday to catch a glimpse of the 20-ton block of granite. (New York Post)

Ceremony Marks Symbolic Start to Ground Zero Construction - Jul 5, 2004
New York took the first tangible step to recover its place at the pinnacle of the global skyline in a ceremony that was held within the trade center's foundation, in bright sunshine but far below street level, where bedrock begins. With many questions unanswered, symbolism was the order of the day at the hourlong ceremony. (New York Times)

Freedom Tower Assignment: One Quarry's "High Profile" Job - Jul 5, 2004
Had it not been chosen as the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower, the 20-ton block of granite from the Ruby Mountain quarry in the Adirondacks was destined for slightly humbler duty. "It would have ended up as someone's countertop," said Tim Conboy, the vice president for strategic planning of the Barton Group in Lake George, N.Y., which owns the quarry about 30 miles northwest, near North River. (New York Times)

For One Junior High Student, Groundbreaking Ceremony Meant a Big Performance - Jul 5, 2004
Julian Davis tried to focus on the words on the page as he took the stage at Ground Zero yesterday, and declared in a strong, clear voice "that all men are created equal." The 12-year-old, whose dad, Port Authority cop Clinton Davis, was killed on 9/11, read from the Declaration of Independence before a crowd of hundreds at the laying of the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower. (New York Daily News)

Groundbreaking Brings Varied Crowd - Jul 5, 2004
There were three kinds of people outside Sunday's groundbreaking for the Freedom Tower: spectators, protesters and sunbathers. (Newsday)

Freedom Tower Cornerstone Laid - Jul 4, 2004
A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper replacing the destroyed towers. (Associated Press)

Construction at Ground Zero Begins, But Finished Product Still Unclear - Jul 4, 2004
The language this morning during the cornerstone laying for the Freedom Tower at ground zero will probably be as lofty as the skyscraper itself. But no one gathered around the great granite block - not the governors, the mayor, the civil servants, the developer, the planners, and certainly not the reporters - can say for certain how much of the current vision for the new World Trade Center will be realized. (New York Times)

Cornerstone Ceremony Begins Complicated Construction Project - Jul 4, 2004
On the 1,027th day after terrorists ripped a hole in our hearts by killing 2,752 people and destroying the World Trade Center, Gov. Pataki today will lay the cornerstone for Twin Towers' replacement — the Freedom Tower, a soaring spire of steel. (New York Post)

City Prepares Cops for Chemical Attack - Jul 4, 2004
Behind the gates of a former Brooklyn grade school, the NYPD is mustering an army of 10,000 cops that will be ready to march into the chaos of a chemical, biological or nuclear terror strike - just in time for the upcoming Republican National Convention. (New York Post)

Development at Ground Zero Moving Too Fast, Say Families - Jul 3, 2004
The Coalition of 9/11 families says developers eager to start work on the World Trade Center memorial are jumping the gun. (NY1)

Freedom Tower Opponents Prepare for a Fight - Jul 3, 2004
It’ll either be the beginning of the beginning or the beginning of the end when a cornerstone is laid for the Freedom Tower on Independence Day. Some see the start of construction of the first tower on the World Trade Center site as an important milestone three years after Lower Manhattan was left with a destroyed place where almost 2,800 people were killed. To those who dislike the new W.T.C. plan for emotional, environmental or aesthetic reasons, the ceremony this Sunday represents another step in the wrong direction. Several groups opposing the plan have been in discussions and are considering filing a lawsuit to stop it. (Downtown Express)

Freedom Tower Cornerstone Arrives at Ground Zero - Jul 2, 2004
Just in time for Independence Day, a crucial building block in Lower Manhattan's reconstruction has arrived in the city. The cornerstone of the World Trade Center’s Freedom Tower arrived Thursday morning. Workers will put it in place Sunday as the city and the nation celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. (NY1)

Silverstein Executive Wants to Use Liberty Bonds at Ground Zero - Jul 1, 2004
During testimony at the first in a series of City Council hearings on funding for Lower Manhattan redevelopment, John Lieber, senior vice president of World Trade Center LLC, a Silverstein Properties company, issued a call that the funds remaining in the Liberty Bond pool should be allocated and preserved for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. That call was echoed by Community Board 1 and the Downtown Alliance. (Globe St. )

The Integration of the Design Team at Ground Zero - Jul 1, 2004
Architect J. Max Bond Jr. has had to build bridges to reach Ground Zero, and now, for the first time in the redevelopment of the trade center site, an African American, is a major player (Washington Post )

Bush Will Not Visit Ground Zero - Jun 30, 2004
President Bush will make no visits to Ground Zero during this summer's Republican National Convention, his campaign manager said yesterday. But he was quick to note that the president's not making the trip does not indicate any lack of respect. (New York Post)

The History of Ground Zero: From 1600s to July 4, 2004 - Jun 29, 2004
When ground is broken for the Freedom Tower next Sunday, it will be just the latest chapter in nearly four centuries of rich history. (New York Times)

Freedom Tower Cornerstone: A 20 Ton Slab from Adirondacks - Jun 25, 2004
A 20-ton slab of stone from the Adirondacks will be the cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site. (NY1)

What is the Freedom Center? - Jun 24, 2004
people behind the Freedom Center, one of the cultural institutions chosen this month to occupy ground zero, have spent much of their time so far insisting on what the nascent museum is not. What is less clear is what the institution will be. (New York Times)

A 20-ton Granite Slab Will be Focus of July 4 Ceremony at Ground Zero - Jun 20, 2004
Rather than breaking already broken ground at the World Trade Center site on July 4, Gov. George E. Pataki will instead preside as a cornerstone is laid for Freedom Tower - more than 20 tons of garnet-flecked granite from the Adirondacks. (New York Times)

Daniel Libeskind's Shrinking Role at Ground Zero - Jun 20, 2004
People involved with the redevelopment of downtown say Daniel Libeskind has ample reason to be disappointed; in the year since he was anointed Architect on High, his influence, control and stature have steadily diminished. (New York Times)

Downtown Welcomes Back Ground Zero Farmers Market - Jun 20, 2004
On June 17, commuters and residents welcomed four farmers back to the World Trade Center site for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. The tables of fresh strawberries, apples, blueberries, lettuce, tomatoes, squash and cherries — set up on the corner of Church and Vesey Sts. immediately north of the PATH station entrance — seemed to fill a void that went deeper than people’s cupboards. (Downtown Express)

Fire, Not Planes, Caused WTC Collapse, Say Federal Investigators - Jun 19, 2004
The federal agency investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center says it was likely fire, and not the impact of the hijacked planes that crashed into the twin towers, that caused the buildings to collapse. (NY1)

Twin Towers' Resistance to Wind Questioned in Report - Jun 19, 2004
The World Trade Center's designers may have severely underestimated the forces that wind exerted on the twin towers, leading them to design skyscrapers less able to handle the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal report says. (Associated Press)

Lincoln Center Weighed Heavily in WTC Arts Selections - Jun 15, 2004
When it came time early this month for a final decision on the cultural presence at the World Trade Center site, city and state officials' focus was in large part on what would be best for a cultural site some five miles to the north — at Lincoln Center. (New York Times)

Green Market Returns to World Trade Center Site - Jun 15, 2004
New York blueberries, homegrown lettuce and fresh-baked bread are making their return to the World Trade Center site for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. Four green market farmers will set up tables of homegrown produce on the north side of the entrance to the WTC PATH terminal starting Thursday. (New York Daily News)

Janitor Tells of Encounter With 9/11 Hijacker - Jun 15, 2004
A hero janitor who helped victims escape from the World Trade Center's north tower before it collapsed told the 9/11 panel that he came across one of the hijackers in the building a few months before the attack. (New York Daily News)

Seven World Trade Center Rises - Jun 12, 2004
Seven World Trade Center is rising rapidly. In the following report, NY1's Amanda Farinacci takes us on an exclusive tour of the under-construction building, with a view from the top and from developer Larry Silverstein. (NY1)

Chosen Arts Groups Lay Out Plans for Ground Zero - Jun 12, 2004
Four arts groups -- The Joyce dance theater, The Drawing Center, Signature Theater, and the new Freedom Center -- laid out their plans for their new downtown locations last week, after being picked by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to move to Ground Zero. (Downtown Express)

Cultural Institutions Picked for World Trade Center Complex - Jun 11, 2004
Pledging to reinvigorate cultural life in Lower Manhattan, state and city officials yesterday announced the selection of arts groups devoted to dance, theater and drawing, along with a museum celebrating freedom, as the cultural anchors for the World Trade Center site. (New York Times)

In Arts Complex Competition, Underdogs Come out on Top - Jun 11, 2004
Failing to tap a big-name cultural institution for Ground Zero, redevelopment officials announced yesterday that four less well-known organizations were selected yesterday to occupy future new buildings at the site. (New York Post)

Cultural Institutions for Ground Zero To Be ChosenThis Week - Jun 6, 2004
Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki plan to announce this week which cultural institutions will be included at the World Trade Center site, a major breakthrough following months of contentious debate, the Daily News has learned. (New York Daily News)

Police Officers Sue City for 9/11 Illnesses - Jun 5, 2004
Two NYPD detectives are claiming in a new lawsuit that the city failed to protect them from toxic fumes at Ground Zero and from 9/11 debris at Fresh Kills landfill. (New York Daily News)

Planned Barrier Between Memorial, Battery Park City Removed - Jun 5, 2004
Officials with the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. said Wednesday that the proposed wall blocking the World Trade Center memorial from Battery Park City has been removed from the design, satisfying a neighborhood concern about the plan. (Downtown Express)

Sound Booth at Memorial Center Will Preserve 9/11 Memories - Jun 5, 2004
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s board on Wednesday approved a $500,000 payment to StoryCorps and September’s Mission to set up an oral history booth at the World Trade Center site by the three-year anniversary of the attack. The interviews will become part of the archives of the interpretive center that will be located under the W.T.C. memorial, said Anita Contini, vice president of memorial and cultural affairs for the L.M.D.C. The Library of Congress will also keep the records. (Downtown Express)

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Approves General Plan for World Trade Center - Jun 3, 2004
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation set the stage yesterday - that is, if all the needed money can be found and all the inevitable lawsuits can be won - for the full-fledged redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. The corporation board unanimously affirmed a general project plan, leaving open the possibility of restoring parts of Dey and Cortlandt Streets but perhaps turning a block of Washington Street into a truck security checkpoint. It also certified that the environmental review was complete. (Not all its critics agree, saying that the review did not sufficiently account for the impact of other large downtown projects.) (New York Times)

Advisory Council Calls for 'Powerful' Artifact to Mark Entrance to Underground Museum - Jun 3, 2004
A "powerful, visible" artifact from Ground Zero should mark the entrance to the World Trade Center Memorial Center, an advisory panel said yesterday. That recommendation was one of several made by the Memorial Center Advisory Committee in a draft released yesterday by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. The memorial center will be located underground at the southwest corner of the memorial site. (New York Daily News)

Two More Streets May be Extended Through World Trade Center Site - Jun 3, 2004
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has opened the door to extending two more downtown streets through a portion of the World Trade Center site. At a meeting Wednesday, the LMDC revealed that Cortlandt and Dey streets, which at one time ran all the way through the 16-acre site, now have a shot at being extended westward to Greenwich Street, allowing greater connectivity at the site. (NY1)

Silverstein, Libeskind Battle Over Ground Zero Cash - Jun 2, 2004
Behind the scenes at Ground Zero -- and with just one month left before construction begins on the Freedom Tower, developer Larry Silverstein finds himself entangled in a dizzying web of financial stopgaps, bitter feuds with architects and scrambling to reassure his landlord he’s the man to rebuild. A series of letters — obtained by The Observer — that the Libeskinds and their lawyer sent to the Silverstein camp over the course of the last month reveal just how personal this dispute has become, and how hard feelings from last year’s design conflict are still lingering. (New York Observer)

WTC's Angry Genius - May 29, 2004
Architect Daniel Libeskind is threatening to sue Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein — claiming he's owed a "genius fee" for his work on the Freedom Tower, sources told The Post yesterday. (New York Post)

Dispute Over Libeskind's Pay - May 29, 2004
Daniel Libeskind, the master planner for the World Trade Center site, and Larry A. Silverstein, the commercial leaseholder, are fighting over how much Mr. Libeskind should be paid for his work on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower. Mr. Libeskind submitted a bill for $800,000. Mr. Silverstein countered with an offer of $125,000. And though the sides are still talking, they remain far apart (New York Times)

Some Firefighters Leaving Their Wives for 9/11 Widows - May 27, 2004
If 9/11 was the earthquake, the families of firefighters are still, nearly three years later, trying to ride out the aftershocks, the painful, unforeseeable shufflings and reconfigurations that follow any death, much less hundreds within a single professional community. Unlikely though her story seems, Susan Zazulka is not the only wife of a firefighter whose husband left her for a 9/11 widow. There is also Mary Koenig, who lives in upstate New York, whose husband left her for a Staten Island widow named Madeline Bergin. And there is Christina Garger, a teacher on Long Island whose husband, Richard Garger, started seeing a 9/11 widow. One widow who wouldn't use her name said that she briefly dated a firefighter until she found out that he was still officially married. Fire Department sources say there are 10 or 11 such love triangles. (New York Times)

Worry Grows That Cultural Plans for Ground Zero Are Off-Track - May 26, 2004
With needed fund-raisers backing away and decision making stalled on the cultural component of a redeveloped World Trade Center site, a growing chorus of critics are questioning the effectiveness of the process and whether the project has gone off track. Lost in the debate over whether an opera house can fill its off-season or whether a dance and theater space could together attract sufficient funds, some arts leaders and planning experts say, is the more fundamental question of whether either of these options lives up to the grand plans for Lower Manhattan's hallowed ground. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Workers With Cancer Face Legal Challenge - May 26, 2004
In the agonizing hours after the towers collapsed on Sept. 11, Brooklyn Firefighter Pete Strahl was on his belly, crawling in a tunnel of debris under 7 World Trade Center to reach an injured civilian. Strahl is now battling a deadly throat cancer. His lung tests are also showing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dubbed the "World Trade Center cough" by medical experts. The difficulty for Strahl and other first responders at the World Trade Center is that they must prove their illnesses are job-related. So far, there is no medical evidence linking Ground Zero to cancer. (New York Daily News)

Generators at Ground Zero Producing Power For First Time Since 9/11 - May 25, 2004
Early on Sunday, May 16, with no fanfare, power began flowing through the Con Ed substation at the World Trade Center for the first time since 4:33 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. Tomorrow, Gov. George E. Pataki, speaking by phone from the substation to Con Ed's energy control center uptown, will make it official: one more vital piece of the infrastructure around the trade center site is back in place, following the restoration of the subway tunnel for the Nos. 1 and 9 lines in 2002 and the opening of the temporary PATH station last year. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Workers Developing Cancer - May 25, 2004
The Daily News revealed yesterday that many cops and firefighters assigned to Ground Zero are developing serious illnesses, including cancer. And though no direct link between Ground Zero and cancer has yet been established, more victims came forward yesterday to tell their stories. (New York Daily News)

Pension Bill Would Help Ill Ground Zero Workers - May 25, 2004
City workers would be eligible for a tax-free disability pension - even if they've already retired - if they can prove their illnesses were caused by the terror attacks, under a controversial bill. Last year, the World Trade Center Presumption bill was passed by the state Senate and Assembly, but was canned after Gov. Pataki vetoed the measure at Mayor Bloomberg's urging. (New York Daily News)

A Park at Ground Zero: Architects' Ideas - May 16, 2004
The 1,776-foot-high Freedom Tower, which promises to become the tallest building in the world, is slated to begin construction this summer. But many of the other large office towers planned for the World Trade Center site may need to be scaled back; it is possible that they will not be built at all. So why not a park -- a grand urban park for downtown Manhattan? Earlier this spring, The New York Times Magazine asked several leading landscape-architecture firms to consider the question, and the proposals that are illustrated on the following pages offer a provocative variety of responses. (New York Times)

Ground Zero's Top Fundraising Post Remains Unfilled, Threatening Delays - May 15, 2004
After being turned down by several top business executives, Gov. George E. Pataki is struggling to find someone prominent to lead the campaign to raise as much as $600 million for a memorial and cultural buildings at the World Trade Center site. Mr. Pataki's inability so far to find a leader for the campaign has contributed to a delay in deciding which cultural organizations will occupy the site, these people said. (New York Times )

Port Authority Asks Silverstein How He’ll Rebuild - May 14, 2004
The owner of the World Trade Center site wants details from leaseholder Larry Silverstein on how he plans to pay to rebuild the site following a loss in a court case that had aimed to double his insurance payout. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is committed to working with Silverstein Properties ``to find out what their financial plan is for the rebuilding of the entire site,'' authority spokesman Steve Coleman said. (Associated Press)

Architects Compete to Design Church Destroyed on 9/11 - May 14, 2004
It is the smallest building planned at ground zero. But the architects who will compete to design the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church may face the biggest challenge. They will be asked by Archbishop Demetrios, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, for a design at once unmistakably ecclesiastical yet in harmony with the bold secular architecture around it, one that captures unearthly mystery in tangible dimensions and conveys a sense of something outside human experience. (New York Times)

Fire Union Head Wants to Testify At 9/11 Commission - May 13, 2004
The city's top fire union officials have asked to testify at 9/11 commission hearings next week, but the commission says the hearings are "reserved for people in authority." (New York Post )

First Lady Dedicates Garden To 9/11 Vicitms - May 11, 2004
First Lady Laura Bush yesterday dedicated a garden in Battery Park to victims of 9/11, invoking a beauty tip from a past First Lady. "Flowers in the city are like lipstick on a woman," said Bush, quoting Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of former President Lyndon Johnson and an avid horticulturist. "It just makes you look better to have a little color." (New York Daily News)

Ground Zero Environmental Impact Statement Still Lacking, Says Community Board - May 9, 2004
For all its 2,000 pages, a report on rebuilding the World Trade Center site did not go far enough in addressing specific public concerns, members of Community Board 1 said this week. In mid-April, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation released its final generic environmental impact statement on the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site. The document was a revised version of a draft released in January, and in addition to repeating the expected impacts of the decade-long rebuilding effort it individually addressed some 671 comments submitted in response to the first draft. (Downtown Express)

Stock Exchange May Remove 9/11 Plaque Bearing Former Chief's Name - May 8, 2004
The New York Stocc Exchange may remove a plaque commemorating victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because it features disgraced former chairman Dick Grasso's name, sources close to the matter told The Associated Press on Friday. (Newsday)

In Rebuilding Update, Governor Backs New Tunnel Under East River - May 6, 2004
Governor George E. Pataki threw his political weight yesterday behind a plan to dig a new tunnel under the East River as part of a $6 billion rail link from downtown to Kennedy Airport and points east along the Long Island Rail Road. Mr. Pataki said the rail link would offer travelers a "one-seat ride to their terminal at J.F.K. in just 36 minutes" from Lower Manhattan. As an economic and political matter, the link would be even more important as the downtown gateway for up to 100,000 Long Island commuters, greatly expanding the capacity of businesses in the financial district to attract suburban workers who now live at least two train rides away. (New York Times)

Freedom Tower Will Break Ground on July 4 - May 6, 2004
Groundbreaking for the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower - the signature new building at Ground Zero - will take place on the Fourth of July, Gov. Pataki said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Jury Deals Another Blow to Silverstein in Ground Zero Insurance Case - May 4, 2004
A federal jury in Manhattan said yesterday that the single largest insurer at the World Trade Center was limited to a single payout of $877 million, not the double payment sought by the developer Larry A. Silverstein in his long-running legal battle over the downtown complex. It was another blow to Mr. Silverstein's 29-month campaign to collect $7.1 billion for rebuilding the trade center site and one that could ultimately force him to settle with 10 remaining insurance companies. Last week, the jury ruled that eight of the two dozen insurers at the trade center were not liable for double payments. (New York Times)

Rebuilding Officials Say Insurance Verdict Won't Limit Development - May 1, 2004
A court decision may have left World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein billions short of the cash he needs to redevelop Ground Zero, but officials said yesterday plans will move along - with or without him. (New York Daily News)

Feeling Shortchanged on Security Funds, Police, Firefighters Plan Convention Protest - Apr 28, 2004
Feeling shortchanged by Washington, some city firefighters and police are vowing to protest against President Bush and the Republicans at their convention in New York this summer. Unions representing cops and firefighters have requested permits to protest at the Republican National Convention in August at Madison Square Garden. (New York Daily News)

Many in Dance World Want Smaller Theater At Ground Zero - Apr 27, 2004
Many in the New York dance world are rallying behind the Joyce Theater's proposal to build a 900-seat home for dance as a cultural anchor for the World Trade Center site, favoring it over the New York City Opera's proposal to build a 2,200-seat opera house that would be used in part for dance in the off-season. (New York Times)

Does the Port Authority Really Own Ground Zero? - Apr 22, 2004
What is said about the World Trade Center site can sometimes be at odds - if ever so slightly - with fine-grained reality. Case in point: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the 16-acre trade center site. That statement of fact is repeated reflexively in accounts of the ground zero rebuilding. But it turns out that it may not be quite true. (New York Times)

New York Keeping Ground Zero Out of Olympic Bid - Apr 22, 2004
Ground Zero is so close to New York's Olympic bid-city headquarters, it's impossible not to think the two are intertwined. But bid officials, right from the days following Sept.11, said they would not use the terrorist attacks for sympathy in trying to win the 2012 Summer Olympics. (The Gazette )

City Seeks Formal Governing Role in Ground Zero Development - Apr 21, 2004
The Bloomberg administration called yesterday for a formal agreement with the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to govern the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, much as a 1967 compact did. Then, the biggest issues were television reception and how much money the city would receive in lieu of real estate taxes. Now, the goal is to ensure that rebuilding "is not delayed or hindered by lack of coordination or misunderstandings," Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff said in a letter to state officials. (New York Times)

Jury To Begin Deliberations On World Trade Center Insurance Suit - Apr 19, 2004
It will probably take more than 90 minutes for the judge to deliver a complex set of jury instructions this morning in the bitter multibillion-dollar court battle between developer Larry A. Silverstein and insurers over what coverage was in effect at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. But after hearing 10 weeks of testimony, the jury will begin to deliberate over matters that will ultimately dictate how much insurance money will be available to rebuild the sprawling trade center complex. (New York Times)

Amidst the Battles, Quality World Trade Center Plan Emerges - Apr 19, 2004
In the city that supposedly never sleeps, the redesign of the World Trade Center site has been the story that truly never stops. Lawsuits. Turf battles. Heavy political pressures. Intense emotional appeals. High-voltage international design contests. Daily press coverage of every big and little fight. It has been an exciting, confounding, downright messy process with surprises at every turn in the twisting road. And yet, so far, the biggest surprise of all is the high quality of the results. (Washington Post)

Downtown Has One Billion Dollars in Federal Funds Left - Apr 18, 2004
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board voted on Tuesday to earmark $176 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds — most of which will go to buy and demolish the Deutsche Bank building. If the money is allocated, it will leave about $1 billion to pay for a competing set of priorities for Lower Manhattan including affordable housing, park space, part of a rail link to J.F.K. Airport and the Long Island Rail Road, a new school, a recreation center and cultural facilities. (Downtown Express)

Deutsche Building To Come Down Piece by Piece - Apr 16, 2004
Later this year, if all goes according to plan, the monolithic 40-story office tower immediately south of ground zero - shrouded in black netting and far too like a 536-foot-high tombstone for many New Yorkers' tastes - will be coming down. Piece by piece. (New York Times)

Development's Effects on Fish and Birds Taken into Account at Ground Zero - Apr 15, 2004
Fish and birds, the smallest stakeholders in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, have been accounted for in the final environmental impact statement, which is to be made public today. And they may end up influencing some very large projects. (New York Times)

Closing Arguments Begin in Silverstein Insurance Trial - Apr 15, 2004
Closing arguments began after a contentious, 10-week trial that World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein hopes is the first round in a bid to collect twice the $3.5 billion insurance policy he took out on the center, one for each tower that fell on Sept. 11, 2001. (Associated Press)

Associate Architect Chosen for Ground Zero Memorial - Apr 14, 2004
A decade after preparing a sweeping plan to revitalize the public spaces at the World Trade Center, the firm of Davis Brody Bond was designated yesterday as associate architect for the memorial that is to be built on the trade center site. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation also approved a $45 million contract with the Gilbane Building Company of Providence, R.I., to dismantle 130 Liberty Street, a 40-story building near ground zero. (New York Times)

Noise and Congestion Downtown Until 2015, Says Revised Environmental Impact Statement - Apr 14, 2004
A decade of development at the World Trade Center site will create noisy, congested streets, cast longer shadows over parks and probably remove some remnants of the original trade center, a new report says. ``Some adverse impacts are inevitable'' in downtown Manhattan until 2015, when the site should be finished, according to the report issued Tuesday by the agency overseeing rebuilding. (Associated Press)

Secret Service Worker Accused of Stealing Cars from Ground Zero - Apr 14, 2004
Hundreds of cars were destroyed when the World Trade Center collapsed. But several United States Secret Service cars listed as "crushed," prosecutors said yesterday, were actually stolen by the head of the agency's motor pool at 7 World Trade Center, a retired police sergeant who received a commendation for rescue work on Sept. 11, 2001. (New York Times)

Extra $20 Million Earmarked for Demolition of Deutsche Bank Building - Apr 14, 2004
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. earmarked an extra $20 million in public funds yesterday to tear down the Deutsche Bank building next to Ground Zero. (New York Daily News)

Advisory Committee For Cultural Complex Selected - Apr 9, 2004
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation yesterday introduced a 24-member Memorial Center Advisory Committee to assist it in developing a cultural complex at the World Trade Center site. (New York Post)

Bloomberg: Reopen Statue of Liberty Completely - Apr 6, 2004
A week after Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended a ceremony in which federal officials announced that the Statue of Liberty would remain closed to visitors, he said Monday the statue should be reopened, even if each tourist is escorted by a police officer. (Associated Press)

Low Crime Rates in Subway Attributed to Post 9/11 Tactics - Apr 6, 2004
Police are on track to beat last year's historic low tally of subway crimes - and cops are crediting part of the ongoing decline to anti-terror efforts. Crime in all major categories combined is down about 2% from last year, which was the lowest in more than three decades. From January through Sunday night, there were 775 felonies, compared with 789 during the same period last year. (New York Daily News)

Clinton Calls For $570 Million For Tunnel Security - Apr 3, 2004
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the current wave of terrorism concerns surrounding the nation's railways make it imperative for officials to increase security around New York City's rail tunnels. (Associated Press)

At Ground Zero, Retail Development Must Step Carefully - Mar 29, 2004
At the new World Trade Center, an area of six acres will be set aside for mourning and remembering. And in the surrounding buildings and concourses, an area of 650,000 square feet - almost 15 acres - will be set aside for shopping and dining. The retail space poses planning challenges rivaling those faced by the memorial, the Freedom Tower and the combined PATH terminal and transportation hub. (New York Times)

Fire Department To Focus On Counterterrorism - Mar 29, 2004
Counterterrorism training will be the FDNY's top priority for the next two years, according to a landmark plan prompted by the Sept. 11 attacks and slated for release today. (New York Daily News)

Artist Who Worked With Ground Zero Dust Honored - Mar 29, 2004
A New York-based artist became the first winner of a new British art prize on Sunday for a work made from dust collected from the streets of Manhattan after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. (Associated Press)

New Process to Guide Historical Preservation at Ground Zero - Mar 26, 2004
Criticized by preservationists and victims' relatives for indifference to the physical remnants of the World Trade Center, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation proposed yesterday to create a review procedure that would guide the treatment of historical elements at the site for 10 years. The corporation's proposal would open future decisions about structural remains to review by preservationists, civic groups, architectural and planning organizations and relatives' representatives. Those remains include column footings from the twin towers, the foundation wall, smoke-scarred ruins of the underground parking garage, the tubes and terminal of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad and a stairway leading to the vanished plaza. (New York Times)

Designers Struggle To Avoid Windswept Plaza Of World Trade Center - Mar 25, 2004
Austin J. Tobin Plaza was the official name of the vast open space at the World Trade Center. But most New Yorkers knew it as the Barren Windswept Plaza. There is a chance they will recognize its successor, too, just by the gusts. "Typically, pedestrian-level wind conditions will be in the comfortable range," the draft environmental impact statement said about the planned World Trade Center redevelopment. "However, during some limited time periods, uncomfortable conditions may occur and activities like sitting, standing and walking may be impeded." (New York Times)

Silverstein Avoids Contempt of Court Charge - Mar 23, 2004
The developer Larry A. Silverstein narrowly escaped a civil contempt charge yesterday in the seventh week of a trial pitting him against his insurers for billions of dollars he seeks to rebuild the World Trade Center. (New York Times)

Rebuilding Funds Going To Organizations Run By Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Board - Mar 22, 2004
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board has handed out at least $19.6 million in the past year to organizations run by LMDC board members — raising questions about the federally funded corporation’s ethics and priorities. When former New York Stock Exchange CEO Richard Grasso was on the LMDC board, the corporation gave the stock exchange about $10 million to get rid of its jersey barriers and put up attractive security systems, like the iron gates Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg unveiled this winter. In July, the LMDC board voted to give $4 million to the Alliance for Downtown New York for “streetscape improvements” from Battery Park up to City Hall Park. Carl Weisbrod, an LMDC board member, runs the Downtown Alliance. (New York Sun)

9/11 Families Sickened Over Ground Zero Souvenirs - Mar 21, 2004
Families of 9/11 victims are sickened that their loved ones' belongings and other Ground Zero remains may now be strangers' trophies. (New York Post )

Taking Souvenirs From Ground Zero Common Practice For FBI Agents - Mar 21, 2004
Everbody does it. That's the response Jane Turner got when she told federal investigators that a fellow FBI agent had stolen a Tiffany globe found at the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. (New York Post )

Clinton Officials To Tell 9/11 Panel That They Warned Bush Of Terror Threat - Mar 20, 2004
Senior Clinton administration officials called to testify next week before the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks say they are prepared to detail how they repeatedly warned their Bush administration counterparts in late 2000 that Al Qaeda posed the worst security threat facing the nation — and how the new administration was slow to act. (New York Times)

Calls For More In-Depth Analysis In Responses To Environmental Impact Statement - Mar 17, 2004
It is hard to imagine a 2,000-page document missing anything. But critical comments on the draft environmental impact statement for the World Trade Center rebuilding project generally fault it more for what it does not say than for what it does. The comments, which were due Monday but kept trickling in yesterday to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, urged officials to assess more carefully and comprehensively the cumulative effects of several big projects - the office towers and memorial, the PATH terminal, the Fulton Street Transit Center and the reconstruction of West Street-Route 9A - that have been separated for public review. (New York Times)

New York Gives Politicians Lessons on Mixing 9/11 And Politics - Mar 15, 2004
The nation is on the threshold of a long and potentially nasty contest for the White House and for the first time it is being forced to consider 9/11 in purely political terms, terms the Republicans would like to frame around the notions of leadership and security, and the Democrats around exploitation and outrage. But while this is all new and raw on the national stage, it is a dynamic that has played out in New York - especially during the governor's race in 2002 - and continues to influence the thrust and parry of local politics at the highest levels. In that regard, New York's experience provides insight into the benefits and pitfalls Democrats and Republicans risk as they continue to play the Sept. 11 card in this year's contest for the presidency. (New York Times)

Building The Freedom Tower on Site Full of Fear - Mar 14, 2004
ight now, the designers of the Freedom Tower are struggling to master three colossal forces that are at work in the stark, empty sky above the World Trade Center site: gravity, wind and, perhaps most formidably, fear. Any architect or engineer who works on a tall structure is morally and professionally obligated to become something of a safety obsessive. The steel and concrete of every Manhattan skyscraper has to resist hurricane-force winds, for example, as well as the downward pull of the Earth. But only the Freedom Tower will rise over a patch of ground that is forever shaken with the terror and paranoia of the worst building catastrophe in the history of the planet. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Architect, Memorial Juror To Discuss "Building Memory" At Jewish Museum - Mar 14, 2004
“Remember, never forget.” The words on the wall of New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan will come to life this month when the museum hosts a half-day symposium exploring how Holocaust memories are preserved and passed down from generation to generation. The symposium will feature three separate panels. Daniel Libeskind and James Young will discuss building and rebuilding memory in the symposium’s closing session at 4 p.m. Libeskind, the son of Holocaust survivors, designed the master site plan for the World Trade Center and Young, a Holocaust scholar, was one of 13 members of the jury that evaluated entries in the World Trade Center site memorial competition. (Downtown Express)

Rumsfeld, High FBI Officials, Took Souvenirs From Ground Zero - Mar 13, 2004
The removal of souvenir debris from the scenes of the Sept. 11 attacks reached the highest levels of government, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and FBI Director Robert Mueller's chief of anti-terrorism, a Justice Department investigation has found. The practice was so widespread inside the FBI that it even forced prosecutors in Minnesota to drop plans to prosecute a company that had taken a fire truck door from the World Trade Center, according to a still-confidential report obtained by The Associated Press. (Associated Press)

Mayor Defends Bush's Ads -- And Kerry's - Mar 13, 2004
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg refused to be drawn into the partisan politics of the looming presidential race yesterday, jumping in to defend first President Bush and then his main Democratic rival, Senator John Kerry, on his weekly radio show. Mayor Bloomberg was asked by the radio show's host, John Gambling, about the Bush campaign ads focusing on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The mayor, a Democrat who switched to the Republican Party to run for office, responded by saying that he supported the campaign strategies of both candidates, even though the question was about only one of them. (New York Times)

City Cops Head To Madrid After Bombing - Mar 12, 2004
The subway bomb massacre yesterday in Madrid prompted new precautions in New York, as police heightened patrols on subways and commuter lines and sent intelligence officers to Spain. Two NYPD officers, one with an Interpol background, were to arrive in Madrid "for information gathering," said one official. (Newsday)

Buildings For Ground Zero Now Planned To Be Shorter Than Originally Intended - Mar 11, 2004
As plans for ground zero assume their final form, it is more apparent than ever that what New York will get - at least in the near future - is a far cry from the renderings by Studio Daniel Libeskind that captivated and puzzled the public a year ago. (New York Times)

Opinions Vary On Which Parts Of Ground Zero Are Historic - Mar 6, 2004
A debate with few precedents in American historic preservation - what are the meaningful physical remnants of a place that was all but destroyed? - has turned into a confrontation between preservationists and state officials. Yesterday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation called on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to let the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places determine which remnants of the World Trade Center deserved heightened scrutiny; for example, the severed cast-iron PATH tubes or the smoke-scarred ruins of an underground parking garage. (New York Times)

Mayor Declines To Criticize Ground Zero Ads - Mar 6, 2004
Walking a fine political line, Mayor Michael Bloomberg refused Friday to criticize political ads being aired by President George W. Bush, a fellow Republican, that some Bush critics said was creating political capital out of 9/11. (Newsday)

Owners Of Flag Planted At Ground Zero Sue City For Losing It - Mar 6, 2004
The owners of the flag that was planted in the rubble of Ground Zero claim the city has lost it and are suing for more than $500,000 (New York Daily News)

Pataki Signs Law Banning Vendors From Ground Zero - Mar 6, 2004
Gov. Pataki yesterday signed into law legislation reinstating restrictions on peddlers in Midtown Manhattan while also barring vendors from around Ground Zero. The law takes effect immediately. (New York Post)

New Design Guidelines For Ground Zero - Mar 5, 2004
Building setbacks, the proportion of towers to their bases, the angle of the rooftops, facade materials, paving and landscaping, the width of sidewalks, even the color and typography of signs - are all covered by the proposed design guidelines for Ground Zero. However, the current draft still leaves open the significant question of who would administer the rules over the many years it may take to complete the reconstruction. (New York Times)

New Design Guidelines For Ground Zero Are Less Restrictive - Mar 5, 2004
A confidential draft of the new desing guidelines for buildings at Ground Zero, obtained yesterday by the Daily News, shows guidelines for building heights and construction materials that are less restrictive than an earlier version. (New York Daily News)

Green In Lower Manhattan: An Interview With Architect Bruce Fowle - Mar 5, 2004
MetropolisMag editor Julie Taraska spoke with architect Bruce Fowle about Ground Zero’s environmental opportunities: the chance to readdress the site’s density, to explore renewable power sources, and to utilize green roofs. The discussion occurred in January 2004, days before the LMDC released its Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the WTC Memorial and Redevelopment Plan. (Metropolis Magazine)

Bush Television Ads Feature Ground Zero -- Angering Families Of Victims - Mar 4, 2004
The Bush reelection campaign yesterday unveiled its first three campaign commercials showcasing Ground Zero images, angering some 9/11 families who accused President Bush of exploiting the tragedy for political advantage. (New York Daily News)

Plan For Underground Walkways Downtown Sparking Debate - Mar 4, 2004
Seduced by the distinctive architecture planned around the World Trade Center site, it is easy to forget that one of the most important transformations of Lower Manhattan will be almost invisible, at least from the street. A series of passageways being planned, including underground concourses, would permit pedestrians to make a sheltered journey, uninterrupted by traffic, from Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City to Broadway and John Street. (New York Times)

Reluctantly, Jury Convicts Firefighter Of Removing Items From Ground Zero - Mar 3, 2004
It wasn't exactly a scene out of "Twelve Angry Men" - a juror put his arm around a former firefighter and apologized to him yesterday minutes after he helped convict him of filching personal items from the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center. (New York Post)

Breaking Silence, City Planning Commission Weighs In On Trade Center Site Plan - Mar 2, 2004
Breaking its conspicuous public silence on the World Trade Center redevelopment plan, the City Planning Department called yesterday for many changes that would open more of the streets, sidewalks and public spaces on the site. (New York Times)

Firefighter Says Items He Took From Ground Zero Were 'Garbage' - Mar 2, 2004
A retired fireman accused of stealing "souvenirs" while working at Ground Zero told a Manhattan jury yesterday that the items were all "garbage" - even the ID cards of two World Trade Center workers who died in the tragedy. (New York Post)

Investigators Probe World Trade Center Absestos Clean-Up - Feb 29, 2004
Investigators have launched a sweeping probe into possible fraud by companies hired to remove asbestos from the World Trade Center site and other Port Authority facilities, The Post has learned. (New York Post)

Deutsche Bank Will Be Demolished - Feb 27, 2004
Deutsche Bank reached agreement yesterday with the state, insurers and downtown rebuilding officials on the fate of a 40-story skyscraper near the World Trade Center site that still stands despite being badly damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks. The tower at 130 Liberty Street, which is draped in a black shroud to hide a deep 24-story-long gash in its northern facade, would be demolished, according to several executive and government officials who had been briefed on the negotiations. (New York Times)

FBI Agents Took Souvenirs From Ground Zero - Feb 26, 2004
Thirteen agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took mementos, debris or valuables from the Staten Island landfill that held the rubble of the World Trade Center, and the F.B.I. now plans to formally ban the removal of crime-scene items as a result, officials said on Wednesday. (New York Times)

Freedom Tower Observation Deck Will Be 1,500 Feet Above Ground - Feb 25, 2004
The planned Freedom Tower will have an observation deck near its spire standing 1,500 feet above ground zero, the lead architect said Tuesday. (Associated Press)

Trial Begins For Ex-Firefighter Charged With Stealing From Ground Zero - Feb 24, 2004
Jury selection began yesterday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan for the trial of a retired firefighter who is charged with stealing items from ground zero while working as a volunteer after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. (New York Times)

Roundup Of Public Comments On Ground Zero Environmental Impact - Feb 22, 2004
Community members spoke about the study, called the draft generic environmental impact statement, or d.g.e.i.s., at two public forums held on Feb. 18 at Pace University. More than 100 people attended the afternoon session, and 60 people testified at that session. Concerns were varied, and often contradicted one another. (Downtown Express)

Mayor Gently Criticizes Edwards For 9/11 Comment - Feb 21, 2004
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that Senator John Edwards was wrong when he suggested on Thursday that Republicans were holding their convention in New York to exploit the Sept. 11 tragedy, and that the city's economy was a shambles. But Mayor Bloomberg, a Republican, also softened his earlier criticism of Senator Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate from North Carolina, saying that his comments were "just political verbiage" and that he did not hold them against the senator. (New York Times)

Soldiers Make Homecoming Trip To Ground Zero - Feb 21, 2004
It was a homecoming of sorts Friday for 34 U.S. Army soldiers who took part in an informal tour of the area around Ground Zero. (Newsday)

Criticism For Ground Zero Development At Envirornmental Impact Hearing - Feb 19, 2004
Critics sharply attacked a draft environmental impact statement concerning the rebuilding at Ground Zero yesterday, challenging the report's main conclusion that the project poses no adverse effects. (Newsday)

Mixed Reactions At Ground Zero Environmental Impact Hearing - Feb 19, 2004
The controversy that has surrounded nearly every aspect of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site spilled over to the project's impact on the environment yesterday as New Yorkers had their first chance to express concerns publicly about traffic, air pollution and the availability of public space. (New York Times)

Plans For The Lobby At Seven World Trade - Feb 16, 2004
A computerized rendering of Seven World Trade Center, prepared by architects for WTC developer Larry Silverstein, shows a high-tech lobby of polished limestone and marble and shiny stainless steel columns, with revolving doors on Greenwich Street. (New York Post)

President Bush To Give Limited Testimony To 9/11 Commission - Feb 16, 2004
The White House said yesterday that President Bush plans to meet only with a limited number of representatives from the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, despite a statement issued Friday that suggested he would meet with the whole panel. (Washington Post)

Federal Government Stiffing New York On Funds For Police Communication, Says Senator - Feb 15, 2004
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused the federal government yesterday of once again stiffing New York City out of critical security funds, this time money needed to upgrade communications between the Fire and Police departments. (New York Daily News)

Rebuilding Officials Say That World Trade Center Site, But Not Structural Remnants Of Buildings, Is Historic - Feb 13, 2004
The struggle between preservationists and rebuilding officials over ground zero escalated this week with a preliminary finding by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation that the site's location, setting, feeling and association - not the structural remnants of the World Trade Center - render it historic. (New York Times)

Flexing Muscles, City Calls Special Ground Zero Planning Meeting - Feb 13, 2004
The Bloomberg administration is reasserting itself into the rebuilding at Ground Zero, setting a special city planning session next month. The hearing is significant because it's one of the city's only chances to play a formal planning role in the World Trade Center site - which is owned by the Port Authority and under the sway of Gov. Pataki. (New York Daily News)

Ground Zero Station Is PATH's Busiest - Feb 13, 2004
Exceeding early expectations, the World Trade Center PATH train station is now the busiest in the system, averaging more than 30,000 weekday riders since last month. (New Jersey Journal)

Court Case On Trade Center Insurance Opens, With Billions At Stake - Feb 9, 2004
Opening statements are expected to begin today in the long-brewing court battle between the developer Larry A. Silverstein and two dozen insurers over how much money will be available for rebuilding the vast commercial complex at the World Trade Center site. (New York Times)

State Comptroller To Audit PATH Construction Costs - Feb 8, 2004
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi will audit the Port Authority's $566 million World Trade Center PATH station construction job to see whether cost overruns were justified and whether the project had proper oversight, his office says. (New York Post)

Calatrava Receives Star Treatment At Community Board One - Feb 8, 2004
Community Board 1 has seen a number of celebrities over the years, but probably none of them received the amount of star-treatment afforded to renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, who politely signed a few autographs Wednesday after presenting his plan for the World Trade Center train station. (Downtown Express)

Ground Zero Merits Historic Status, Say Redevelopment Officials - Feb 7, 2004
History does not have to wait its customary half-century. Even now, the World Trade Center site merits inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a determination made on Friday by three government agencies. (New York Times)

Lawsuit Claims That Ground Zero Contractor Reaped "Windfall Profits" - Feb 1, 2004
A $17 million civil suit lodged in federal court charges that the main contractor in the new World Trade Center PATH station reaped "windfall profits," overcharged the Port Authority and cheated a major subcontractor in the 9/11 rebuilding job, The Post has learned. Citing "greed at the expense of the public," the suit alleges the main contractors in the $566 million project violated Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency rules, racketeering laws and state laws barring misuse of public funds. (New York Post)

Ground Zero Reconstruction To Cost Over $11 Billion - Jan 30, 2004
Rebuilding the office and retail space at the World Trade Center will cost close to $7.5 billion — part of a total Ground Zero reconstruction tab of more than $11 billion, The Post has learned. (New York Post)

In One Family, Ugly Court Battle Over How 9/11 Money Is Spent - Jan 29, 2004
As the sole heir of deceased World Trade Center firefighter William Lake, 9-year-old Kyler Lake received a small fortune in charity funds and death benefits. How that money is being spent is at the heart of a vitriolic court battle, the longest-running and most hotly contested Sept. 11 case in Kings County Surrogate's Court. (Newsday)

Nuts And Bolts (And Water) Challenge Memorial Design - Jan 26, 2004
The jury has reached its verdict: two enormous square voids, set on the spots where the twin towers once stood, will be the centerpiece of the World Trade Center memorial. But now a jury of a different kind must weigh in: the engineers, horticulturists, carpenters, electricians, and plumbers who will actually build it. (New York Times)

On Memorial, Great Minds Think Alike? - Jan 26, 2004
A memorial for Ground Zero designed by Stuvyestant High School students last June contains several now-familiar features: A series of ramps leading to two reflecting pools at the Twin Tower footprints. A wall of names around the pools honoring those people killed on 9/11. A handful of trees surrounding the pools on a street-level plaza. A cultural building nearby on Greenwich St. (Downtown Express)

2,749 May Be Final Death Toll Of 9/11 - Jan 23, 2004
2,749. Unless something unexpected happens, this figure could well be the final count that history books will record as the number of victims who died in the World Trade Center attack, city officials said yesterday. (New York Times)

PATH Station To Be Unveiled Today - Jan 22, 2004
A design for a permanent PATH station is to be unveiled this morning by Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which will build the $2 billion project. Though the PATH terminal is the third key element of the trade center redevelopment project - in many ways, quite literally its heart - the design will almost burst on the civic consciousness, since work has proceeded quietly, with none of the discordant prelude that accompanied Freedom Tower and the memorial, "Reflecting Absence." (New York Times)

Deutsche Deal Near At Ground Zero - Jan 22, 2004
Development officials hope to work out a deal to buy the damaged Deutsche Bank building next to Ground Zero in coming weeks, at the same time they resolve an insurance dispute that has threatened to stall downtown rebuilding plans, sources told The Post. (New York Post)

Next For Ground Zero: Noise And Traffic - Jan 21, 2004
Snarled traffic, long shadows and noise - a decade's worth of noise - will be the inevitable byproducts of the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, according to a 2,000-page study approved yesterday by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. (New York Times)

Silverstein Agrees To Safety Checks, But Critics Remain Unsatisfied - Jan 21, 2004
In an effort to reassure the public that new buildings at the World Trade Center site will meet government-mandated safety standards, the Port Authority and developer Larry Silverstein have agreed in principle to subject their construction projects to several new and independent safety checks, according to a draft of the proposal obtained by The Observer. But members of a post–Sept. 11 advocacy group, whose criticism of Port Authority safety policies helped bring the issue to the fore, labeled the proposal a "sham," citing what they saw as a lack of enforcement powers. (New York Observer)

At Ground Zero, Rebuilding With Nature In Mind - Jan 20, 2004
While most of the anguished debate about ground zero has focused on recreating and remembering what was once there, another effort has been moving forward to create on the site something that never existed, an environmentally sensitive city within a city that is attuned to nature as well as the real estate market. (New York Times)

Victim Compensation Fund Enrollment At 98 Percent - Jan 17, 2004
Ninety-eight percent of the families of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks have applied for federal compensation, the special master of a government fund said Friday. Kenneth Feinberg said 2,925 families have applied. The official death count was 2,976. (Associated Press)

Freedom Tower Struggle Far From Finished - Jan 13, 2004
It's not unusual for developers, politicians, and architects to clash over real estate projects in New York City. But there's never been anything like the battle over the World Trade Center site. (Fortune Magazine)

Culture To Return To Memorial - Jan 10, 2004
Michael Arad wanted to take out almost all of the cultural buildings adjacent to the World Trade Center memorial in his original Reflecting Absence design, but his revised plan selected by the jury this week will restore most if not all of the museum and performance spaces, according to planning officials. (Downtown Express)

Summing Up Rebuilding - Jan 10, 2004
A summary of rebuilding, an attempt to lay out the cast of characters and locate each portion of the mammoth project on the continuum between pipe dream and the actual laying of pipes. (Newsday)

Childs Takes Freedom Tower Design to Community Board 1 - Jan 10, 2004
Freedom Tower architect David Childs offered more details Wednesday on security and public access for his building, a collaboration with site planner Daniel Liebskind that could restore Downtown’s skyline as early as 2006. At a Community Board 1 meeting, Childs stressed that much about the design for the 1,776-foot tower remained subject to change. But he presented one certainty along with the “fluid” plans: The building would be among the safest in the world. (Downtown Express)

Reconciling The Site Plan And The Memorial Design - Jan 8, 2004
The two designers of the winning entry for the World Trade Center memorial are to meet today with Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind in Berkeley, Calif., to begin the prickly task of making their disparate schemes fit together, sources said. (New York Daily News)

The Spirit Of The Freedom Tower - Jan 8, 2004
The shining tower planed for the gawked-upon gap of the World Trade Center may be the first skyscraper to pray for its city. The designer of the wind turbines that will occupy the top of the "Freedom Tower" wants the rotors to serve as prayer wheels, cycling through mantras of peace. (Village Voice)

Reliving 9/11 -- With Fire As A Teacher - Jan 6, 2004
The World Trade Center was burning again — at least one small part of it — in a fuel-soaked, full-size recreation of a Marsh & McLennan office on the 96th floor of the north tower, where the first plane struck on Sept. 11. This office is inside a towering laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. And it is only one fragment of the disaster being replayed for a federal investigation centered here. (New York Times)

Woman Who Scammed 9/11 Charities Sentenced to Prison - Jan 6, 2004
A 9/11 scammer who snookered charities out of $80,000 was tossed in the slammer for at least two years yesterday. (New York Post)

PATH Station Design Interferes With 'Wedge of Light' - Jan 2, 2004
The design for a new permanent PATH station at Ground Zero makes significant changes to Daniel Libeskind's World Trade Center master plan by moving the terminal building northward to overlap with the "Wedge of Light," sources told The Post. (New York Post)

Security Concerns Don't Stop The Partying - Jan 1, 2004
Helicopters swept the sky, and clusters of police officers stood guard on street corners. But for revelers in Times Square, the New Year's Eve countdown was about party, not panic. (New York Times)

Community Board One Debates Liberty Bond Extension - Dec 31, 2003
Community Board 1 is backing an extension of the tax-free Liberty Bond program but opposes using more of the money on residential buildings because members say it is encouraging too many small, luxury-rent apartments. (Downtown Express)

Queens Assemblyman To Push Bill To Return Ashes To Ground Zero - Dec 30, 2003
A Queens assemblyman said yesterday he will introduce legislation requiring Ground Zero debris carted to a Staten Island landfill to be returned to the World Trade Center site for burial. The bill will mirror a law signed last week by New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey that calls for the bistate Port Authority to put the debris in containers for its ultimate return to lower Manhattan. (New York Daily News)

The Engineer Behind The Freedom Tower - Dec 30, 2003
In hard hat, Guy Nordenson was one of the structural engineers who clambered for months through the smoking rubble of the World Trade Center. Now, minus the headgear, in the hushed spaces of his office near ground zero, he holds forth about torque and taper, about Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. He speaks with considerable stillness and insistency, just as he does with his architecture students at Princeton. (New York Times)

Tourists Return to New York - Dec 29, 2003
The tourists are back. Official statistics are hard to come by. But for the last week, more than 1,000 tourists a day have been dropping by NYC & Company's Visitor Information Center, a level not reached since before Sept. 11, 2001, a spokeswoman said. (New York Times)

Giuliani Criticizes Freedom Tower Design - Dec 29, 2003
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani yesterday gave a thumbs-down to the new Freedom Tower design and other World Trade Center rebuilding plans, saying they don't pay tribute to the heroes who died or evoke the horror of what happened. (New York Post)

PATH Traffic Down Significantly Since 9/11 - Dec 28, 2003
The new World Trade Center PATH station is moving just over 1/3 of the riders it did before 9/11 -- a dramatic indication of the job and economic losses in Lower Manhattan, Port Authority data show. (New York Post)

Two Visions Meet At 1,776 Feet - Dec 26, 2003
A week before they were to present it to the public, the architects David M. Childs and Daniel Libeskind had yet to find a form on which both could at least sign off, even if neither embraced it entirely. Their standoff was the latest in an architectural evolution that, however tortuous, wound up producing a remarkably well-regarded design. (New York Times)

Silverstein, Port Authority, Close Deal for $229 Million - Dec 24, 2003
Developer Larry Silverstein got more than $229 million in cash - all wrapped up in time for the holidays - when he closed a deal yesterday with the Port Authority to restructure the finances of his World Trade Center lease. The holiday bundle includes the return of the $98.5 million that Silverstein and his partners plunked down as equity when they leased the trade center from the Port Authority in July 2001, just weeks before the terror attacks. (New York Post)

Wind and Light for Freedom Tower - Dec 24, 2003
A year after architect Daniel Libeskind first told the world about a 1,776-foot building reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty that he wanted to see built at the World Trade Center site, he watched David Childs explain how Childs kept the two ideas of wind and light and designed a new office building slated to rise at Fulton and West Sts. by next September. (Downtown Express)

Freedom Tower Follows Windmill Trend - Dec 23, 2003
The growing popularity of windmills as a clean way to generate electricity was on display Friday, when officials unveiled the design of the building that will be erected on the World Trade Center site. The plan calls for an unspecified number of windmills to be installed in the uninhabited top-third of the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, where they will catch the wind off the Hudson River and generate 20 percent of the building's electricity. (Newsday)

Slow Down! says Giuiliani - Dec 22, 2003
STOP. Start over. It is not too late to get it right. So argues Rudolph W. Giuliani, who has studied the eight designs being considered for a World Trade Center memorial and does not like what he sees. (New York Times)

Online Poll Shows Support for Freedom Tower Design - Dec 21, 2003
The redesigned Freedom Tower skyscraper to be built above Ground Zero is miles above the original plan, according to a Post Web poll yesterday. Readers were asked to judge the bold design for the 1,776-foot skyscraper, a glass tower that gracefully twists into the sky and is topped by a 276-foot spire that pays homage to the Statue of Liberty. A whopping 85 percent of Post Web site visitors favored the revised design for what will be the world's tallest skyscraper - unveiled to the public Friday - compared with 15 percent for the original plan. (New York Post)

Deadline For Federal Victims Compensation Fund Looming - Dec 21, 2003
People who lost loved ones or were injured in the 9/11 terrorist attacks have until midnight tomorrow to file with the federal Victims Compensation Fund. Officials expect nearly 90% of those eligible to file, depite a slow start and months of controversy. (New York Daily News)

Freedom Tower Now Has a Design, But No Tenants - Dec 20, 2003
"The first firm to sign a lease will get huge media attention," said downtown real estate broker Brad Gerla of CB Richard Ellis. But right now, downtown leasing is dismal. Freedom Tower developer Larry Silverstein, who also is building and marketing 7 World Trade Center, isn't finding takers for that property. (New York Daily News)

Freedom Tower Will Be A Boon For City Economy - Dec 20, 2003
The skyscraper planned for the World Trade Center site is expected to provide the city with one of its biggest economic boosts since the original WTC was built three decades ago. The greatest impact, at least initially, will be felt by the city's construction industry, which is anticipating that at least 2,000 jobs will be created for the building of what's known as the Freedom Tower, which is to be the world's tallest building (Newsday)

Tower Described As Safe, Environmentally Friendly - Dec 20, 2003
They're calling the planned Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center the safest building in the world. The skyscraper's designers and owner also lay claim to making it one of the most environmentally friendly. (Newsday)

Freedom Tower Is Unveiled - Dec 20, 2003
After fervent public debate over how to mend the New York City skyline and a five-month effort by competing architectural giants that was one part collaboration and two parts quarrel, the design of the first tower of the new World Trade Center was unveiled yesterday. The torqued and tapering skyscraper, called the Freedom Tower, would rise some 70 stories, then dematerialize in its upper reaches among cables, windmills and antennas before piercing the clouds at 1,776 feet. At this height, it might be the world's tallest building upon completion in 2008 or 2009. (New York Times)

Is Freedom Tower Really the Tallest? - Dec 20, 2003
It will certainly be the world's tallest cable-framed, open-air, windmill-filled, spire-studded superstructure, rising atop 70 stories of offices, restaurants, a broadcast center and an observation deck. Whether that makes it the world's tallest building is another matter. (New York Times)

Pataki Served as Mediator in Architects’ Feud - Dec 20, 2003
The relationship between Childs, who was charged with designing the tower, and Libeskind, the master planner of the site, was so difficult, both sides agreed, that several weeks ago the two architects practically stopped speaking and Gov. George Pataki had to mediate. (Newsday)

Victims' Opinions On Tower Differ - Dec 20, 2003
Two survivors of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centers yesterday had sharply different opinions of the redesigned Freedom Tower skyscraper to be constructed at Ground Zero. (New York Post)

Pataki to Release Freedom Tower Design on Today Show - Dec 19, 2003
Gov. Pataki will unveil plans for Ground Zero's new skyscraper on national television this morning, drawing criticism that he's playing politics with the rebuilding effort. Pataki will offer the first glimpse of the Freedom Tower to Katie Couric, the popular host of NBC's "Today" show, prompting gripes that the governor is using the Sept. 11 tragedy to bolster his own national political ambitions. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Relics Rust in Hangar - Dec 19, 2003
There are no planes behind the mammoth locked doors of Hangar 17 at Kennedy International Airport. Instead, it hides history. This is where a 100-foot-tall by 100-foot-wide section of the lower facade of the north tower — the infamous Gothic arches — is kept, disassembled into 25 pieces weighing 80,000 pounds apiece. Laid out on the floor are the crumpled remains of the north tower antenna. Parked in one corner is an assortment of crushed fire trucks. Here rests the last column removed from ground zero, complete with the graffiti from firefighters and ironworkers who recovered victims and cleaned the site. (New York Times)

Childs Reduced Height of Tower to Reach Agreement with Libeskind - Dec 17, 2003
In the end, the magic number for resolving the design impasse over the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site turned out to be 276 feet. That was how much the architect David M. Childs reduced the height of the tower he is designing for the developer Larry A. Silverstein, one of several gestures that allowed Mr. Childs's counterpart, Daniel Libeskind, to certify that the Freedom Tower would fit in with his overall master plan for the site. (New York Times)

Looking At The Forced Marriage That Spawned The Freedom Tower - Dec 17, 2003
When Governor George Pataki unveils the design plans for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero on Dec. 19, it will mark the end of nearly six months of heated argument between two architects with radically different visions for what will be the tallest building in the world. What will emerge is a hybrid of the two very different architects’ visions for the signature skyline element of the new World Trade Center—forged in an uneasy compromise. (New York Observer)

Compromise Reached on Freedom Tower - Dec 16, 2003
Months of architectural wrangling over plans for the tallest building at the World Trade Center site — and in the world — have apparently ended in a 1,776-foot compromise that would include an asymmetrical spire favored by Daniel Libeskind rising atop a cable-framed wind farm proposed by David M. Childs. Though the design will not be made public until Friday, an announcement yesterday by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation seemed to indicate that agreement had been reached on the broad outlines of the building, called Freedom Tower. (New York Times)

Debate Over Traffic Flow at Trade Center Site - Dec 15, 2003
While the public is transfixed by the struggle over the Freedom Tower and the memorial at the World Trade Center site, an equally vital debate has been occurring over the layout of streets around the site. Decisions made now about the street plan will determine how hundreds of truck deliveries are made, and how buses, autos, taxis, limousines, emergency vehicles (including a fire engine and fire truck quartered on Liberty Street) will share small slices of asphalt and concrete. The ripples from these crosscurrents will be felt down to the Battery, over to the Brooklyn Bridge, up the Avenue of the Americas and down Seventh Avenue. (New York Times)

Architects Reportedly Near Compromise on Freedom Tower - Dec 15, 2003
Warring architects Daniel Libeskind and David Childs are inching toward a compromise on the design of the Freedom Tower, and officials hope details can be finalized as early as today, sources said. Gov. Pataki had initially set today as the deadline for the architects to present him with a fully realized scheme for the tower. (New York Post)

9/11 Rugs Not Big Sellers on New York Streets - Dec 15, 2003
With an appraiser's scrutiny, Ed Cutting, a New York City firefighter, stared at a fine Afghan rug painstakingly hand woven in a style centuries old. Its handiwork depicted an epic scene. He stood Saturday in a weekend flea market at Avenue A and 11th Street in the East Village, at a booth displaying rugs. Several of the rugs, in a style usually reserved for depicting landscapes or abstract tribal patterns, showed a crudely rendered interpretation of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. (New York Times)

First Beam Up at 7 World Trade Center - Dec 12, 2003
The final shape of the new World Trade Center may still be in doubt, but one part of the complex started going up yesterday. The first steel beam that will support the weight of office space was erected yesterday at 7 World Trade Center, marking the formal start of tenant floor reconstruction. The beam was headed for the 11th floor, where the first office tenants will rent space. The first 10 floors, already partially built, will house transformers for a Consolidated Edison substation that will supply electricity to much of lower Manhattan. (Newsday)

Ground Zero Architects Claim Cooperation - Dec 12, 2003
Despite reports of bitter feuding, two renowned architects said Thursday they're working together to complete a plan by next week for a 1,776-foot tower at the World Trade Center site. "People know there are differences," Daniel Libeskind said. "It's not easy. But we're working toward reconciling those differences and creating something that everybody will be proud of." David Childs added: "We've been working together since the middle of July, and we've made tremendous progress. We're not finished." (Associated Press)

Pragmatism for New York New Visions Co-Founder - Dec 12, 2003
Fame is what Daniel Libeskind, the big winner in the urban reality sweepstakes to anoint a lead architect for the resurrection of the World Trade Center, is basking in or suffering through, depending on his appetite for cutting a high-profile swath by creating world-class architecture from a disaster. Resignation is almost what Bruce S. Fowle, a prominent yet low-key peer — no kooky glasses, no silly scarf, no gel on the cranium or speckled beard — is feeling as the towers grow taller and clunkier and the planning ordeal crawls on. But not quite. (New York Times)

Cops Called to World Trade Center "Watergate" - Dec 12, 2003
Developer Larry Silverstein's Freedom Tower design team was so upset over an alleged raid on their offices by staffers of Ground Zero planner Daniel Libeskind that they brought in former Police Commissioner Howard Safir to investigate, sources said yesterday. (New York Times)

Freedom Tower Collaboration Breaking Down - Dec 11, 2003
The fight over the Ground Zero Freedom Tower has spiraled completely out of control, with accusations of a "Watergate break-in" and bitter feuding between the two key architects, sources said yesterday. As the two go head to head over their dueling plans for the 1,776-foot tower's design, top aides to Gov. Pataki and officials at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation were scrambling yesterday to salvage the fractured partnership. (New York Post)

Power Struggle Over Freedom Tower - Dec 11, 2003
The two architects on the Ground Zero Freedom Tower project can't agree on a design, with one even bringing his lawyer to a meeting, sources said yesterday. The fractious relationship between Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind and architect David Childs imploded on Monday, exactly a week before Gov. Pataki's deadline for the two to produce a concept for the tower. (New York Daily News)

Freedom Tower Vision Will Be Childs' -- not Libeskind's - Dec 11, 2003
In the middle of what state officials are always proud to describe as a transparent planning process, a private developer has been pursuing his own vision for the World Trade Center site. This may put both Mr. Pataki and Mr. Libeskind in an awkward spot next week, when the governor is supposed to receive the final design and then, presumably, present it to the public. Artful language may be needed to reconcile Mr. Childs's design with Mr. Libeskind's plan, if the goal, indeed, is to paint this as a seamless and inevitable transition. (New York Times)

Concern Over 9/11 Health Registry - Dec 11, 2003
Some Lower Manhattan residents continue to feel shortchanged by the city’s World Trade Center Health Registry, even though anyone who lived south of Canal St. on Sept. 11, 2001 is eligible to enroll. Nearly 30 local residents and workers attended a forum on the health registry last Thursday at the Downtown Information Center at 25 Broad St. Some participants told assistant health commissioner Dr. Polly Thomas that the interview portion of the registry seemed geared toward emergency workers. If residents are not asked detailed questions about their experiences on and after 9/11, then the study will not be able to address their potential long-term health concerns, some residents fear. (Downtown Express)

More Revisions for New York's Tallest Tower - Dec 10, 2003
The nearly completed design for the signature tower at the World Trade Center site would recapture the title of world's tallest building for New York City without forcing anyone to work higher than 70 stories in the sky. Gov. George E. Pataki, who effectively controls the rebuilding process at ground zero, will unveil the plan next week. It will bear little resemblance to the asymmetrical and angular design by Daniel Libeskind that has been in the public eye for almost a year. Instead, it is largely the work of David M. Childs, the architect for the tower's developer, Larry A. Silverstein. (New York Times)

Libeskind's Design Was Intended to Play to the Press, Says Partner - Dec 10, 2003
Key elements of Daniel Libeskind's Ground Zero plan - including the decision to model the Freedom Tower on the Statue of Liberty - were driven as much by questions of how they would play in the media as by aesthetics or architecture, according to the planner's design partner. Gary Hack admitted he had "some reservations" about the Libeskind team's political-style methods. (New York Daily News)

Libeskind Won With Smear Campaign, Says A Member of His Team - Dec 9, 2003
Architect Daniel Libeskind launched a political-style name-calling campaign against a rival design team to undermine its chances of being chosen as Ground Zero master planner, according to one of Libeskind's partners. In a lecture at SUNY Buffalo on Oct. 8, urban planner Gary Hack described the competition for the job - which Libeskind eventually won - as "the architectural equivalent of nuclear war." (New York Post)

Host Marriott Gets $370 For Loss at Ground Zero - Dec 4, 2003
Host Marriott Corp., the owner of the New York World Trade Center Marriott and New York Marriott Financial Center, announced yesterday that it has received about $370 million worth of insurance payments, resolving virtually most of its outstanding issues relating to the Sept. 11 attacks. The announcement comes about two months after Bethesda, Md.-based Host Marriott entered into an agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to surrender the site and terminate a 99-year lease that was to expire in 2094. (Newsday)

New Evidence Suggests That Failing Floors Caused Towers to Collapse - Dec 3, 2003
Federal investigators have said that new evidence supported earlier suggestions that the floor supports in the World Trade Center began failing in the minutes before the towers fell and might have played a major role in their collapse. The investigators, who are carrying out a two-year, $16 million analysis of the collapses, made it clear that they had not yet settled on a final explanation. They said, though, that their findings gave new weight to a theory that the failure of the floors weakened the towers' internal structure to the point that the entire buildings came down. (New York Times)

Port Authority Pays Silverstein's Debt - Dec 2, 2003
The Port Authority agreed yesterday to use $710 million in World Trade Center insurance proceeds as part of a reordering of the project's tangled finances - buying back the rebuilding rights to the WTC mall and paying off the mortgage of Twin Towers leaseholder Larry Silverstein. (New York Post)

Some Firefighters Have Left Spouses for 9/11 Widows - Dec 1, 2003
At least a dozen of New York's Bravest - some of them assigned to look after Sept. 11 widows - have left their wives for the spouses of their comrades killed in the terror attacks, sources told The Post. (New York Post)

Architects Work To Reconcile Visions on Freedom Tower - Nov 27, 2003
The signature tower of the rebuilt World Trade Center is taking shape, and not a moment too soon. With scant three weeks left, the two architectural teams working together on the tower — one led by World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein’s architect David Childs, the other by Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind — have been engaged in intense, seven-day-a-week meetings aimed at reconciling each side’s competing vision for the Freedom Tower, which is to be the tallest of five skyscrapers to rise from the ashes of Ground Zero. (New York Observer)

Ground Zero Workers Dropping Lawsuits Against City - Nov 29, 2003
Hundreds of workers who got sick after working on the World Trade Center recovery and cleanup are dropping their lawsuits against the city, officials said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

An Old Sign, Touting Marvels Of World Trade Center, Still Up On Church Street - Nov 28, 2003
hile "World Trade Center" signs around the new PATH station startled commuters and visitors this week, a smaller but even more poignant graphic remnant of the past was hiding in plain sight across Church Street. "What has 200 elevators, 1,200 restrooms, 40,000 doorknobs, 200,000 lighting fixtures, 7 million square feet of acoustical tile ceilings, more structural steel than the Verrazano Narrows Bridge — and was built for a final cost of over one billion 1970s dollars?" asks the colorful sign between seven-foot cast-iron posts, outside Century 21, near the corner of Cortlandt Street. "That's right, the World Trade Center." ...the sign would stay in place at least a year (New York Times)

PATH Station at Ground Zero Reopens - Nov 24, 2003
The World Trade Center PATH Station opened at 2 p.m. yesterday, after a $323 million, 16-month reconstruction, to applause and tears along the platforms and aboard the trains. On the sides of the cars, ruby-red "WTC" destination signs glowed once again. (New York Times)

Street in Queens Renamed for Firefighter - Nov 24, 2003
Hundreds of people gathered at a street corner in Queens yesterday to rename a street after firefighter Carl F. Asaro, who was killed at the World Trade Center. The intersection of 147th Street and Willets Point Boulevard in Whitestone, where Asaro was born and raised, now bears his name. (New York Post)

On World Trade Center Memorial, Criticism Outstrips Praise - Nov 22, 2003
The experts having already weighed in voluminously on the subject, the Municipal Art Society asked ordinary people to give their perspectives on the eight finalists in LMDC's memorial competition for Ground Zero, in a handful of small sessions that seemed to blend the give-and-take of a creative writing workshop with the raw emotions of a 12-step meeting. (New York Times)

Several Versions of Recollection and Grief - Nov 20, 2003
Eight possible memorials at the World Trade Center site, each deferring in some way to the ghosts of the twin towers, were shown to the nation yesterday. The plans, chosen by a 13-member jury for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, did not come from the hands of celebrated architects but rather a diverse group of designers, many of them young, who live in and work in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Chicago, Houston, Paris, Ithaca, N.Y., and Oakland, Calif. (New York Times)

9/11 Memorial Jury Confronts Conflicting Agendas - Nov 20, 2003
The jurors of the 9/11 memorial competition had many constituencies to please. And many were unhappy, although there was nowhere near the vehemence as when the initial plans to rebuild the site were announced last year. The chorus of conflicting voices ranged from the outraged to those who found inspiration in the proposals' creativity, but many also expressed the need for further contemplation. (New York Times)

Officials Oppose Plan to Put Park Service in Charge of Memorial - Nov 17, 2003
Just days before eight Ground Zero memorial designs are made public, development officials yesterday criticized a proposed federal study aimed at putting the National Park Service in charge of the tribute. They said a bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) that authorizes the study could cause delays in rebuilding if it is passed But Maloney and 9/11 family members said the study is needed to determine whether the Twin Towers' "footprints" should be given landmark status - which could keep anything but the memorial from being built on them. (New York Post)

Extra Security at NYC Landmarks After Bombing in Turkey - Nov 17, 2003
Police have stepped up security at synagogues and major public places in New York in response to the terrorist bombings of Jewish temples in Turkey, officials said yesterday. The measures include posting police cars outside some synagogues and ordering patrol cars or beat cops to pass by others more frequently. Increased police presence was also ordered for city landmarks like Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the East River bridges and other high-profile spots, sources said. (New York Post)

There is Enough Insurance Money for Freedom Tower, says Port Authority Chairman - Nov 14, 2003
Port Authority chairman Joseph Seymour said yesterday that even with the raging court battle, there are already enough insurance proceeds to build Gov. George Pataki's proposed 2.5-million-square-foot Freedom Tower. Whether there is enough money to build everything else on a long list of lower Manhattan projects as well as planned regional transportation projects is another question. (Newsday)

Con Edison Rebuilds Power Substations Destroyed on 9/11 - Nov 9, 2003
The reconstruction of the World Trade Center site took a small but symbolically important step forward yesterday as Con Edison began to rebuild two power substations that were destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Three electrical transformers were lowered by crane into cavernous vaults beneath what will once again become 7 World Trade Center. The transformers, each nearly 85 tons and 20 feet tall, are the first of 10 transformers that will be placed beneath 7 World Trade Center in the next few years, said Michael Clendenin, a spokesman for Con Edison. (New York Times)

Trade Center Design Gets Down to the Finest Detail - Nov 8, 2003
After months of dealing in broad concepts, the planners of the new World Trade Center are devising guidelines that will prescribe the actual forms of the buildings — in inches and feet, metal and stone. A recent draft of the guidelines by Studio Daniel Libeskind, the master planners of the site, dictated the shape and size of every office tower so precisely that other architects would have had little leeway to pursue significantly different designs of their own. (New York Times)

Firehouse Near Ground Zero Reopens - Nov 6, 2003
The firehouse across from the World Trade Center site re-opened November 5 after being closed for two years. The Liberty St. firehouse, dubbed "Ten House," was badly damaged on 9/11 when flooded by mounds of concrete, dust and dirt from the collapsed towers. Five firefighters from the station died in the attacks. A $3.5 million repair project fixed the building and allowed some 50 firefighters to return home yesterday. Stainless steel has replaced the damaged brick. Inside the new stainless-steel kitchen is a red stove, with "The Ten House" painted across it in gold. "We'll never forget about any of our people, that's not even in the equation," said Fire Chief Gene Kelty. "I want the house to be an open door. If kids want to come in again - we want the schools to come over. We want the tourists to stop by and say hello." (New York Daily News)

Libeskind's Design Guidelines Are Too Strict, Say Development Officials - Nov 5, 2003
Development officials are working to ease master planner Daniel Libeskind's design guidelines for Ground Zero office towers, fearing they are too restrictive and could drive top architects away from the project. One source told the New York Post that the guidelines are being revised "in the direction of [greater] flexibility." "There's very little room left under those guidelines for anybody to exercise their originality and talent. They're proscriptive," said architect Peter Eisenman, who reviewed a draft of Libeskind's guidelines obtained by The Post. (New York Post)

Pataki Visits PATH Station at a Recovering Ground Zero - Oct 31, 2003
Spartan and utilitarian, sprawling and surprisingly luminous, the nearly completed PATH terminal at the World Trade Center is a three-dimensional reminder that before the trade center was anything else - civic emblem, compass point, mass cemetery, mountain of wreckage - it was a hub of movement. On a brief tour, Gov. George E. Pataki introduced the temporary terminal to a group of officials, executives and reporters. Commuters will follow next month. (New York Times)

Man on List of WTC Victims Alive and Well in California - Oct 30, 2003
The only two children thought killed in the World Trade Center attack never existed - and a man who was reported to be their father is alive and well. It's a tangled yarn - and it's even more puzzling to Paul and Gail Van Velzer, who can't figure out why a woman they don't know reported Paul and two supposed sons were dead. (New York Post)

Changes to Libeskind's Freedom Tower - Oct 28, 2003
Daniel Libeskind's striking vision for a "Freedom Tower" at Ground Zero has morphed into a more conventional glass-and-steel office building attached to an angular spire, as shown by one of the architect's new drawings obtained by The Post. Libeskind has been pushing this revised version of his tower design in a fight with trade center developer Larry Silverstein and his architect David Childs, who is the lead architect for the site's signature building. (New York Post)

Port Authority Stays Out of Architects' Struggle - Oct 24, 2003
The Port Authority will not help resolve a clash between a pair of architects designing the signature skyscraper at Ground Zero, Executive Director Joseph Seymour said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Community Board Postpones Decision on 9/11 Street Names - Oct 22, 2003
Faced with a heart-wrenching request from family members, Community Board 1 officials decided last week to postpone any decisions on renaming area streets for Sept. 11 victims until plans for the World Trade Center memorial are announced. (Downtown Express)

Libeskind Planning to Time Release of Memoir to 9/11/04 - Oct 20, 2003
World Trade Center master planner Daniel Libeskind wants to time the release of his memoir to the third anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack - and in a proposal circulated to editors suggests tying the book's promotion to other Ground Zero events. (New York Post)

Fire Dept. Drill on Bioterror Is Set for Today - Oct 15, 2003
The Fire Department will simulate its response to a bioterror attack today on Staten Island, conducting practice smallpox vaccine inoculations on every firefighter and emergency service worker in the borough. In reality, the estimated 700 emergency workers participating will get their annual flu shots, but the exercise is meant to test how quickly members could be vaccinated in the event of an outbreak. (New York Times)

WTC Firehouse Will Welcome Firefighters Back - Oct 9, 2003
The firehouse across the street from the former World Trade Center site may welcome its firefighters back by the end of this month, a member of Engine Company 10 said on Monday. (Downtown Express)

Wrangle Over Downtown Rebuild Funds - Oct 8, 2003
The chairman of the agency overseeing downtown revitalization took a shot at the Bloomberg administration in a growing feud over $2 billion in tax-free bonds earmarked for rebuilding after Sept. 11, 2001. Mayor Bloomberg wants to use the federally subsidized bonds to build office and residential buildings around the city. But last week, Lower Manhattan Development Corp. boss John Whitehead sent a memo to board members showing at least a dozen sites near Ground Zero where new office towers could be built using the tax-exempt Liberty Bonds. (New York Daily News)

Kevin Rampe on Buses, Deutche Bank and Park Row - Oct 1, 2003
The president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. said he has not ruled out building a tour bus garage under the World Trade Center memorial, but he thinks there will be enough room for buses at the preferred site across the street from the site. (Downtown Express)

Run Honors 9/11 Hero - Sep 29, 2003
Thousands of relatives and friends of World Trade Center terror attack victims walked and ran yesterday in their memory. In the morning, some 4,000 rain-soaked runners crossed the finish line on Vesey St., retracing Firefighter Stephen Siller's last steps, in the second annual Tunnel to Towers Run. (New York Daily News)

Silverstein's Legal Battles Continue - Sep 25, 2003
World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein has accused his bankers of trying to "choke off" his cash flow, run him out of business and derail the rebuilding of lower Manhattan in an escalating legal battle that will be aired in court today. (New York Post)

Federal Probe Seeks 9/11 Survival Stories - Sep 18, 2003
Federal investigators probing the collapse of the twin towers urged survivors to come forward yesterday and help them understand what happened inside the doomed buildings. The information could help explain why the skyscrapers fell and lead to better evacuation procedures. (New York Daily News)

Remembering Dad, Two Years Later - Sep 11, 2003
One year ago, The Post met with a dozen children of 9/11 - youths who lost parents in the trade center attack - to see how they were adjusting on the tragedy's first anniversary. Recently, The Post revisited three, Tommy, Ronnie and Bobby Gies, whose dad, Lt. Ronnie Gies of FDNY Squad 288, died on that fateful day in 2001. (New York Post)

Health Study Begins for Residents, W.T.C. Workers - Sep 11, 2003
The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has launched a major effort to track people who were in the vicinity of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. (Downtown Express)

Bones from WTC Found On Nearby Building - Sep 10, 2003
Pieces of human bone and muscle believed to be from a victim of the Sept. 11 attack were found on a 20th-story scaffolding covering a building next to Ground Zero, police said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Brought Changes for New York Historical Society - Sep 9, 2003
At the New-York Historical Society, it sometimes seems like the history of New York started Sept. 11, 2001. The venerable museum has mounted a dozen exhibits on the World Trade Center disaster and has a full slate of free programs to mark Thursday's second anniversary. (New York Daily News)

Flags Draped Around Liberty Island - Sep 8, 2003
Hundreds of specially designed flags were draped around Liberty Island yesterday in an emotional tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. More than 600 volunteers unfurled the flags, which were created by Chinese performance artist Pop Zhao. (New York Post)

300,000 Around WTC to be Studied for 20 Years - Sep 6, 2003
Some 300,000 people who lived, worked or were near Ground Zero after Sept. 11, 2001, are being asked to join an official registry to monitor any health effects from the World Trade Center debris plume. (New York Daily News)

WTC Families Protest Rebuilding Plans - Sep 4, 2003
Loved ones of Sept. 11 victims who hoped to shut down Ground Zero yesterday were stymied by the Port Authority, which chained the main entrance and rerouted trucks before the protesters showed up. No entrance to block meant no civil disobedience. And no civil disobedience meant the victims' families would not be arrested - as they had hoped. Determined to get out their message about preserving more of Ground Zero, the relatives gathered in front of the locked gate around noon and slammed Gov. Pataki and other officials. (New York Daily News)

Comptroller: 9/11 Economic Losses Lasting Longer Than Estimated - Sep 3, 2003
New York City's recession persisted for a 10th straight quarter from April to June, with economic losses from the 9/11 terrorist attacks lasting longer and cutting deeper than previously estimated, according to a report yesterday from city Comptroller William Thompson. The city's seasonally adjusted payroll-job figures dropped by 10,600 in the second quarter of 2003 - the third-worst rate among 20 major cities across the country. (New York Post)

Call for Rebuilt Twin Towers Continues - Aug 31, 2003
In close solidarity with one another, and in opposition to the city's political establishment, business leaders, academics and civic groups, and just about everyone else whose opinion matters, the World Trade Center Restoration Movement demands that the World Trade Center towers be rebuilt. Not replaced by something new and supposedly better. Rebuilt, hewing as closely as possible to the design of the buildings that were lost on Sept. 11. The members of the group may not be the only ones who dare to mention rebuilding the towers, but they are by far the most visible and the least afraid of humiliation. (New York Times)

Safir To Investigate How 7 WTC Plans Ended Up in Trash Can - Aug 28, 2003
Developer Larry Silverstein has tapped former top cop Howard Safir to find out how plans for the new 7 World Trade Center ended up in a Bronx garbage pile. Silverstein hired Safir, police commissioner under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, after the Daily News reported yesterday that the owner of a Riverdale Ave. bagel shop made the shocking discovery two weeks ago. (New York Daily News)

Insurers Say Bank's Suit Tries to Capitalize on 9/11 - Aug 26, 2003
This time it was the insurance companies' turn, and they did not hold back, declaring that Deutsche Bank was cynically seeking to exploit the Sept. 11 attack to tar their image and force insurers to pay more than $1 billion for the damage to the bank's former United States headquarters near ground zero. The increasingly bitter tenor of the dispute between Deutsche Bank and the insurers Allianz and AXA does not bode well for a speedy resolution to the conflict over exactly how badly damaged the bank building was when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. (New York Times)

LMDC Gives 9/11 Scam Artists Amnesty Until Oct 1 - Aug 26, 2003
Scam artists who tried to use a national tragedy to pull a fast one on the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. have been given a chance to come clean - but they better do it quickly. Officials at the agency, which oversees redevelopment of the World Trade Center area, yesterday announced an amnesty in its Residential Grant Program - but the amnesty ends Oct. 1. (New York Post)

Tower Will Be Located As Libeskind Planned - Aug 15, 2003
A leading downtown rebuilding official said yesterday a proposal to shift the location of the 1,776- foot-tall Freedom Tower at Ground Zero has been shelved. "It will stay where the [Daniel] Libeskind plan had it," said John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. (New York Post)

- Aug 14, 2003
(Select one or type in another)

Financial Battles May Slow Rebuilding Schedule - Aug 7, 2003
Gov. Pataki's push to lay the cornerstone for Ground Zero rebuilding by next August may be a bust because of a nasty money fight, the Daily News has learned. A financial battle between the Port Authority, developer Larry Silverstein and his mortgage company is jeopardizing the schedule - which would see construction of the world's tallest tower begin around the 2004 GOP National Convention. (New York Daily News)

‘Occupation’ Near Park Row Must End, Judge Rules - Aug 7, 2003
A state judge ruled Monday that the police have illegally acted like an “occupation” force by taking over a public plaza in Chinatown and ordered the police to vacate the plaza by the end of the year. In addition, the city has been ordered to complete an environmental study of the effects of the police closure of Park Row by the end of the year. (Downtown Express)

Port Authority To Spend $500 M On Beefed-Up Security - Aug 5, 2003
With the nation facing unchecked danger from Al Qaeda, the Port Authority has quietly begun its most ambitious effort since the Sept. 11 attacks to fortify its tunnels, bridges, airports and marine terminals against terror. Agency documents and officials familiar with the confidential plans say the authority intends to pump $500 million into more than 50 projects. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Congressional Report Faults F.B.I.-C.I.A. Lapses - Jul 24, 2003
The Sept. 11 attacks were preventable, but the plot went undetected because of communications lapses between the F.B.I. and C.I.A., which failed to share intelligence related to two hijackers, a Congressional report to be released on Thursday says. The report, by a joint committee of the House and Senate intelligence panels, found that for nearly two years before the attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency knew about the terror connections between the two men, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi, who in 2000 moved to San Diego, frequenting Muslim circles that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had infiltrated. (New York Times)

DA: Man Concocted Dead Son For 9/11 Scam - Jul 18, 2003
An employee of the American Red Cross testified yesterday that the charity gave a Queens man more than $132,000 for living expenses and counseling after his son went missing in the World Trade Center terrorist attack - a son who prosecutors allege never existed. (Newsday)

Officials Favor Larger Site for Trade Center Complex - Jul 15, 2003
ruggling to solve an urban-planning Rubik's Cube, the Port Authority is now inclined to expand the World Trade Center redevelopment site to the south by acquiring the property on which the doomed Deutsche Bank tower stands. Since planning began last year, it has never been clear how the trade center superblock alone could comfortably accommodate 10 million square feet of commercial space — roughly what used to be there — and also provide room for a memorial, transportation and cultural centers, new streets, shops and the space and infrastructure below ground needed to make it work. (New York Times)

At Ground Zero, Greenwich Street Will Be Restored, but Looking Thinner - Jul 13, 2003
After the destruction of the World Trade Center, the opportunity arose — and was embraced by many community leaders and city planners — to reopen Greenwich Street for the missing five-block length. The result was described as a planning victory. But it turns out that the new Greenwich Street will actually be 60 feet wide between Vesey and Barclay Streets. And 7 World Trade Center will be 171 feet wide, 11 feet wider than the buildings that occupied the block until the 60's. (New York Times)

Judge Says Police Are ‘Heavy Handed’ On Park Row - Jul 10, 2003
A state judge said the city appears to have closed down more streets than necessary to secure the area around police headquarters and has taken “a very, very heavy-handed approach” with people living nearby. The judge however also said he doesn’t think there is much he can do about it under the law. “[The] city has [secured] a…greater area than apparently is necessary to provide security for One Police Plaza,” said State Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub at a court hearing June 27. (Downtown Express)

Developer Wants Architect's Skyscraper Relocated - Jun 29, 2003
Developer Larry Silverstein wants to move the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower envisioned for Ground Zero to a different corner of the site, sources told the Daily News. According to architect Daniel Libeskind's plans, the skyscraping spire is supposed to be built at the northwest part of the 16-acre site, near the corner of West and Vesey Sts. (New York Daily News)

FEMA's 9/11 Office Winds Down - Jun 28, 2003
Since September 11, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's field office has seen nearly 200,000 applicants come in for aid, but that once-long line has dwindled to a bare trickle, and FEMA says it will shutter its remaining storefront operation sometime in the next month. (Newsday)

4 Convicted in Fraud Scheme - Jun 27, 2003
Four associates of a brokerage with offices in the World Trade Center were convicted Friday of cheating investors out of more than $100 million -- a scheme that unraveled in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. (Newsday)

Feds Sue Insurers Over 9/11 Damage - Jun 27, 2003
The federal government has filed suit against an insurance company for failing to reimburse it for millions of dollars in losses and damages incurred at a lower Manhattan post office on Sept. 11, 2001. (Newsday)

Libeskind's WTC Plan May Take More Hits - Jun 17, 2003
Architect Daniel Libeskind's plan to redevelop the World Trade Center site could take its heaviest hits yet, with the launch of a $2 million environmental review likely to collect criticism from all sides. (Newsday)

Garage at WTC Isn't Ruled Out - Jun 18, 2003
Even though Gov. Pataki told Sept. 11 victims' families that he opposes putting a bus garage at Ground Zero, the idea remains on the table. Environmental and rebuilding documents released yesterday by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. repeatedly refer to using the site's underbelly as a potential bus depot. (New York Daily News)

Bill Banning Peddling At Ground Zero Is Threatened - Jun 18, 2003
State lawmakers yesterday agreed to ban peddling around Ground Zero - but the deal could be threatened by three last-minute provisions quietly slipped into the bill by its key Assembly sponsor. (New York Post)

Hospital Opens Counseling Center Overlooking Ground Zero - Jun 17, 2003
Behind windows overlooking the World Trade Center site, a quiet office decorated in serene colors offers free therapy for those with lingering Sept. 11 trauma, including acupuncture for stress and a Chihuahua for comfort. (Newsday)

9/11 Volunteers Denied Millions for Wages, Medical Bills - Jun 9, 2003
Hundreds of volunteers who gave all they could to New York after the Sept. 11 attacks are being shut out of state programs designed to cover medical bills and lost wages of those hurt at Ground Zero. Although Congress gave New York $150 million in emergency aid to pay for workers' compensation, the state has used only $44 million of the money. (New York Daily News)

Lutheran Panel Reinstates Pastor After Post-9/11 Interfaith Service - May 13, 2003
A Lutheran pastor who was suspended by his church for praying publicly at Yankee Stadium with clergymen of other faiths after the September 2001 terrorist attacks has been reinstated by a church panel. In an order dated April 10 and released yesterday, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's dispute resolution panel cleared the Rev. David H. Benke, the New York leader for the conservative Protestant denomination. Pastor Benke holds a position that is the Lutheran equivalent of bishop, and his suspension followed his appearance at an interfaith service 12 days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with a Muslim imam, a rabbi, Cardinal Edward M. Egan, and Sikh and Hindu holy men. (Associated Press)

Ground Zero Search Dog In Running For Top Canine Hero - Apr 23, 2003
Jake the black lab searched for signs of life at Ground Zero, scaling heaps of jagged rubble night after night. Now he's up for an award honoring heroic dogs. (Associated Press)

Libeskind Signals Flexibility in Memorial Process - Apr 16, 2003
Daniel Libeskind now seems willing to allow the kind of changes to his design for the World Trade Center site that he was unwilling to consider a few weeks ago. At a Community Board 1 meeting April 14, Libeskind said designers of the memorial for the victims of the Sept. 11 attack would be free to build pedestrian bridges over the 4.7-acre sunken memorial area he proposes in the design. "One competitor might envision 1,000 bridges," the architect said at the forum. (Downtown Express)

City, Port Authority Come Closer To Deal On Ground Zero-Airport Land Swap - Mar 28, 2003
City Hall and the Port Authority may be inching closer to a land-swap deal that would give the city complete control of Ground Zero, sources said yesterday. The Port Authority recently made what it considered a solid offer in which New York would acquire the 16-acre World Trade Center site and millions in cash in exchange for Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, which are leased by the authority, sources said. (New York Daily News)

'Flag Man' No Longer Allowed Into Ground Zero - Mar 11, 2003
For more than a year, Richard Wright of Glen Oaks has been setting flags to fly throughout Ground Zero and later retrieving them to donate to police and fire departments, Boy Scout troops and construction workers. Yesterday, Wright, 50, retrieved much of the last batch of his flags from the Port Authority, which recently told him he could no longer continue to set them at the site. (Newsday)

Feds Say Mafia Violated Labor Laws At Ground Zero - Mar 2, 2003
Mafia bosses demanded cushy, high-paying jobs for their relatives and cronies at Ground Zero and may have stolen no-show pay during the eight-month cleanup of the site. Genovese and Colombo crime family bigs used their stranglehold of two powerful construction unions to override hiring lists and flout labor laws when jobs were handed out after 9/11, federal law enforcement sources say. (New York Post)

WTC Brawl Finds Way Into Court - Jan 28, 2003
Turf fights simmering at Ground Zero during the final days of recovery will soon spill into a Manhattan courtroom, as a city engineer faces criminal charges for allegedly scuffling with Port Authority cops. (New York Daily News)

Talks Begin Again for WTC Site Swap - Jan 21, 2003
The once-stalled talks to transfer control of Ground Zero to the city have sprung back to life - with a price now under serious discussion, sources told The Post yesterday. "A few months ago, it was pretty much the odds were against a swap. Now, I think they're in favor of one," said a source at the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center site. "It's very much alive. It's just a matter of a number." Under the deal being considered, the city would trade the land it owns under Kennedy and La Guardia airports to the Port Authority in return for the PA giving the city the Ground Zero property. (New York Post)

Christmas at Ground Zero - Dec 23, 2002
For the last three weeks, relatives of victims have been allowed to go to the bottom of the pit on Sunday afternoons. Many families see it as a cemetery of sorts and are eager to spend time at the site. Yesterday, about a dozen families showed up, security officials said. While the victims' families sought private moments, thousands of New Yorkers and tourists milled around the site, chatting, shopping and posing for pictures. (New York Times)

Rebuilding Below Ground Zero Is at Issue - Dec 20, 2002
For months, vocal family members of the World Trade Center dead have called for the one-acre squares where the twin towers stood to be preserved for a memorial to the victims, not only on the surface but also down to the bedrock some 85 feet below street level. On Wednesday, when new plans for the site by seven groups of architects were unveiled, several drew on that sentiment. But if those plans are adopted, space reserved for a memorial below ground level could create significant challenges for officials in planning the underground elements of a rebuilt trade center site. (New York Times)

Relatives Call for a Two-Block Vendor Free Zone Around Ground Zero - Dec 13, 2002
Relatives of 9/11 victims said yesterday that vendors who peddle terror attack-themed merchandise near Ground Zero are selling "murderabilia" and called for legislation to keep vendors from the site. At a press conference at Church and Liberty Sts., leaders of the group said they have written to Gov. Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and several City Council members asking for a two-block vendor-free zone around the former World Trade Center site. (New York Daily News)

Revising WTC Death Count - Dec 12, 2002
A roll call of the dead engraved on memorial placards at Ground Zero includes an inconspicuous black mark covering the name of Nickola Lampley, a 24-year-old Brooklyn woman who authorities believed dead at the World Trade Center until she turned up alive on the first anniversary of the attacks. The symbolic resurrection of Lampley will be followed by others next month when the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. revises the memorial placards. The change will be made to reflect a new official tally of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. It also brings to light how difficult it has been for the city to determine the exact number of the dead. (New York Daily News)

Christmas Tree Lighted at Ground Zero - Dec 11, 2002
A 32-foot Christmas tree was lighted Tuesday at the World Trade Center site, shining with 3,000 white lights to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 attack. (Associated Press)

Ground Zero Opens to Families - Dec 5, 2002
Relatives of World Trade Center victims will be allowed into the Ground Zero pit over the next few weeks, giving them a chance during the holidays to be near what many consider the grave site of their loved ones. Relatives will be allowed to walk to the bottom of the steel ramp at Ground Zero from this Sunday through Jan. 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (New York Post)

Tree at Ground Zero to Honor Victims - Dec 2, 2002
A Christmas tree is scheduled to be erected tonight at Ground Zero for the second year in a row. The tree lighting is planned for Dec. 10. As tourists took pictures through the fence surrounding the site Friday, construction workers unloaded the 32-foot Canadian balsam fir. It will be placed next to the Ground Zero cross, which was found during the cleanup and erected at Church Street between Liberty and Vesey streets. (Newsday)

Design Announced For 7 World Trade Center - Nov 21, 2002
Developer Larry Silverstein released his designs for a new 7 World Trade Center on Wednesday. The 750-foot glass and steel office tower will have reinforced concrete walls, increased amounts of structural steel, double the required fireproofing materials and wider staircases than required by code. Located across Vesey Street from the trade center site, the $700-million tower will be the first building to rise again at Ground Zero. (Newsday)

Talks On Airport-Ground Zero Land Swap Not Progressing - Nov 19, 2002
A land swap proposal that would have given the city control of Ground Zero and a much-needed cash infusion is dead, according to the Daily News. The general outline of the deal, first floated in August, called for the city to trade Kennedy and LaGuardia airports to the Port Authority for the 16-acre World Trade Center site. But the short-lived talks never progressed far enough to involve specific financial terms, officials said. (New York Daily News)

Steel-Beam Cross Considered for Memorial - Oct 5, 2002
A cross made of steel beams from the World Trade Center that has stood for a year at ground zero will be considered for inclusion in a permanent memorial to the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center, officials overseeing the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan said today. (New York Times)

World Trade Center Cough Still Persistent Among Hundreds - Sep 30, 2002
Physicians in the city have made it clear: The malady now officially called World Trade Center cough is like nothing they've ever seen, and hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people are experiencing it. The ailment, as described recently by Dr. Kerry Kelly, the New York Fire Department's chief medical officer, is characterized by a reduced lung capacity and a hyper-reactivity of the airways to inhaled particles, bacteria and viruses. The cough is dry and nonproductive and can leave the sufferer gasping for air. The culprit appears to be not asbestos, but microscopic bits of glass. (Newsday)

Federal Program Reimbursing For Air Filters Extended Until January - Sep 30, 2002
A program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that reimburses for air filters, purifiers, vacuums and air conditioners purchased by those affected by the World Trade Center attack was scheduled to end today but has been extended to the end of January. While the city's 3.2 million households are eligible to seek reimbursements for $1,600 in such expenses, just 1,744 air conditioners, 2,821 air purifiers, 1,680 vacuum cleaners and 2,128 air filters have been purchased through the program, the largest portion in Manhattan, officials said. (Newsday)

Echoes of 1993 Attack For Fire Department - Sep 29, 2002
The problems that plagued the FDNY on Sept. 11 were a replay of those the department encountered in handling the 1993 Twin Towers bombing. A report issued last month on the Fire Department's problems on Sept. 11 cited unreliable radio networks, breakdowns in communication with the NYPD and failure to follow nationally recognized emergency protocols. But another report said the same woes plagued the FDNY when it responded to the Feb. 26, 1993, trade center bombing. The report, titled "Unprecedented," was published in the FDNY's official magazine. The 1993 report said, for example, that there was poor radio communication because "the steel construction of the buildings interfered with the radio signals." (New York Post)

City Razing Unstable Building Near Ground Zero - Sep 29, 2002
Officials began demolishing a two-story building near the World Trade Center disaster site in lower Manhattan late Saturday evening after cracks were found in an exterior wall and the structure was deemed unsound. The building, at 89 Greenwich St., sits on the corner of Greenwich and Rector streets. (Newsday)

Office Space Should Be Rebuilt Off The Footprints, Silverstein Says - Sep 24, 2002
Larry Silverstein, the real-estate developer who holds the lease to develop on the World Trade Center site, wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece yesterday that all the commercial space destroyed in the September 11 attacks must be rebuilt over the next decade for the "good of the city and the region." "If we do not replace the lost space," wrote Silverstein, "lower Manhattan never will regain the vibrancy it had as the world's financial center." (Wall Street Journal)

A Minister's Path to Ground Zero - Sep 18, 2002
For the Rev. Bill Minson, ground zero is his calling. For a year, Mr. Minson, 52, a stocky minister who wears a clerical collar but who never went to a seminary and who was ordained in an independent church set up to provide spiritual direction, including astrology and numerology readings, has haunted the site. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Panels Open for Public Viewing - Sep 16, 2002
For the first time since their unveiling for the victims' families last week, six wooden panels inscribed with the names of all 2,801 people killed at Ground Zero were open for public viewing at the edge of the World Trade Center site yesterday. (Newsday)

More Than Half of Victims Identified - Sep 11, 2002
The medical examiner's office passed the halfway mark in identifying the World Trade Center dead yesterday, as the number of victims verified by remains reached 1,401. The bleak but encouraging milestone came a day before the one-year anniversary of the disaster that killed 2,801 and generated the largest and most prolonged forensics effort in U.S. history. (New York Daily News)

Some Relatives To Avoid Ground Zero - Sep 11, 2002
Whether it’s because the site brings on unbearable pain, or because they are simply too weary from a full year of scripted mass memorials, several relatives of cops, firefighters or World Trade Center workers made the difficult decision to skip the main event. (Newsday)

Marchers Begin Profound Anniversary - Sep 11, 2002
Bagpipers and drummers marched through an early morning mist from each of the boroughs toward Ground Zero, beginning the city’s commemoration of its darkest day. (Newsday)

The Changing Face of Ground Zero - Sep 10, 2002
Marc Santora captures the scene at Liberty Street near Ground Zero yesterday. (New York Times)

New York City Police Museum Hosts Powerful Exhibit On 9/11 - Sep 9, 2002
Of the hundreds of Sept. 11 commemorations across the country this week, few are as powerful as the collection now on display at the New York City Police Museum. To enter the four-story building downtown is to step into the day of the attacks. The items on display at the exhibit, entitled "Stronger Than Ever: The NYPD Responds to 9/11," were culled from hundreds of artifacts from Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, where Trade Center debris was taken. Others were loaned or donated by police officers, families of the slain and the public. (New York Daily News)

On Anniversary, Ground Zero Vendors Will Be Banned - Sep 5, 2002
Scores of vendors creating a "carnival atmosphere" at Ground Zero will be barred from the site's perimeter during the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, officials said yesterday. (New York Post)

With Towers Gone, Area May Be Vulnerable to Lightning - Sep 3, 2002
When the World Trade Center stood, lightning regularly struck its towers and was safely discharged to the ground. Now, scientists say, Lower Manhattan may be much more vulnerable to lightning. Meteorologists and engineers have been given new impetus to study how lightning behaves in urban areas and how best to protect city dwellers. (New York Times)

Tribute to City's Sanitation Workers - Sep 2, 2002
Sanitation workers were praised yesterday as the "unsung heroes" of Sept. 11 for their nine-month cleanup of Ground Zero. Nearly 300 members New York's Strongest were honored at a reception for their work hauling 1.7 million metric tons of debris from lower Manhattan to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island. (New York Post)

Trade Center Collapse Destroyed Crime Investigation Evidence - Sep 1, 2002
Federal agencies say some of their investigations were affected when evidence was lost in the rubble of Ground Zero. And a few "lucky" criminals benefited. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, U.S. Customs, the Secret Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission all had offices adjacent to the World Trade Center in buildings that were destroyed or severely damaged. (New York Post)

More Human Remains Found Near World Trade Center Site - Aug 30, 2002
Three bone fragments found on a Lower Manhattan roof are human remains that may be from one or more victims of the World Trade Center disaster, the Medical Examiner's Office concluded yesterday. (New York Post)

Arab Journalists Get a Closer Look at Site - Aug 29, 2002
Last night, journalists from Tunisia, Algeria, Morrocco,Yemen, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon visited the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and viewed the World Trade Center site as part of a State Department effort to brief Muslim journalists on U.S. policy in the Middle East, Muslim life in the United States and American values. In the past, the development corporation has also hosted journalists from around the world, including Indonesia, Russia, China, Japan, Belgium, Holland and England. (Newsday)

St. Paul's Opens To Public For First Time Since 9/11 - Aug 27, 2002
Saint Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan is open to the public for the first time since September 11. The chapel, once in the shadow of the World Trade Center, became a respite center for recovery workers after the terrorist attacks. Now after three months of renovation, Saint Paul’s opened to the general public on Monday. (NY1)

Toxic 9/11 Debris in Brooklyn - Aug 24, 2002
There is a critical flaw, experts say, in all the research, Environmental Protection Agency cleanup programs and federal services related to exposure to World Trade Center debris: The efforts are concentrated on Manhattan, but, except for the area immediately around Ground Zero, the plume did not spread around the borough. It went directly to Brooklyn. (Newsday)

FEMA Gives NYC Millions For 9/11 - Aug 24, 2002
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday pledged more than $66 million to New York state as reimbursement for the cleanup costs linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The money will go to New York's Department of Sanitation, which provided labor and heavy equipment for removal of debris at the World Trade Center site. (Associated Press)

Memorial Wall's View of Tragedy - Aug 22, 2002
The first panel of a transparent "viewing wall" around Ground Zero was unveiled yesterday - a 13-foot-high wire mesh structure adorned with a picture of the fallen Twin Towers. The $6 million, L-shaped wall - running along Church and Liberty streets at the site's perimeter - will be finished by the end of the year. (New York Post)

McGreevey Calls Trade Center Land Swap Unlikely - Aug 22, 2002
Gov. James E. McGreevey said yesterday that it was "relatively unlikely" that the land under Kennedy and La Guardia Airports would be swapped for the site of the World Trade Center. Such a proposal has been seen as a way to give New York City and State control over the rebuilding at ground zero. As governor of New Jersey, Mr. McGreevey essentially has veto power over the proposed land swap by the city and the Port Authority, which he and Gov. George Pataki of New York control. (New York Times)

Families Angry at WTC Hawking - Aug 21, 2002
To the disgust of the families of those killed Sept. 11, more and more street vendors are crowding sidewalks near Ground Zero, trying to make a quick buck off wide-eyed tourists. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Victims' Names to Fence in Memorial - Aug 20, 2002
The names of all the Sept. 11 World Trade Center victims will be displayed on a temporary memorial -- a fence around the site, downtown redevelopment officials said last night. The city medical examiner's office issued the first comprehensive list of the victims yesterday but cautioned that the 2,819 names may not be the final tally. (New York Daily News)

World Trade Center Tourists Spend Time, Not Money - Aug 19, 2002
Ground Zero's tourist boom isn't stopping local businesses from going bust. Almost a year after Sept. 11, Ground Zero is teeming with visitors - about 1.1 million between January and June - making it the city's most visited site, tourism officials say. But few are buying anything. (New York Post)

Cameras to Record Ground Zero Rising - Aug 18, 2002
For at least the next seven years, a group of cameras that are focused on ground zero will take 288 photos a day, creating a historical record of the rebirth of the World Trade Center site. The planned result is an extraordinary historical record of the rebirth of the site, one that the effort's sponsors hope will be displayed continuously at a museum, perhaps even one that emerges on the site itself. (New York Times)

Role Seen for Newark Airport in Land Swap - Aug 15, 2002
Newark International Airport should be included in a proposal to swap ownership of the World Trade Center property for the land at La Guardia and Kennedy Airports, Gov. James E. McGreevey said in remarks published today. (Associated Press)

WTC Vacuum Trucks Used Wrong Filters - Aug 15, 2002
Earth Technology Inc., a private contractor hired to clean up asbestos-tainted dust near Ground Zero in the days after Sept. 11 failed to use required filters on its vacuum trucks, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report. (New York Daily News)

Groups Support Plan to Cut Office Space at Site - Aug 12, 2002
Sept. 11 survivors' groups and Lower Manhattan residents cheered reports yesterday that the amount of office space slated to be built at Ground Zero could be cut by as much as a third. (Newsday)

City Won't Let Airports Go - Aug 9, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that the city should not relinquish total control of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports as part of a proposed land swap for the World Trade Center site. He stressed the importance of the airports to the city's long-term financial health as his administration officially entered into talks about trading city land beneath JFK and LaGuardia to the Port Authority for Ground Zero. (New York Daily News)

Officials to Tour Federal Plaza for Street-Level Look at Security - Aug 8, 2002
The debate over bolstering security around Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan moves from the conference room to the streets this morning, as city and federal agencies tour the blocks around Duane and Reade Streets, seeking to balance safety and accessibility. While the federal General Services Administration, which oversees the buildings, favors tight security, the city has objected to blocking the downtown streets, fearing that would slow reaction to emergencies and increase traffic congestion. (New York Times)

Artists Meet Frustration at Ground Zero - Aug 7, 2002
New Yorkers have needed a memorial since day one. Indeed, by September 12, they were everywhere—those spontaneous heartfelt shrines. Artist Mary Miss and two collaborators found inspiration in those clusters of candles and flowers. They conceived of "Moving Perimeter" last October as a temporary piece, meant to address that need for ritual and a gathering place. Despite a base of support and a great deal of attention from the media, the temporary memorial did not happen. (Village Voice)

Fight Over World Trade Center Insurance Continues - Aug 6, 2002
The two sides in the World Trade Center insurance battle appear to remain far apart as efforts continue to resolve the dispute out of court. Larry Silverstein, who owns the 99-year lease on the demolished Twin Towers, has submitted expert reports, which he contends back his claim that he's entitled to $7.1 billion in insurance proceeds. Silverstein claims that the terrorist attacks represented two separate incidents, and, as such, entitle him to two separate payments of $3.55 billion for a total of $7.1 billion. Insurers insist the incidents were a single event coordinated by terrorists, thereby limiting the maximum payout to $3.55 billion. The bottom line, says one of the insurers, is that they only insured the towers for $3.5 billion - and that includes both the cash value of the destroyed towers and business interruption payments. (Newsday)

Names of 9/11 Victims To Be Read On Anniversary - Aug 6, 2002
The names of every person killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center will be read at the first anniversary ceremony of the tragedy, relatives of the victims were told last night. While plans for the commemoration are not complete, the family members also were told that bells around the city would be rung at the exact time the Twin Towers were struck - 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. - and at the times they collapsed - 9:50 a.m. and 10:29 a.m. Definitive plans for the ceremony are to be announced today by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki, who plan to participate. (Newsday)

Land Swap Proposal Offers Much To Consider - Aug 6, 2002
On one level, the city looks like a winner in the Bloomberg administration's proposal to swap the city-owned land under two big airports for the World Trade Center site. By taking over the trade center site, the city would gain access to the $120 million in annual rents paid by Silverstein Properties at the center. But the warm reception given the idea by the Port Authority and, yesterday, by the governor of New Jersey, makes it appear that the benefit would at least be mutual, with the authority able to own land that pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue. In the end, the land swap might cost the city a bundle, depending mostly on what the city plans to do with the site - retain the commercial space of Silverstein that brings in revenue, or building something with less office space but more popular among the public. (New York Times)

Bloomberg Likes Idea Of WTC Land Swap - Aug 5, 2002
Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday said a land-swap deal with the Port Authority, which would give the city control of the World Trade Center site and the Port Authority the land at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, is an innovative idea in its early stages that makes sense. (Newsday)

Swap Plan Emerges As Rebuilding Process is in Flux - Aug 5, 2002
City Hall's decision to dangle a potential land swap for Ground Zero in front of the Port Authority raises questions about what would happen to the rebuilding process while a deal is discussed. The Bloomberg administration's idea of trading the city's airports for the entire World Trade Center site surfaced as the rebuilding process is in flux. (New York Post)

Leaseholder Would Consider Proposal to Let City Own Trade Center Site - Aug 5, 2002
Larry A. Silverstein, the developer who holds the World Trade Center lease, has an open mind about the city's tentative plan to take over ownership of the site, his spokesman said on Sunday. The spokesman, Howard J. Rubenstein, said that Mr. Silverstein had not yet received any details about the city's tentative proposal, but added that "he's certainly open to a discussion." (New York Times)

Rebuild Plans Could Dislocate Residents - Aug 4, 2002
Residents of the area near Ground Zero are worried to see, in place of their homes, plans for a museum or other projects in the six proposals for rebuilding the 16-acre World Trade Center site. A spokesperson for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. denies that the agency favors dislocating people in the neighborhood of Ground Zero, but would not discuss specifics of the redevelopment plans. (New York Post)

City's Swap Shaky - Aug 4, 2002
As quickly as it was floated, a trial-balloon notion of the city surrendering its Queens airports for control of the World Trade Center site may be getting shot down, insiders said yesterday. Under a plan initiated within the Bloomberg administration by Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, the city would let the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey own the land under LaGuardia and Kennedy airports in exchange for the control of the lower Manhattan site. (Newsday)

Port Authority Says It Would Consider Land Swap - Aug 4, 2002
A proposal that would give New York City and New York State control of the rebuilding process in Lower Manhattan deserves serious consideration, officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said yesterday. Under the proposal, put forward by city officials, the Port Authority would give the city ownership of the 16-acre World Trade Center site in exchange for the land beneath La Guardia and Kennedy Airports. (New York Times)

Bush May Refuse Health Funds for Ground Zero Workers - Aug 3, 2002
President Bush's refusal yesterday to quickly approve $90 million in funding for monitoring the health of Ground Zero workers could lead to another showdown with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. (New York Post)

City Proposes Swapping Land to Control Trade Center Site - Aug 3, 2002
New York City officials have proposed a swap in which the city would take over the World Trade Center site in exchange for giving the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey the land beneath La Guardia and Kennedy Airports, an official involved in the rebuilding effort said yesterday. (New York Times)

Museums Exhibit Artifacts of WTC - Aug 1, 2002
Physical reminders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, such as pieces of an airliner fuselage, half a phone handset and computer disks melted into a glob, now have a second life as bits of history. They go on display Thursday at the New York State Museum in Albany, one of the handful of institutions gingerly beginning to exhibit artifacts from ground zero (Associated Press)

Tenants Across from Trade Center Hope to Return - Aug 1, 2002
The dust-choked apartments of three buildings on the south edge of ground zero don't look much like home. But building residents have been fighting contamination and structural damage to return for nearly 10 months. Now the tenants are worried that their homes may be razed as part of the Downtown rebuilding plans. (Downtown Express)

Alcohol Is Cited in Toppling of a Crane Near Ground Zero - Jul 29, 2002
A crane being used on one of the first major reconstruction projects near ground zero toppled into the street yesterday morning, delaying traffic for hours in Lower Manhattan. By the afternoon, the crane operator was arrested after the police said that he had consumed enough alcohol to have impaired his control of the crane. (New York Times)

Many Ideas to Mark Mournful Anniversary - Jul 21, 2002
A silent parade from Ground Zero to Central Park. Fireworks. Individual air balloons representing every victim. Rivers nationwide dyed red. Those are among the hundreds of suggestions people from around the globe have made given in the month since Mayor Bloomberg created a Web site and a voice mailbox for ideas about how best to mark the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. (New York Post)

A Grim Job Done, as Dust Is Returned Unto Dust - Jul 16, 2002
For the workers at the Fresh Kills landfill who sifted through 1.62 million tons of rubble from the World Trade Center for remains of those killed on Sept. 11 and for clues about those responsible for the attack, the official end of their job yesterday seemed a sad graduation of sorts. Politicians joined them, along with the family members of some of the victims, for a solemn ceremony at the landfill in Staten Island at the completion of an operation that had continued nearly nonstop since Sept. 12. (New York Times)

Search for Remains Ends With Ceremony - Jul 15, 2002
The city will mark the end of its efforts to recover human remains from the rubble of the World Trade Center today with a ceremony at the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, where more than a million and a half tons of debris have been sifted for clues (New York Times)

At Morgue, Ceaselessly Sifting 9/11 Traces - Jul 14, 2002
Since Sept. 11, medical examiners have tried to identify thousands of victims from six times as many body parts recovered at ground zero. (New York Times)

More Than 800 Victims May Never Be Identified - Jul 13, 2002
The remains of more than 800 victims of the World Trade Center attack may never be identified, the medical examiner's office said yesterday. The arduous process of sifting through nearly 20,000 body parts has yielded the identification of 1,229 victims over the last 10 months: less than half of the 2,823 people believed killed in the Twin Towers on Sept. 11. (New York Post)

Ceremony to Signify End of Search for Remains at Staten Island Landfill - Jul 11, 2002
The end of the search for human remains from the World Trade Center will be marked by a police department ceremony at Fresh Kills landfill on Monday, officials said. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and trade center victims' families all are expected to attend the 9:30 a.m. ceremony. (Newsday)

Search for Sept. 11 Remains Set to End - Jul 10, 2002
The search for human remains in World Trade Center debris at Staten Island's Fresh Kills landfill will end Monday, concluding the 10-month recovery effort, officials said yesterday. (New York Daily News)

Strong Reactions to the Marketing of Ground Zero - Jul 10, 2002
As officials begin to plan for a permanent memorial, the site already draws thousands of tourists daily. But the vacuum created by the absence of a permanent memorial has brought what many residents say is a tawdry commercialization to the site. The throngs of visitors have also highlighted the concern of some residents that Lower Manhattan could become a memorial spot instead of a thriving community. (Downtown Express)

Tears, Vows Mark July 4 Holiday at WTC Site - Jul 5, 2002
A somber procession of thousands came to Ground Zero yesterday to pay homage to those who died in one of the saddest chapters in the nation's 226-year history. Yesterday, the area surrounding the site at Church and Liberty streets was often three deep with onlookers, who no longer need a ticket to view the site. (Newsday)

Downtown Shops Stay Loyal to Area - Jul 4, 2002
Despite slumping revenues and thousands of dead or displaced clients, dozens of businesses near Ground Zero are struggling through tough times out of loyalty for the neighborhood. Though most are not draping themselves in red, white and blue, they are patriotic, and they want to support their country and community. (Newsday)

Ground Zero Formally Returned to Port Authority - Jul 2, 2002
The city turned over control of Ground Zero to the Port Authority yesterday, marking another step in its transition from crime scene to construction site. The city's Office of Emergency Management and Department of Design and Construction had supervised the arduous recovery work at Ground Zero after Sept. 11 and also controlled access. But yesterday, without fanfare, the city returned the 16-acre site to its owner, the Port Authority. (New York Post)

Ground Zero Faces Strike - Jul 1, 2002
Thousands of carpenters, steamfitters, and cement and concrete workers could walk off the job — and possibly out of Ground Zero — this morning. Sources said work agreements between several building trade unions and general contractors were to expire last night (New York Daily News)

Silver: Slow Down the Process - Jul 1, 2002
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the state's most powerful Democrat, took exception yesterday to Gov. Pataki's weekend pledge not to build on the Twin Towers' two-acre "footprints." Silver, whose lower Manhattan district includes Ground Zero, said he was against any "quick determination, " including Pataki's, as to what kind of a memorial should be built at the site. (New York Post)

Liberty St. Opens Giving Ground Zero View - Jun 27, 2002
The city has quietly reopened Liberty Street west of Greenwich Street to pedestrians. Until August, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey begins to construct a more durable “Viewing Wall” to enclose the 16-acre site during construction, a growing number of visitors will view the site through the chain-link fence on Liberty Street. (Newsday)

Ground Zero Now Top Tourist Attraction - Jun 26, 2002
Tourism officials estimated that the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has attracted more than a million out-of-town visitors since January. And perhaps more striking is that the fallen trade center site has done what it could not do when standing: turn the financial district into one of the city's top attractions. (New York Times)

Last Recovery Crew Leaves Ground Zero - Jun 25, 2002
The city and the nation at large marked the end of the recovery effort at ground zero nearly a month ago. But it was only yesterday, as a crew of four firefighters carefully supervised the collection of the last bags of possible human remains from a bank building next door to the site of the towers, that the job was complete. (New York Times)

Ex-fireman Charged with Looting WTC - Jun 22, 2002
A former New York City firefighter was charged with stealing personal items from the World Trade Center while he volunteered in the recovery effort, police said. (New York Post)

City Working to Stop WTC Rat Problem - Jun 19, 2002
City officials said yesterday they're doing their best to battle the rodents that have come to the Ground Zero area attracted by the demolition, debris, broken sidewalks and busted pipes. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the city sent exterminators and set bait traps at more than 1,100 spots around Ground Zero and the Financial District. However, rat sightings are still common in the area (New York Daily News)

No Remains Found Yet in Bank - Jun 16, 2002
Clad in Tyvex jumpsuits and heavy-duty respirators, recovery workers spent their second day searching for human remains inside the controversial Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street yesterday. Firefighters, who expect to complete an initial sweep by tomorrow, said they had worked their way down to the 12th floor, but so far had found nothing. (New York Post)

City and Bank Agree on Plan for 9/11 Debris - Jun 15, 2002
The search for human remains is under way at the last large building in the World Trade Center area that needs to be examined, city officials said yesterday after reaching an agreement with Deutsche Bank detailing how the city will sift through and remove debris from the bank's 130 Liberty Street building. (New York Times)

9/11 Paramedics Seek Counseling - Jun 13, 2002
After two suicides by paramedics who worked extensively at Ground Zero, the city’s paramedics union called on the Fire Department yesterday to implement mandatory counseling for those who worked at Ground Zero (Newsday)

Rebuilding the Winter Garden - Jun 12, 2002
Marble craftsmen are working in the first building construction at the World Trade Center void, reviving the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center. Early this year, engineers deemed that all the atrium's tricolor marble flooring would have to be replaced. Brookfield Financial Properties, the owner, has spent $5.8 million for the new marble, part of the $50 million in reconstruction costs for the Winter Garden. (New York Times)

Recovery And Cleanup Officials To Determine How To Clean Up Deutsche Bank Building - Jun 9, 2002
City officials are slated to meet tomorrow to resolve a conflict over searching a contaminated building near Ground Zero for remains, the latest tangle in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site. Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management officials are to meet tomorrow with management of the Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St., across from the southern edge of Ground Zero, to figure out when that building can be searched for remains, sources said. (New York Post)

More Remains Found At Ground Zero, Ten Days After Official Closing - Jun 8, 2002
Workers searching through debris in buildings adjacent to the World Trade Center site this week found the remains of about a dozen people, city officials said Saturday. In the past week, workers thoroughly searched 90 West St. and 130 Cedar St., two office buildings that were heavily damaged on Sept. 11, said Megan Sheekey, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Crews searching those buildings over the past week have found bone fragments, teeth and even parts of a plane's luggage rack. The remains will be turned over to the city Medical Examiner's office for identification. (Associated Press)

Ground Zero Oil Leaks Need Cleanup - Jun 6, 2002
A recent environmental report said that the Seven World Trade Center site requires ongoing environmental cleanup. The collapse of the 47-story tower there resulted in the release of 130,000 gallons of oil from the Consolidated Edison substation, while an unspecified amount of oil leaked from two damaged storage tanks formerly owned by Salomon Smith Barney. (Newsday)

Push on to Keep Cross at Ground Zero for Good - Jun 6, 2002
A movement to keep the Ground Zero cross at Ground Zero got a boost yesterday when a redevelopment official suggested it be made part of a permanent memorial. An effort is afoot to make these steel girders — found broken into the shape of a cross in the rubble of Building 6 — part of permanent memorial. Ed Malloy, a board member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., asked the agency to incorporate the steel cross into the design of a planned Sept. 11 memorial at the World Trade Center site. (New York Daily News)

Relatives of Victims Pay Respect in Final Tribute At Ground Zero - Jun 3, 2002
Nearly nine months after hijacked jets knifed into the twin towers, about 900 victims' relatives gathered at a final memorial service before the recovery effort gives way completely to redevelopment. Clutching photographs of the dead, relatives of the more than 2,800 murdered on Sept. 11 lingered at the edge of Ground Zero and stared into the void where the bodies of 1,700 could not be found. (New York Daily News)

Trade Center Victims' Families Criticize Mayor For Skipping Ceremony - Jun 1, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg drew fiery criticism from the families of some Sept. 11 victims for turning down an invitation to tomorrow's family service at Ground Zero. "He went back and forth all week long and decided that the families should have their time," said Bloomberg's press secretary . "He is sincerely appreciative of the invitation." (New York Daily News)

Heartbreak, Anger, Timing Keep Many Away From Ceremony - May 31, 2002
As the city paused yesterday to remember the 2,800 innocent lives lost at the World Trade Center, families of several hundred victims stayed away from the tribute at Ground Zero. Their reasons varied. A few boycotted what they called a political event. Many couldn't make it because the tribute was scheduled on a weekday. Others were too overcome with grief (New York Daily News)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Find World Trade Center Air OK In Weeks After 9/11 - May 31, 2002
The air at Ground Zero was free of hazardous levels of toxic contaminants, such as asbestos, just a week after the twin towers collapsed, U.S. health officials said yesterday. The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that none of the 1,174 air samples taken by city and federal officials between Sept. 18 and Oct. 4 showed asbestos levels exceeding federal safety levels. (New York Daily News)

Ceremony Honors Those Lost As Recovery At WTC Site Ends - May 31, 2002
A solemn and wordless procession punctuated by tears, the tolling of bells and muted applause rose out of Ground Zero and up into the sunny streets of lower Manhattan yesterday on a morning as bright as the September day terror shattered the city. There were no speeches by the many elected officials and dignitaries present. The only words uttered aloud called those assembled to attention. The removal of debris remaining after the clearing of nearly 2 million tons of rubble is expected by the middle of next week. (Newsday)

Infrastructure Repair Before Memorial, Says Bloomberg - May 30, 2002
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that Lower Manhattan's most immediate need was infrastructure repair, and that a memorial and rebuilt office space would come later, after some wounds had healed. (New York Times)

Recovery Effort Goes To The Last Minute - May 30, 2002
Ground Zero crews worked into the early hours this morning, and they will be back again tonight, combing through the final, shrinking pile of debris in the search for human remains. Recovery work at Ground Zero has moved far faster than anyone could imagine - but not quite fast enough to be done in time for today's ceremony to mark the end of the massive effort. (New York Post)

Ground Zero Ceremony Stirs Emotion - May 30, 2002
The place where the World Trade Center once towered evokes a flood of contradictory emotions. The recovery effort ends today, but no matter what building, park or memorial is erected on its site, Ground Zero will never disappear from New Yorkers’ collective consciousness. People whose lives changed forever at that spot describe what’s being left behind. (Newsday)

Ceremony Without Words Marks End Of Recovery Effort at World Trade Center Site - May 30, 2002
There were no prayers, no speeches, and no words spoken. But the symbolism of the 20-minute ceremony sounded loud and clear as one last stretcher, carried by 10 people, was slowly removed from the World Trade Center site this morning, marking the official end of the recovery effort. Hundreds of people gathered to witness the ceremony, which included a slow-marching bagpipe unit whose progress was marked only by the muted sound of drums and an empty stretcher draped in an American flag that symbolized the victims of the terrorist attack whose remains have not been either found or identified. (New York Times)

Last Steel Column From the Ground Zero Rubble Is Cut Down - May 29, 2002
Column No. 1,001 B of 2 World Trade Center, the last symbolic piece of the recovery effort, was cut down at 8:17 p.m. yesterday by operating engineers, ironworkers, teamsters, laborers and dock builders. The 58-ton piece of steel from the south tower was laid on a flatbed truck, wrapped in black muslin and an American flag, and tucked in a corner of the pit. (New York Times)

Details Announced For Ground Zero Closing Ceremony - May 28, 2002
The 20-minute ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10:29 a.m., a time chosen to mark the fall of the last piece of steel after the collapse of One World Trade Center at 10:28 a.m. Attendance at the ceremony is limited to families of the victims, uniformed personnel and those directly involved with the recovery effort, including construction workers and agency personnel. Family members should bring their case number to gain entry. The general public can stand along West Street from Chambers Street to Canal Street to view the procession. (Newsday)

The Battle For Ground Zero - May 28, 2002
Time Magazine provides a general survey of the rebuilding process, detailing the different sides involved and the roles the different government agencies have played up till now. The piece also discusses the architectural challenge of rebuilding, as designers struggle to come up with an appropriate solution. (Time)

Last Girder Coming Down At Ground Zero - May 28, 2002
The last girder from the World Trade Center at Ground Zero will be removed at a somber ceremony that will be the first of three major tributes over the next few days marking the end of recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site. Sometime before 8 p.m., a procession of workers is scheduled to march from Vesey St. down to the bedrock floor of the 16-acre plot before cutting down the girder and carrying it from the site. (New York Daily News)

At Ground Zero, Uneasy Agreement on Final Rite - May 27, 2002
Suggestions from construction workers, firefighters, victims' relatives and anyone else with a direct link to the disaster site helped inform Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's final decision to hold a simple ceremony on Thursday, with an empty stretcher, a truck carrying the last girder, a little music and a lot of silence. But some family members have accused the mayor of increasing their pain by choosing to hold the ceremony on a weekday, rather than on a weekend. Some have even suggested that he simply did not want his weekend disrupted. (New York Times)

Fighting to Live as the Towers Died - May 26, 2002
The New York Times traces the last 102 minutes of the victims within the World Trade Center in a comprehensive investigative piece. The minute-by-minute account includes recounts some of the harrowing stories of those who were able to escape and the final moments, heard through phone calls and answering machine messages, of those who did not survive. (New York Times)

Alternative Ceremony For Victims' Families Planned - May 24, 2002
Members of several families who lost relatives in the Sept. 11 terror attack plan to hold their own ceremony on June 2, a Sunday, to mark the end of efforts to recover remains from ground zero. The city, which will hold its official ceremony next Thursday, will issue a permit to the group as long as it complies with safety regulations, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. Bloomberg has pointed out that next Thursday was chosen because it will not interfere with religious observances, while the families want a weekend observance. (New York Times)

A Subway Interrupted Awaits Its Imminent Resurgence - May 21, 2002
For more than two months, a few hundred workers have been rebuilding the 1 and 9 subway lines damaged on Sept. 11. When the workers are done at the end of September and trains with passengers are rumbling through the tunnels once again by November, it will be very hard to tell where old meets new, exactly where it was that 1,300 feet of subway tunnel were crushed and pierced by falling skyscrapers and then rebuilt in little more than seven months. (New York Times)

Feds to Fund Firetruck Cleanup - May 21, 2002
FDNY officials, faced with alarming asbestos-test results suggesting some rigs are dangerously tainted by World Trade Center debris, yesterday said they would have 600 vehicles professionally cleaned - after the feds agreed to pick up the tab (New York Post)

Bloomberg Defends Date For Ground Zero Closing Ceremony - May 18, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg yesterday defended his choice of May 30 - a weekday - for a ceremony honoring the end of recovery work at Ground Zero, saying he's trying to accommodate as many people as possible. Bloomberg said May 30, a Thursday, will avoid interfering with religious observances. But several terror victims' relatives pressed to have the ceremony honoring both those lost in the attack and the workers who stayed around the clock at the site moved to a Sunday. (New York Post)

Tribute Ceremony To Mark End Of Cleanup And Recovery At Ground Zero - May 17, 2002
On May 30, families of World Trade Center victims and workers who toiled for the past months at Ground Zero will take part in a ceremony held by the city to commemorate the dead and signal an end of the recovery and cleanup. At 10:29 AM, the time the second tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, the last steel beam will be removed from the site and a stretcher symbolizing the unrecovered remains and draped with an American flag will be carried out of the site into an ambulance. (New York Times)

Victims' Families Criticize Choice of Weekday For Ground Zero Ceremony - May 17, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg announced plans yesterday for a May 30 ceremony to mark the "symbolic end" of cleanup work at Ground Zero and immediately faced stiff criticism from victims' families for not scheduling it on a weekend. Some family members complained that although City Hall told them of the May 30 date this week, they were given no chance to suggest alternatives. And they -- as well as some Port Authority cops -- were angry at having to choose between going to work and honoring their loved ones. (New York Daily News)

Air Quality Testing Downtown Proving To Be Complicated And Inconclusive - May 15, 2002
The many scientific and medical investigations into the effects of Sept. 11 are revealing an unforeseen complexity -- in the nature and consequences of the disaster, as well as in the underlying environment in a part of New York that they say has never really been examined. Many scientists and physicians say the accumulated evidence so far suggests that there is likely no permanent damage despite the rise in respiratory problems for those near or around the site. Others say it is too soon to tell. (New York Times)

Transfer Of World Trade Center Debris To Barge Near High School Ending - May 15, 2002
Debris from the World Trade Center site will no longer be transferred to barges at a pier behind Stuyvesant HS officials said yesterday, drawing cheers from parents who said the operation put their kids at risk. Dept. of Design and Construction spokesman Matthew Monahan said the cleanup will begin immediately. "We'll be restoring the Pier 25 area to pre-9/11 condition over the next weeks," he said. (New York Post)

Part of Staten Island Recovery Area For World Trade Center Debris Closing Soon - May 14, 2002
The Hill, an area of the Fresh Kills landfill connected to the recovery effort, is soon to shut down. The operation, "created in the genius of desperation, has sorted through 1.6 million tons of material removed from the World Trade Center disaster site. That work has uncovered more than 4,100 body parts, helping to identify more than 150 victims. Now, there are only 25,000 tons to be carted to the landfill from Lower Manhattan, a small fraction of what was. In the next few weeks their mission will be completed, their future certain only to the extent that it will be nothing like what they have just gone through." (New York Times)

Hundreds Of Cars Around World Trade Center To Be Demolished - May 14, 2002
890 vehicles towed from the streets around the World Trade Center and pulled from the collapsed complex's garages will be destroyed because of asbestos contamination, federal officials said yesterday. The city and the EPA have determined that these cars - the vast majority of which are stored at Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island - are contaminated with asbestos, based on dust samples. (New York Daily News)

Closing Date For Ground Zero Cleanup To Be Announced By Mayor's Office - May 14, 2002
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city may announce Wednesday the anticipated final day of debris removal at Ground Zero, but he stressed that notifying the families of those killed on Sept. 11 must come first. The city is also planning a “final day” ceremony, which will likely involve thousands of relatives of those lost on Sept. 11 and workers who labored at the site over the past eight months. (Newsday)

Local Business During One-Year Anniversary Of September 11 Expected To Slow Down - May 13, 2002
Although Labor Day typically marks the kickoff of the fall business season, event calendars are empty on and around the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Major trade shows, product launches and events -- including the MTV Video Music Awards -- are being scheduled to avoid the solemn day. The Jacob Javits Convention Center has zero shows for the entire week. Many businesses involved in catering or events hosting will see a slow week during that time. (New York Daily News)

Rebuilding Infrastructure and Wiring Downtown Is A Huge Undertaking - May 12, 2002
In this feature from the New York Times Magazine, author Robert Sullivan explores the mammoth effort of rewiring Lower Manhattan after September 11 by taking a look at one particular street. The article discusses the intricacies of wiring underground among decades-old structures and the efforts of Verizon and other communications companies to make sure one of the world's busiest telecommunications areas stays connected. (New York Times)

Federal Agency Reports Of Respiratory Ailments At High School Near Ground Zero - May 11, 2002
More than half the employees at Stuyvesant High School suffered respiratory problems after returning to their school on the edge of Ground Zero in October, according to an upcoming federal report. The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, found that between 50% and 60% of the school's staff reported a range of respiratory symptoms connected to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The full report is expected to be completed by May 31. (New York Daily News)

Recovery Effort At Ground Zero To Be Declared Over In A Couple Weeks - May 10, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the relentless recovery effort will be declared over in three to four weeks. He said he expects to reveal the date of the official closing ceremony in a few days. A meeting of victims' families and state and city officials is to take place next week to finalize details of the last solemn day. (New York Daily News)

Environmental Protection Agency to Lead Cleanup Effort of Homes Close to Ground Zero - May 8, 2002
The federal Environmental Protection Agency will announce today an effort to clean up and test apartments south of Canal Street in Lower Manhattan that were fouled by the dust and ash from the destruction of the World Trade Center. This is a sharp reversal in policy from an agency which, to this point, had said that assessing air quality indoors was not under its responsibilities. (New York Times)

Construction Underway For New 7 World Trade Center - May 8, 2002
Larry Silverstein, the developer who owned the World Trade Center before its destruction, yesterday began the first step in erecting a new skyscraper on the site where 7 World Trade Center once stood. Workers erected a construction fence around the site, on the north side of Vesey Street, not long after Silverstein learned that the company insuring that building would not contest his $851 million claim. (New York Times)

Search For Bodies At Ground Zero Near The End - May 8, 2002
Crews at Ground Zero have found no human remains other than a few small bones in the past two weeks, officials said yesterday -- signaling that the recovery effort is drawing to a sad end. Firefighters, cops and construction workers continue to rake painstakingly through the last heaps of debris at the 16-acre World Trade Center site. (New York Daily News)

Fungus Infestation Threatens A Building Still Standing At Ground Zero - May 8, 2002
A 40-story skyscraper at the edge of Ground Zero withstood the terrorist attacks -- but could be demolished because of a gross infestation of foul mold. While engineers have deemed the heavily damaged tower as stable, the outgrowth of fungus has spread such that Deutsche Bank, which owns the building, could end up knocking down the building. (New York Daily News)

City Council Hearing Reveals Role of Technology In Recovering From September 11 - May 7, 2002
A City Council hearing about technology and the lessons learned from September 11 revealed how computer systems and satellite mapping were integral to the recovery after September 11. Among the notable mentions: a database system to catalog a library's worth of information about possible victims; a satellite mapping system used to catalog where human remains and other debris were scattered at Ground Zero; a computer system for families to report missing family members; and a late night raid that salvaged computers critical to restoring trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (New York Times)

Senate Committee Seeks Inquiry Into Emergency Agency After September 11 - May 4, 2002
A Senate committee has asked the General Accounting Office to undertake a broad examination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, including a review of the way the agency has determined eligibility for its programs, the amount of money the government expects to spend on the recovery effort and the steps it is taking to safeguard public funds. (New York Times)

Federal Officials Propose More Comprehensive Investigation Of Collapse of Twin Towers - May 2, 2002
Federal officials proposed today an expansive new effort to determine exactly why the towers fell and how other buildings might be protected. The proposed investigation, which would begin with taking in more data from the scene of the collapse and use sophisticated computer analysis for a more detailed look at the collapse, would be led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, a federal agency with long experience in studying building disasters. (New York Times)

Workers Finishing Search For Remains In The Rubble - May 2, 2002
With officials predicting that recovery work at Ground Zero will wind up by the end of the month, workers will be sifting through the final bits of debris to find more human remains. After the final debris pile is removed from Ground Zero, recovery workers will still have one last task - lifting and cleaning the timbers that line the base of the 16-acre site to make sure every piece of human remains is saved. (New York Post)

Relatives of Victims Criticize Government Investigation of September 11 - May 1, 2002
Victims' relatives and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn) will be at a news conference today to criticize a report detailing the federal government's investigation of September 11. "Many families don't have confidence in the ... report because of how sloppy the investigation was at the outset," Weiner said. (New York Daily News)

Federal Report on World Trade Center Collapse To Be Released Today - May 1, 2002
A federal study, to be released today during a congressional hearing, concludes that the towers of the World Trade Center behaved "remarkably," and states that no structural problems were found with the buildings. The study team recommends that funds should be used to improve aircraft security, rather than hardening buildings against airplane attack. "Buildings are not designed to withstand any event that could ever conceivably occur," the report states. The study concludes that the buildings could have remained standing following the plane impacts alone, if not for the enormous fires that ensued. (Newsday)

Subway Stations Near World Trade Center Site To Reopen By November - Apr 30, 2002
A subway station on the eastern edge of Ground Zero is expected to reopen by November, a top transit official said. The N and R Cortlandt St. station was closed because entrances in the World Trade Center complex were destroyed Sept. 11. The Transit Authority also hopes to reopen the Rector St. and South Ferry stations on the 1 and 9 line by Nov. 1. A new tunnel is under construction. (New York Daily News)

Ground Zero Minority Workers' Ailments Persist Months After September 11 - Apr 28, 2002
More than 400 immigrant workers hired to clean buildings near the World Trade Center site continued to suffer respiratory and other symptoms months after their first exposure to the dust, a Queens College physician reported yesterday. Dr. Steven Markowitz, who supervised a medical monitoring van near Ground Zero for two months, gave preliminary results of examinations of 415 building cleanup workers. In late February, nearly all the workers still had health symptoms, which either first appeared or had worsened after Sept. 11, Markowitz said. (Newsday)

Fire Chiefs Less Likely To Send Firefighters To Top Floors To Battle Skyscraper Fires - Apr 28, 2002
Strategies for battling high-rise blazes probably won't change much due to the World Trade Center attacks, but fire chiefs might be reluctant to send firefighters to upper floors, New York City's former fire commissioner Thomas Von Essen said yesterday. He also stressed the need for better communication between firefighters. (New York Daily News)

Cancer Risk From World Trade Center Asbestos "Relatively Low," Says One Expert - Apr 26, 2002
For the thousands of people who were exposed to World Trade Center dust and debris on Sept. 11, the risk of developing asbestos-related cancer is relatively low, a leading physician said yesterday. Dr. Stephen Levin, medical director of the Mount Sinai-Irving J. Selikoff Occupational Health Center, said that although more than 20,000 people are at risk of developing the rare, insidious cancer known as malignant mesothelioma as a result of inhaling asbestos and other substances after the collapse, few are likely to come down with the disease. (Newsday)

Ground Zero Cleanup To Cost Less Than Previously Estimated - Apr 25, 2002
Cleaning up and rebuilding downtown Manhattan is expected to cost up to $29 billion, $6 billion less than previously estimated, according to a report released yesterday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. One reason the cost estimate has dropped since fall is that the cleanup of the World Trade Center site has gone more rapidly than expected. The report also said that 50,000 private jobs were lost in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, and 20,000 more were lost in early 2002. An additional 100,000 city workers were displaced by the attacks. (New York Daily News)

Barges Near Stuyvesant High School To Stop Transportation of Ground Zero Debris Next Month - Apr 25, 2002
The first of the barges which have towed away Ground Zero debris and have been the source of many complaints over the last seven months is about to be moved, possibly as soon as April 29. By all accounts, all three barges should be tugged out of the Hudson for good before the end of May. (Downtown Express)

As Recovery Effort Ends, Disappointment Among Some Recovery Workers - Apr 23, 2002
The overwhelming feeling at Ground Zero is not animosity or anger, say the laborers, machine operators, cops, and firefighters. It is frustration -- that many of those who died on Sept. 11 will never be found. "Over 2,800 people perished," said one recovery worker. "We've found about 900 of them. We had hoped to find more." (New York Daily News)

DNA Research Pushed To Limits By Identification of World Trade Center Victims - Apr 22, 2002
The identification of the remains of the World Trade Center victims has now become the largest forensic investigation in United States history. It is an investigation that is pressing the limits of biomedical research even as it brings a painful mixture of relief and fresh grieving to families. A third of the 2,824 victims of the World Trade Center attack have now been identified, a number far beyond what many had thought would be possible. The goal now, experts involved in the effort say, is to use new scientific techniques to identify half or even two-thirds of the victims, despite the miserably deteriorated state of many of the remains being pulled from ground zero. To date, 18,937 body parts have been recovered, along with 287 whole bodies. (New York Times)

Footbridge Over West Street Reopened - Apr 21, 2002
A bridge over West St. that once allowed pedestrians to walk from the World Financial Center to a spot just across from the World Trade Center was reopened yesterday after being repaired and extended. Formerly called the South Bridge, the covered walkway from Battery Park City was closed after it was damaged by cascading debris from the twin towers on Sept. 11. It has been renamed the Liberty St. Bridge. (New York Daily News)

A Census of the September 11 Victims Released By Department Of Health - Apr 19, 2002
The New York City Department of Health has released a census of the September 11 victims. It is the first detailed look at the age, gender, and national origins of the 2,617 who are officially counted as having died on that day. (Several hundred more are still classified as missing). Forty-three percent of the dead were from New York City, with Manhattan accounting for the greatest number, followed by Brooklyn and then Queens. One out of five was a foreign-born resident living in the city, with the toll from Latin America exceeding that of more populous countries like Russia and Italy. (New York Times)

Ceremony Will Mark End of Recovery Effort - Apr 19, 2002
The Bloomberg administration is working with relatives of victims to plan a ceremony honoring the end of the Ground Zero recovery work - possibly in three weeks - family members and sources said yesterday. (New York Post)

New Construction Already Beginning At Ground Zero - Apr 19, 2002
New steel has finally begun to rise at Ground Zero - even as workers continue to haul tons of twisted steel from the ruins of the destroyed World Trade Center. Construction crews have started putting up structural steel supports for the tunnel that will cover the rebuilt Nos. 1 and 9 subway tracks, running along the fringe of the trade center site. (New York Post)

Ground Zero Wall May Have Views Of Site - Apr 18, 2002
The wall that will be built around the perimeter of Ground Zero may include see-through panels to allow people to view what's going on - and sections where memorial tributes can be left, sources said yesterday. (New York Post)

Tomb Of Unknowns Could Be Part of Ground Zero Memorial - Apr 18, 2002
A proposal for a tomb of unknown victims -- reminiscent of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia --has been steadily gaining favor at meetings among victims' relatives, Mayor Bloomberg and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials, family members said yesterday. The tomb of unknown victims would hold the unidentified remains of hundreds killed Sept. 11. (New York Daily News)

Girder From World Trade Center Will Help Provide Insight Into Collapse - Apr 16, 2002
Recovery workers this week found a mauled, 4-ton column of steel that stretched from the 100th to 103rd floors of the north tower of the World Trade Center. Thick bolts fastened to the column more than 30 years ago -- securing it to a much thinner structural plate -- were still in place. But the plate ripped apart. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which investigates building collapses after disasters, will get the column -- along with about 60 other steel beams from important areas in the towers. (New York Daily News)

Tribute In Light Ends As Spotlights Fade Into Dawn - Apr 15, 2002
The twin pillars of light that rose as an ethereal monument to the losses of Sept. 11 ended their monthlong illumination early yesterday morning, the 88 searchlights silently blending into the hazy dawn before a police officer pressed a button and cut off the 616,000 watts of power. "They aren't turning them off," said a security guard at the scene. "They are fading off in the morning light." (New York Times)

Injuries Few Among Crews at Towers Site - Apr 12, 2002
As the cleanup at ground zero draws to a close, federal records show that only 35 of the more than 1,500 workers assigned to help clear debris from the World Trade Center site were seriously injured in more than six months of work there. None of these injuries were classified as life-threatening. The resulting injury rate, given the estimated three million hours of contractor labor invested in the site since Sept. 11, means that the job has turned out to be far less dangerous than an average demolition job in the United States, according to federal statistics. (New York Times)

Rebuilding Authority Set To Expand Incentive Program For Downtown Residents - Apr 9, 2002
A cash-incentive program designed to entice people to live near Ground Zero is expected to get sweeter today, as a state-city agency is set to increase the total payouts and widen eligibility. There will be new one-time payments, including funds for those living as far north as Delancey St., and bonus grants to families with children under 18. And the maximum grant will be available to more people, as the boundaries in the immediate impact zone have been expanded. (New York Daily News)

State Legislature Proposes Extending Workers Comp for Ground Zero Workers - Apr 8, 2002
A new bill in the State Legislature would extend workers' compensation benefits to rescue and recovery personnel at the World Trade Center in an effort to deal with any long-term health effects from debris. The bill would classify any ailment linked to the trade center as an occupational disease, providing the same benefits as if a worker had suffered an injury on the job. A preliminary list of possible health problems includes pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, bronchitis, cancer and gastrointestinal disorders. (Associated Press)

494 Foreign Victims Killed In World Trade Center Attacks - Apr 7, 2002
Nearly 500 foreigners were killed in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, according to a new city tally that shows the terror attack claimed a significant portion of its victims from countries all over the world. The tally, the most complete to date, shows foreigners account for more than 17 percent of the estimated 2,830 who were killed. The 494 foreign victims came from 91 different countries. (Associated Press)

Cleaning Set for Exteriors Near September 11 Site - Apr 6, 2002
Within a few weeks, efforts will begin to clean the exteriors of hundreds of buildings around the World Trade Center site, to keep pollutants like asbestos from blowing off them and into apartments, city and federal officials said today. "While the streets were cleaned up, the outsides of the buildings themselves were not cleaned up," said Christie Whitman, head of the Environmental Protection Agency. She said the buildings would be cleaned using giant vacuum cleaners equipped with high-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters, just as the Lower Manhattan streets were cleaned in the months after the Sept. 11 attack. (New York Times)

Thousands Still Visiting Ground Zero - Apr 5, 2002
The throngs of visitors to Ground Zero are reaching unforeseen levels, defying predictions that crowds would thin out as the excavation and recovery efforts wound down. The number of tickets issued for the Church St. viewing platform has doubled in the last two months to 7,700 a day. That's prompted city officials to consider adding platforms to meet the demand, which is expected to surge further with the warmer weather. (New York Daily News)

First Federal Assessment Of Twin Tower Collapse Cites "Spray-Applied Fireproofing" And Other Flaws Common To Modern Skyscrapers - Apr 2, 2002
The first federal assessment of the trade center disaste has made clear that there may have been no reasonable precautions that could have stopped the towers from collapsing once they were struck and huge fires broke out. "Spray-applied fireproofing may be vulnerable to damage from blasts and impacts," says a draft of the FEMA report, adding that failure of support structures protected with this fireproofing "is likely critical to the ultimate building failure." (New York Times)

Worshippers Celebrate Easter Near Ground Zero - Mar 31, 2002
Worshippers filled a chapel a block from the World Trade Center site Sunday for a candlelight sunrise Easter service. "The message of Easter is a message of hope, and hope is something to which we cling amid the devastation of ground zero," said Father Lyndon Harris, who delivered the sermon at St. Paul's Chapel. Newsday has a slideshow of photographs taken at the mass. (Associated Press)

Tent For Ground Zero Workers Will Remain Open - Mar 30, 2002
A giant tent where Ground Zero workers can find respite will remain open a bit longer instead of the site reverting to a parking lot, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. The 35,000-square-foot tent at West and Vesey Sts. was to close because the Battery Park City Authority wanted to reclaim the land as a pay parking lot for reopening businesses. The tent, where workers can eat and take hot showers, is run by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Following an outcry at reports the tent would be closed, officials said it would stay open several more weeks, or possibly a month. (New York Daily News)

Union Square Subway Station Host To A Memorial - Mar 30, 2002
Erected this month by the Manhattan-based nonprofit group ArtAid was a 30-foot long memorial to September 11 victims. There are more than 2,800 names of those killed in the World Trade Center attacks listed in the Vietnam Memorial-like tribute. Beyond memorializing the missing, the tribute invites relatives and friends of the victims to sign their names and leave personal messages. (New York Daily News)

Rebuilding Authority Opens Space For Victims' Families To Oversee Ground Zero - Mar 30, 2002
The city-state agency overseeing Ground Zero rebuilding yesterday turned over part of its office space at One Liberty Plaza near Ground Zero as a private viewing room where victims' families can look at the entire site. (New York Post)

West Street and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Reopened - Mar 30, 2002
The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and West Street fully reopened for the first time since Sept. 11. Mayor Bloomberg said the city's ban on single-occupancy cars between 6 and 10 a.m. will be in effect for the tunnel - as well as a new, high-occupancy vehicle lane for Manhattan-bound drivers, stretching from the Verrazano Bridge to the Gowanus Expressway into the tunnel. (New York Post)

Firefighters Retiring at Triple the Usual Rate In 2002 - Mar 30, 2002
New York City firefighters are retiring at more than triple the usual rate this year, according to fire officials who say the surge in departures is another lingering impact from the collapse of the World Trade Center. Since January, 343 firefighters have filed their retirement papers, compared with 93 who had retired by this time last year. The Fire Department usually loses no more than 500 firefighters a year to retirement. (New York Times)

Legal Firm Assisting Victims' Families Asking For Ten Percent Of Any Awards - Mar 29, 2002
Kreindler & Kreindler, a private law firm helping victims' families secure awards from the federal Victims Compensation Fund, is charging families 10 percent of any award they will eventually receive from the fund even though free legal representation is available to the widows elsewhere. (New York Times)

Performance Artist Discusses His Tribute In Light - Mar 29, 2002
Paul Marantz, the illumination wizard behind the 88 mega-bulbs that form the Tribute In Light, talks about his feelings and thoughts about his popular interim memorial. He took no fee for the project and says, "It's clear that this idea is owned by everybody." (New York Times)

Undocumented Immigrant Mexican Families Grieve Relatives Lost on September 11 - Mar 29, 2002
They still can't definitively prove their loved ones worked at the World Trade Center or even lived in New York City, but at least two dozen families -- mostly from Mexico -- say they're grieving over the loss of a relative on Sept. 11. All of these victims were in the U.S. illegally and had been working off the books in or around the Trade Center, their families said. (New York Daily News)

Environmental Protection Agency Accused of Neglect in 9/11 Cleanup - Mar 29, 2002
A watchdog for the Environmental Protection Agency has accused the agency of neglecting its responsibility and urged a cleanup of buildings contaminated by World Trade Center debris. "EPA has abandoned its responsibility for cleaning up buildings [both inside and out] that are contaminated, or that are being recontaminated, as a result of the uncontrolled chemical releases from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks," Ombudsman Robert Martin wrote in a March 27 letter to Jane Kenny, head of the agency's New York region. (New York Daily News)

A Wave Of New Yorkers Make Downtown Their New Home - Mar 28, 2002
Just six months ago, residents of the area surrounding the World Trade Center evacuated apartments that were without water, electricity or telephone service. The occupancy rate in the Battery Park City complex, which has 6,400 apartments, fell to 60 percent, from near capacity. But now a new cohort of New Yorkers is starting to move in. Some are drawn by the promise of bargain apartments, others by the gaping wound left by the attacks. (New York Times)

40,000 Kennedy Photo Negatives Missing After Attack - Mar 27, 2002
Tucked inside several manila envelopes in a safety-deposit box at 5 World Trade Center were some 40,000 negatives of John F. Kennedy taken by Jacques Lowe, one of his personal photographers. Chase all but confirmed that they were destroyed in a series of letters to Lowe's daughter, Thomasina Lowe, dating to Sept. 19. However, after investigating the remains of the safe where the pictures were stored, it is still unclear whether the pictures were destroyed or are instead missing. (New York Times)

Tent for Food and Showers Used By Ground Zero Workers To Be Replaced With Parking Lot - Mar 27, 2002
A huge tent where Ground Zero workers can eat and take hot showers is being dismantled because the Battery Park City Authority wants to reclaim the land as a pay parking lot for reopening businesses. The 35,000-square-foot tent at West and Vesey Sts. -- nicknamed the Taj Mahal by recovery workers -- will close completely on April 14 unless the authority relents, officials said. (New York Daily News)

Years of Work Underground Before Steel Reaches Skyward - Mar 27, 2002
Nothing will be built above ground for several years at the site of the World Trade Center because of the extensive underground construction that must be completed first, the chairman of the group overseeing the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan said yesterday. Corporation officials also said yesterday that they will lay out details of major components of their building proposals in a yearlong series of publications beginning in May. Those publications will focus on individual subjects, like transportation, residential and commercial development, and the attraction of arts and cultural institutions. (New York Times)

Fire Department Has Pinpointed 700 New Human Remains - Mar 26, 2002
The effort to find remains at Ground Zero has proven especially productive in the last three weeks, as Fire Department searchers mapped more than 700 new discoveries. In all, 3,069 remains have been cataloged during the cleanup, and searchers classified about 600 as remains of firefighters or police officers based on bits of clothing or equipment. The Times has a map of the discovered remains on its site. (New York Times)

Chapel Near World Trade Center Site To Remain Open - Mar 26, 2002
The leaders of St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan, which has served as a haven for rescue workers at ground zero since September, said yesterday that they had decided to keep it open until the excavation of the World Trade Center site was completed. The Episcopal chapel was going to be closed for a cleaning after Easter Sunday services, but chapel officials announced last night that it would continue to provide food, rest and counseling to the workers until the end of May. (New York Times)

Recovery Workers Using Global Positioning Satellite Technology To Locate Human Remains - Mar 26, 2002
Using global positioning technology, the Fire Department has created a detailed and gruesome index of exactly where nearly 4,000 body parts, personal belongings and pieces of firefighting equipment have been found at Ground Zero. The data is expected to be used for law enforcement and engineering investigations, identification by the medical examiner's office and for families who want to know where their loved ones were found. A visual depiction of how it works is presented as well. (New York Daily News)

$1 Billion in Federal Aid to Help Cover City for Ground Zero Liability - Mar 24, 2002
The Bush administration wants to provide up to $1 billion to shield New York City and scores of contractors against lawsuits stemming from the World Trade Center cleanup. For months, insurers have refused to provide liability coverage to the city and contracting companies working there, arguing that the cleanup is far too big and the risk associated with it too hard to measure. New York officials contend that the infusion of cash would enable the city to pay the sort of sky-high premiums that could persuade insurers to assume the risk of providing liability coverage. (New York Times)

As Chapel Closes For Cleaning, Workers Miss A Sanctuary From Ground Zero - Mar 24, 2002
When St. Paul's Chapel closes its doors after the Easter sunrise service for an interior and exterior cleaning, the recovery workers who have relied on it for warm meals, quiet reflection and a place to sleep are not sure where they will go. The cleaning, which is expected to last a month and cost several hundred thousand dollars, is necessary to reopen the church to its congegration and visitors. (New York Times)

Twenty More Bodies Recovered From Ground Zero - Mar 24, 2002
Ground Zero rescue workers recovered 20 more bodies late Friday night and Saturday, bringing to at least 73 the number of remains found in the rubble of the World Trade Center this month. The bodies included nine firefighters, four Port Authority civilian employees, one Port Authority cop, one Emergency Medical Service worker, one court officer and four civilians. (New York Daily News)

120 Ground Zero Firefighters Suffering Breathing Problems - Mar 23, 2002
As many as 120 city firefighters are suffering from moderate to severe breathing problems likely caused by working at Ground Zero, according to a top FDNY medical expert, the Daily News reported. Of the 10,000 pulmonary tests administered after Sept. 11, about 1 percent had moderate to severe changes in their lung capacity and can no longer perform the rigorous job of firefighting. (New York Daily News)

Terminal at LaGuardia Airport Evacuated After Security Mishap - Mar 23, 2002
The Delta terminal at LaGuardia Airport was evacuated Friday after two paramedics carrying an ill passenger were not screened while going through security. Hundreds of Delta and Northwest passengers were stranded in the main check-in area for about 90 minutes as police searched the terminal. Several planes that had been taxiing for takeoff were called, and passengers were forced to be rechecked. Flights later resumed as normal. (Newsday)

Senator Schumer Calls For Funds For Downtown Rebuilding To Be Spread Around City - Mar 23, 2002
Sen. Charles Schumer wants funds earmarked for lower Manhattan groups to be spread to nonprofits all over the city - including the Bronx Zoo, according to The New York Post. Schumer has been talking with Lower Manhattan Development Corp. chairman John Whitehead, as well as Mayor Bloomberg, about allocating funds slated for nonprofit groups near Ground Zero to the five boroughs. (New York Post)

Rebuilding of Winter Garden Near Ground Zero Begins - Mar 22, 2002
The $50 million renovation of the 10-story Winter Garden, in particular its shattered clear dome, has begun. Everything from the entire floor to the 2,000 skylight panes is being replaced. (New York Times)

Standards for Measuring Asbestos Used By Federal Officials Not Meant To Determine Health Risks, Says Scientist - Mar 21, 2002
In the days after Sept. 11, EPA officials used standards to determine dangerous asbestos contamination that were never intended to measure health risks, according to a new 43-page memo by a dissident Environmental Protection Agency scientist. The memo raises new allegations that the standards the EPA publicized as benchmarks for judging asbestos contamination in both dust and air were intended only to measure the presence of asbestos in building materials. (New York Daily News)

Ground Zero Contractor Excluded From Federal Contracting - Mar 21, 2002
AMEC Construction Management Inc. of New York, a construction company working at Ground Zero, has been placed on a list of companies suspended from obtaining federal construction contracts, officials said yesterday. Under normal contracting process, the city comptroller's office performs a background check on a company that bids. The Giuliani administration hired the company on an emergency basis without competitive bidding due to the urgency of the situation. (Newsday)

Identification of World Trade Center Victims By DNA Tests To Be Completed By Next February - Mar 21, 2002
The identification through DNA testing of the thousands of pieces of human remains collected from the World Trade Center will be largely finished by next February, the medical examiner’s office said yesterday. The medical examiner, Dr. Charles Hirsch, told victims’ relatives at a meeting Monday he expects DNA testing to be completed eight months after all remains have been recovered from the trade center rubble. The recovery work is due to finish in May. Technicians have already made 161 identifications solely on the basis of a DNA match. (New York Post)

Parents, Residents Protest WTC Dumping Operation - Mar 20, 2002
Dozens of students, parents and teachers gathered today to protest World Trade Center debris-hauling barges moored near their schools. The protesters said they are concerned about dust from the debris-hauling operation, and diesel fumes from trucks and other heavy equipment. (Associated Press)

DNA Evidence Identifies September 11 Victim - Mar 19, 2002
The remains of a passenger aboard one of the hijacked jets that crashed into the World Trade Center has been identified through DNA, officials revealed yesterday. It was the first time DNA has been able to determine the identity of any of the victims aboard the two doomed planes. The city medical examiner's office said it had determined that a hand found in the rubble at Ground Zero belongs to James Trentini -- a retired Massachusetts school teacher aboard American Flight 11, family members said. (New York Daily News)

Police Chief and City Council Press for More Aid From Feds For Police Overtime - Mar 19, 2002
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly got a boost from the City Council yesterday in his quest to get the feds to reimburse the NYPD for $100 million in post-Sept. 11-related police overtime. The $100 million Kelly wants would be in addition to $197 million in terror attack-related NYPD overtime costs that were picked up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency before a November 24 cutoff date the agency had established. Members of the committee assured Kelly they intend to press federal officials for the unpaid overtime reimbursements. (New York Daily News)

Federal Government Set To Extend September 11 Special Unemployment Benefits - Mar 19, 2002
The White House today is set to grant a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits to thousands of New Yorkers who may have lost out due to 9/11. The measure - which could then be approved by the Senate later this week - applies only to people who don't qualify for regular unemployment compensation, such as someone who was only working for a few days when the Sept. 11 disaster struck. (New York Post)

While Some Civic Groups Seek Streamlined Environmental Review, Others Wary of Speed - Mar 19, 2002
A leading civic group seeking to give the public a voice in the rebuilding process, the Civic Alliance, is on the verge of supporting fast-track redevelopment via accelerating the pace of legal appeals. But reactions from urban planners, lawyers and other community-oriented members of the Civic Alliance range from anxious to furious. Many are concerned about the dangerous precedent for decreased public input and glossing over environmental review. (City Limits)

After Many Volunteers Have Left, Some Feel Compelled To Stay - Mar 18, 2002
Most of the far-flung volunteers who have come from all over the country to Ground Zero have returned home. And others have arrived to relieve them. But one of the striking aspects of the magnetism of ground zero and the impulses it has ignited is that a number of the itinerant do-gooders are still here, months after they arrived. Some intend never to leave. (New York Times)

Return of WTC Cars Halted by EPA - Mar 18, 2002
Concerns about asbestos-tainted dust have slammed the brakes on the city's plan to return hundreds of cars towed from streets around the World Trade Center to their owners. The city planned to start giving back the dust-covered vehicles today. But a report about the dangerous coating of asbestos on the cars prompted federal environmental officials to step in. Many of the cars have little body damage. (New York Daily News)

As Enrollment Plummets At Downtown School, Some Try Homeschooling - Mar 18, 2002
With many parents and students still concerned about air quality near Ground Zero, enrollment at Public School 89, located in Battery Park City, plummeted after the terrorist attacks to 235 from 415. Board officials said most of the students who left went to other schools, public and private. Three families have even hired a private tutor to homeschool their three boys. (New York Daily News)

Chapel Near Ground Zero To Be Cleaned for Reopening - Mar 17, 2002
St. Paul's Chapel, which has served as a 24-hour sanctuary for World Trade Center rescue workers since Sept. 11, will be temporarily shut so it can be thoroughly cleaned and then reopened to the public, church officials said yesterday. The cleanup will begin after Easter, according to the church's Web site. St. Paul's expects to resume daily prayer services for the public in May. (New York Daily News)

Renewed Feelings Of Loss And Urgency At Ground Zero As Cleanup Nears Completion - Mar 17, 2002
With more bodies being found in a newly uncovered area of Ground Zero, the feeling of urgency to recover the bodies has returned to the site, something not felt since the early days of the cleanup. At the same time, a feeling of loss hangs over the workers, and not just for their fallen brothers found in the site. With the amount of dirt and rubble rapidly diminishing, workers who have developed a kinship with their recovery team, many having worked seven days a week since September, are having a hard time letting go. (New York Times)

Promotions Approved By Judge For Police Unit Decimated By 9/11 - Mar 16, 2002
A judge ruled yesterday that the Police Department has the right to reward members of its 9/11-decimated elite Emergency Service Unit with promotions. The city's police union had sued to block the promotions of the 15 ESU officers to detective specialist on grounds that the action by violated the union's collective-bargaining agreement. (New York Post)

Mayor: Expect Many Lawsuits Over Asbestos At The World Trade Center - Mar 15, 2002
Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that the city had worked out a plan with the federal government to protect the city from potentially huge legal claims as part of the $21.3 billion aid package promised last week by President Bush. Up till now, most private insurers have refused to underwrite liability coverage for the city, citing the huge risks and a host of environmental unknowns at the site. The Mayor also remarked that there could be many impending lawsuits in coming years over asbestos at the site. (New York Daily News)

Lower Manhattan Residents Seek Air Quality Testing - Mar 15, 2002
People in Battery Park City yesterday submitted a $15 million proposal asking that the city test every building and apartment there for toxins. The proposal by the Lower Manhattan Tenants Coalition calls for testing all 6,814 residential units. Dr. James Miller of the city Department of Health said the city would consider the report. (New York Daily News)

Bloomberg Visits Washington To Talk About Federal Aid - Mar 14, 2002
The mayor visited Washington D.C., although he says his intent was not to make any requests beyond the $21.5 billion that President Bush recently said he would provide New York to help it rebuild. Rather, he said, he wanted to assure top lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the money Washington sends to New York "will be well spent." Congressional leaders welcomed the mayor's visit and made vague pledges to continue helping the city through difficult times. But Mr. Bloomberg did not request or receive any firm commitments beyond those general reassurances. (New York Times)

As Jets Get Bigger, No Towers Will Be Able To Withstand Future Attacks - Mar 14, 2002
Speaking at a talk at the New-York Historical Society, the chief structural engineer for the trade center project said last night that as commercial jets grow larger, faster and carry ever-greater amounts of fuel, no skyscraper can be built to withstand a terrorist attack of the kind that destroyed the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, "We have to conclude, we cannot fail to conclude, that it's not practical to design buildings as we know them -- buildings that we'd want to live and work in -- to resist the impact of these jet aircraft," said the engineer, Leslie E. Robertson. (New York Times)

Utilities Set For A Big Dig Downtown To Repair Infrastructure - Mar 14, 2002
In what may very well be the largest utility reconstruction project in history, workers from Con Edison, Verizon and several additional utilities are digging up 26 miles of roadway to repair the infrastructure beneath street level downtown. They are removing rocks and other debris, some from the trade center and some from more than 100 years of accumulation, checking out the systems, making repairs and then installing new conduits and piping. (New York Times)

Fifteen Bodies Recovered From Ground Zero - Mar 13, 2002
The discovery of a firefighter's boot touched off a painstaking, day-long dig at Ground Zero yesterday that led to the recovery of 15 bodies — 13 of them firefighters. It was the biggest single-day body find in months — and it gave grieving families hope that more bodies will be found. (New York Daily News)

Congressional Hearing Shows Problems With Disaster Investigation - Mar 7, 2002
A lack of clear authority and poor cooperation among government agencies has hampered engineering studies of the World Trade Center collapses, a congressional committee was told yesterday. Investigators complained of lack of access to the site and difficulties acquiring blueprints of the buildings that collapsed. Furthermore, no single agency stepped forward to perform a comprehensive collapse investigation until just last month. (Newsday)

Congress To Hold Hearings on World Trade Center Collapse - Mar 5, 2002
Questions about the engineering probe of the collapses will be the subject of a hearing tomorrow in Washington before the House Science Committee, chaired by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, an upstate Republican. The probe's leader, engineer Gene Corley, is to testify, as are officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute for Standards and Technology. John Jay College professor Glenn Corbett said he will ask for backing of research into the evacuation and emergency response and argue for a formalized federal disaster probe process. (Newsday)

Diesel Fuel Fire Led To Collapse of 7 WTC - Mar 2, 2002
Investigators believe a fire fed by diesel fuel stored in 7 World Trade Center may have led to the building's collapse, according to a published report. The fire, which was ignited by falling debris from the burning twin towers, raged for about seven hours before the 47-story building collapsed on Sept. 11. According to a preliminary report, the fire may have caused a group of steel beams that supported the skyscraper _ called "transfer trusses" _ to fail. (Associated Press)

Last Large Pile of Rubble At Ground Zero To Be Cleared - Mar 2, 2002
The construction of a massive steel ramp that will allow Ground Zero workers to clear a large pile of World Trade Center rubble believed to contain human remains will be completed by tomorrow, the engineering firm overseeing its construction says. Monahan said the ramp will enable workers to start removing and sifting through the last mountain of Twin Towers debris. (New York Post)

American Express Coming Back To Lower Manhattan - Mar 1, 2002
American Express is abandoning Jersey City and moving its employees back to its building in Lower Manhattan to consolidate operations that were scattered across the New York region after the World Trade Center attack. This reverses an early decision to significantly reduce the number of workers in Lower Manhattan by shifting some of them to Jersey City. (New York Times)

200 Ground Zero Firefighters On Sick Leave With Breathing Problems - Mar 1, 2002
Nearly 200 firefighters who worked at the World Trade Center disaster site are on medical leave — most of them stricken by breathing troubles.More than 100 others have been placed on desk duty because of Ground Zero-related respiratory problems, officials said. Fire Department officials are hopeful that the firefighters' respiratory woes will lessen with time and treatment, though they acknowledge some may be forced off the job. (New York Daily News)

Tribute of Light Approved for 6-Month Anniversary - Feb 28, 2002
Beams of light evoking the bases of the twin towers will soon soar near Ground Zero in a temporary memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, officials said yesterday. "It would appear that it will be built," Mayor Bloomberg said, hours after meeting with members of victims' family groups. The "Tribute of Light," will consist of two 50-foot squares of light, Bloomberg and others said. It will be illuminated from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. beginning March 11 — the six-month anniversary of the attacks — through April 13. The squares will rise above an empty lot at Vesey and West Sts. in Battery Park City. (New York Daily News)

Century 21 and P.S. 89 Reopen - Feb 28, 2002
Century 21 -- the famed retailer of discounted designer goods -- today reopened its flagship store, just steps from the devastation of Ground Zero. Nearby businesses are hopeful that the return of Century 21 will bring more people into the area and give their establishments a boost as well. Students at P.S. 89 also returned to their classrooms for the first time since the school was evacuated the morning of Sept. 11. (Newsday)

Memorial to 1993 World Trade Center Victims Destroyed - Feb 26, 2002
A memorial commemorating the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was destroyed on September 11. Only a small fragment of the 1993 memorial has been recovered, said Charles Maikish, the former executive director of the trade center. This morning, that fragment will be taken to St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church on Barclay Street for a Mass of remembrance for those killed in the 1993 bombing. (New York Times)

Relatives of Victims to Request an Indoor Viewing Area - Feb 26, 2002
World Trade Center family groups will meet with Mayor Bloomberg tomorrow to demand an indoor viewing area inside a building overlooking Ground Zero so they can get a better view of how the cleanup is progressing. Farrell said the five family groups that make up the World Trade Center Family Committee want the viewing area moved to an upper floor of a building on Liberty St. Other demands include increasing the number of workers charged with searching the rubble by hand for human remains, more frequent meetings with the mayor and access to Ground Zero once the recovery is finished. (New York Daily News)

Lead and Fiberglass Levels Still High in Downtown Public School - Feb 25, 2002
Dust samples taken this month at a Battery Park City school show elevated levels of lead and fiberglass, raising parents' concerns about the building's safety days before children are to return to class there. Levels of lead and fiberglass were up to four times higher than federal limits. The samples were taken from a windowsill in an unoccupied section of the third floor, prompting an immediate cleaning, Board of Ed spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. More dust samples taken after the cleaning were free of contaminants, as were tests of air samples taken before and after the cleaning, he said. (New York Daily News)

Hearing Brings Out Anger, Confusion Over Air Quality - Feb 24, 2002
The confusion over the air quality inside and outside buildings near ground zero was clearly evident again yesterday at an investigative hearing before the national ombudsman for the federal Enironmental Protection Agency. City and federal officials "have completely left the tenants and the residents and property owners in Lower Manhattan to their own devices to deal with the contamination and asbestos and other hazardous materials as a result of the World Trade Center," said United States Representative Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes ground zero and who presided over yesterday's hearing. "It's very clear that the city and federal government are not upholding the law." (New York Times)

First Tower To Fall Was Hit At Higher Speed, Study Finds - Feb 23, 2002
Researchers trying to explain why the World Trade Center's south tower fell first, though struck second, are focusing on new calculations showing that the passenger jet that hit the south tower had been flying as fast as 586 miles an hour, about 100 miles an hour faster than the other hijacked plane. (New York Times)

Developer Silverstein Presses To Begin Construction On 7 WTC In June - Feb 23, 2002
Larry A. Silverstein, who controls the lease for the 16-acre World Trade Center site, has a new proposal for rebuilding his office tower just to the north of the site, at 7 World Trade Center, that he hopes will finally address all the objections from local residents and downtown officials. But even as Mr. Silverstein presses to begin construction in June, some top state officials, civic organizations and community groups say they are considering whether to scuttle Mr. Silverstein's development rights on the larger and adjacent trade center site and prevent him from taking part in the broader reconstruction project, which promises to be one of the most ambitious urban development programs in the country. (New York Times)

City Calls on eBay To End World Trade Center Auctions - Feb 22, 2002
The Bloomberg administration demanded yesterday that eBay, the Internet auction company, remove World Trade Center memorabilia from its Web site, calling some of the items for sale "blatant attempts to profit from mass murder" and "nauseating." In recent days, sellers have used eBay to try to auction a flight-simulator computer program that allows users to fly between the towers, graphic photographs of people preparing to jump to their deaths, recordings billed as "911 uncut rescue tapes" and a brass World Trade Center ashtray that is described as "a real conversation piece." (New York Times)

Rebuilding Agency To Determine Indoor Air Quality Standards - Feb 22, 2002
Swamped with complaints about health concerns from people living near Ground Zero, the state-city agency overseeing the rebuilding of lower Manhattan is considering establishing a standard to determine when air in apartments is safe to breathe. Paul Crotty, a board member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said the agency should consider hiring a consultant to "harmonize" standards for indoor air quality. No legal or regulatory indoor air quality standards exist in the state. Scientists have little idea how people might be affected by the mix of toxins downtown, including asbestos and PCBs — making broad standards difficult to set. (New York Daily News)

Feds Offer $220 M For Residents Near Ground Zero - Feb 21, 2002
Anyone living near the World Trade Center site, or about to move there, will be eligible to share $220 million in federal aid to be used for rent, maintenance or mortgage payments. (New York Daily News)

Online Auctions of World Trade Center Items Draws Complaints - Feb 19, 2002
In the first week after the attacks, the auction site eBay banned the sale of Trade Center memorabilia, except for charity, through Dec. 31 after an initial outcry. Now hundreds of World Trade Center-related items are available, sparking criticisms from some quarters. eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said the company made clear from the beginning that the moratorium would end Dec. 31. The company raised $10 million for charity during a special auction during that period. (Newsday)

New Fund for Emergency Workers Distributes First Relief - Feb 16, 2002
A new charity will help firefighters, cops and other rescuers who have been injured while working at Ground Zero. Seven firefighters got $1,500 checks yesterday from the new World Trade Center Miracle Foundation, a California charity that created the Ground Zero Medical Fund. Emergency Medical Service workers and volunteers also will receive assistance. (New York Daily News)

MTA Awards Contract For Reconstruction Of 1 And 9 Subway Lines - Feb 15, 2002
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Thursday it has awarded a contract for the reconstruction of the 1 and 9 subway lines into lower Manhattan, which were badly damaged in the World Trade Center attacks. The $92 million contract was awarded to a partnership of Tully Construction and Pegno Construction. The MTA says it is saving millions of dollars because those construction companies are already working on rebuilding a PATH station in the same area. (NY1)

Independent Survey Reveals Terrible Air Quality Downtown - Feb 14, 2002
The collapse of the World Trade Center and the fires that burned at Ground Zero produced some of the highest air pollution levels ever studied, a team of independent researchers said this week. "Even on the worst air days in Beijing, downwind from coal-fired power plants, or in the Kuwaiti oil fires, we did not see these levels of fine particulates," said Tom Cahill, professor emeritus at the University of California-Davis, who headed the air-monitoring team. The findings sharply contradict reports from the federal Environmental Protection Agency that worrisome levels of metals and other pollutants in the air were mostly confined to the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero. The UC-Davis team went beyond EPA testing methods, monitoring for even tinier particulates than the agency normally looks for, and found a much higher concentration of contaminants in the air. (New York Daily News)

Con Edison Racing To Build New Substation - Feb 13, 2002
Consolidated Edison executives say that they are in a race against time to build a new electrical substation in New York City before the summer, when air-conditioning use is expected to increase to levels that could overload the electrical grid in Lower Manhattan. Officials say that they have to complete the project by the summer, which means finishing it in about half the time it normally takes. If a new substation is not built by June, the handful of substations that have been distributing electricity to customers who lost power on Sept. 11 could overload, resulting in blackouts. (New York Times)

Authorities Fail To Disclose WTC Air Health Risks - Feb 13, 2002
In the days after the World Trade Center collapsed, a team of top government scientists confirmed that the smoky, gray dust in the air was highly corrosive and a potentially serious health threat. Experts from the U.S. Geological Survey found some of the dust was as caustic as liquid drain cleaner and alerted the government agencies involved in the disaster. But neither workers breathing in the toxic air nor residents of lower Manhattan were ever informed. Their tests of air in the week after September 11 indicate that many areas had alkalinity at least as high as ammonia, and in some cases at levels of liquid drain cleaner. (Newsday)

Focus Of Recovery Shifts To 45 Damaged Buildings Near Ground Zero - Feb 12, 2002
Five months after the World Trade Center attack, the focus of the recovery effort is moving outward from ground zero to another trauma zone: a ring of battered skyscrapers and other buildings that once held 10 million square feet of floor space, slightly more than the twin towers.These wounded buildings, which somehow remained standing, are no ordinary structures: two are landmarks, one is a key communication center and another held classrooms that served thousands of college students each day. (New York Times)

Congressman Nadler Slams Feds At U.S. Senate Hearing On Downtown Air Quality - Feb 11, 2002
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler charged while testifying at a Senate subcommittee that the federal Environmental Protection Agency created “a full-scale crisis of public confidence” by assuring New Yorkers that the air was safe to breathe after Sept. 11. Nadler said while the EPA had tested outdoor air quality, no one had tested the air and dust inside the buildings near the World Trade Center site. (Associated Press)

Century 21, Popular Discount Clothing Story, To Reopen Soon - Feb 10, 2002
Century 21, the popular discount clothing store located across the street from the World Trade Center, has been cleared of dust and other debris and is ready to open later this month. While the owners declined to name an official opening date, citing concerns that construction might cause delays, the store's tawny wood-paneled walls and marble floors have been polished and sandblasted to a sheen, its fabled third floor of European designer fashions refurbished and already stocked with pristine merchandise, most of it fresh off the spring 2002 runways. (New York Times)

City Facing $7 Billion in Lawsuits - Feb 8, 2002
From recovery workers who say they suffer lung problems to business people who say their shops were damaged, 1,300 people have filed notices of intent to sue the city for a total of $7.18 billion in damages related to the World Trade Center aftermath. The vast majority are firefighters who say the city gave them inadequate respiratory protection for recovery and cleanup work at the smoldering trade-center site, according to notices filed with the city. The city is self-insured and awards from successful lawsuits would come from the city's general fund, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said. (New York Post)

New Yorkers Downtown Still Uncertain About September 11 Health Risks - Feb 8, 2002
New Yorkers still don't know what to make of the potential health risks downtown. With a lack of leadership and consensus from government across all levels about the quality of the air downtown, residents and workers are left to their own devices when it comes to figuring out how to make their homes and workplaces safe. One of the biggest concerns is the lack of testing in indoor spaces, which the Natural Resources Defense Council claims fell through the cracks. Currently it is ultimately up to the building owners and tenants themselves to determine the level of concern and clean-up necessary to insure a safe working or living environment. (New York Times)

New Wall To Keep Out Hudson Must Be Built, Says Head Engineer - Feb 6, 2002
According to George Tamaro, the engineer who directed the original construction of the World Trade Center, the "bathtub” which keeps out the Hudson River suffered so much damage on Sept. 11 that a new wall will have to be added before permanent rebuilding can occur. Tamaro, a partner at Mueser-Rutledge Consulting Engineers, believes that a second interior wall -- or "liner wall” -- must be constructed to augment the original "bathtub.” The project would cost $15 million to $20 million, he estimated. Such a project will add an unspecified amount of time to the overall reconstruction of the site. (Newsday)

City Clamping Down on Ground Zero Steel Sales - Feb 5, 2002
The city is telling scrap yards not to sell steel from the World Trade Center to companies that want to exploit the tragedy by turning the wreckage into things like souvenirs, says the Daily News. A Georgia company, International Agile Manufacturing, has been melting tons of the steel into commemorative medallions and selling the souvenirs for $29.95 each. (New York Daily News)

Near Ground Zero, a Vote to Return to School - Jan 30, 2002
Parents and teachers at Public School 89, which was evacuated after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, have voted by a wide margin to return to their school on Feb. 28, after five months in temporary quarters. The vote was 191 to 114, or 63 percent to 37 percent, in favor of returning. About 30 teachers cast votes; the others were cast by parents. The vote, tallied yesterday, apparently ends weeks of bitter conflict over the date of the return: parents questioned whether their children would be harmed, physically or mentally, by returning to the school, which is within a few blocks of ground zero. It will make P.S. 89 the sixth of the seven public schools near the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan to return to their regular buildings, bringing the schools a step closer to normality. (New York Times)

City’s Medical Examiner Releases Names Of WTC Attack Victims - Jan 28, 2002
For the first time since Sept. 11, a city agency has released a list of people who remain missing after the attack on the World Trade Center. In an effort to solicit additional DNA samples, the New York medical examiner today published its list of those who have been reported missing but whose remains have not been identified. That list contains the names of 2,189 people at the towers, on the airplanes and the rescue workers at the scene. The medical examiner has identified the remains of 693 people, including 117 people who have been identified through DNA alone, according to Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the department. That brings the total of dead or missing compiled by the medical examiner to 2,882 victims. (Newsday)

World Trade Center Stop On E Line Reopens - Jan 28, 2002
The E subway line resumed service to the World Trade Center stop Monday morning. The station is on the edge of the World Trade Center complex but was not damaged in the September 11 attack. It has remained closed - with E trains terminating at Canal Street - to avoid interference with the recovery and cleanup efforts at the site. Two exits at the station are still closed: the stairwell at Vesey Street and the old entrance to the World Trade Center mall. For now, the name of the station remains "Chambers/World Trade Center," but the MTA expects there will be a push to change it. (NY1)

Redevelopment Committee Wants WTC Debris Removed By May 31 - Jan 25, 2002
The Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee met Friday morning to set May 31 as a tentative deadline to remove all debris from the World Trade Center site. The committee also said it will begin moving its offices to One Liberty Plaza and the Battery Park Ritz Carlton Hotel sometime next week. Reports from the meeting indicate that recently two of the committee members made a trip to Oklahoma City to study the memorial built there for the victims of the 1995 terrorist bombing. (NY1)

Push for 2nd Crisis Center - Jan 23, 2002
City officials are working feverishly to create a new emergency command center to replace the 23rd-floor bunker destroyed when 7 World Trade Center collapsed. After the attacks, the command center was relocated - temporarily - to a pier on the West Side of Manhattan. A permanent backup facility is being readied in Brooklyn. (New York Daily News)

Downtown School Closed Since Sept. 11 Reopens - Jan 22, 2002
Above the objections of parents, a school in Lower Manhattan opened Tuesday morning for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks. I.S. 89 opened this morning with P.S. 89 scheduled to open in February. (New York Daily News)

Ground Zero Cleanup Defies How Jobs Are Usually Done - Jan 20, 2002
The cleanup job at Ground Zero is unprecedented in the history of the city - not only in its size and scope, but also in the speed and efficiency with which it is taking place. While initial estimates for time and cost hovered around $1 billion to $2.5 billion and a year's worth of work, it now appears that the job will be finished in nine months and cost only $750 million. Why? The primary reasons leading to this "construction miracle" have been oversight to prevent corruption, self-policing and unprecedented flexbility of the unions, and the government's willingness to expedite the cleanup. (New York Times)

Hil Says Senate to Probe WTC Air Quality - Jan 20, 2002
Hillary Clinton announced that the Senate will hold hearings on February 11 to look into the air quality issue in Lower Manhattan, particularly for the emergency workers who have been toiling at ground zero every day since September 11. Clinton also announced that she has secured $12 million to study the long-term health of firefighters and others exposed to asbestos, PCBs, and other toxins at ground zero. (New York Daily News)

Terror Attacks Take Hidden Toll - Jan 20, 2002
Posttraumatic stress disorder is afflicting much of the NYPD and FDNY since September 11. According to their own departments, 1,150 police officers and 1,800 firefighters have sought counseling since September 11. At any given time since September 11, there are 75 firefighters "off-line" for stress-related reasons - an exponential jump from the pre-September 11 average of 5 to 10. Both departments are urging their members to seek counseling, despite cultures that discourage seeking help. Experts warn that those who are not manifesting posttraumatic stress symptoms now may still do so a year or more later. (New York Daily News)

Hazardous Chemicals Were Stored In 7 World Trade - Jan 20, 2002
Con Edison reports show that 7 World Trade Center contained 109,000 gallons of oil and hundreds of pounds of hazardous chemicals in two electrical substations operated by the utility company. It is unknown what happened to the substances after the building collapsed. The substances included PCBs and sulfuric acid, both suspected carcinogens. The possibility of contamination of soil or groundwater has not been ruled out. (NY1)

Firefighters Block a Plan for Statue in Brooklyn - Jan 18, 2002
After a series of complaints from firefighters, plans to honor firefighters with a statue memorial have been abandoned. The bronze statue would have depicted a now-famous Bergen Record photograph of three firefighters raising the American flag after the collapse of the World Trade Center. However the statue would have represented a black, a white, and a Hispanic firefighter instead of the three white firefighters in the original photograph. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said that the
Fire Department will now be reevaluating what kind of memorial will be erected for the firefighters. Opponents of the statue had collected the signatures of more than 1,000 firefighters who objected to the design. (New York Times)

U.S. Agency Not Protecting Public Health, Officials Say - Jan 18, 2002
Representative Jerrold Nadler blasted the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to ease concerns about health concerns near the World Trade Center site. In particular, he cited the agency's failure to conduct widespread indoor tests to allay people's concerns about working or living near the site. The EPA has insisted that it has been the role of the city to conduct testing on nearby buildings while they focused on outdoor air issues. The city's Department of Health, which has done some indoor air testing, said that some residential downtown buildings were tested after the attacks but that the results would not be published for months. (New York Times)

Contractors at Ground Zero Denied Insurance for Cleanup - Jan 18, 2002
For four months, contractors have been working without any liability insurance covering injury and property damage claims. Insurance companies have simply declared the risk too high and the project too big. Building contractors will now be turning to Congress to provide them with coverage. They hope to convince Congress to indemnify the city and the contractors for any lawsuits stemming from the cleanup. Workers for the contractors are covered by workers' compensation and health insurance. (New York Times)

3 New View Sites on Hold - Jan 15, 2002
Plans to construct three more viewing platforms at the World Trade Center site are now being put on hold as officials determine the necessity of extra platforms. While lines for the first platform initially extended a few city blocks, since the use of the current ticketing system, crowding in the area has diminished greatly. (New York Daily News)

Part of City Hall Park to Reopen - Jan 15, 2002
Historic City Hall Park, closed since September 11, will reopen today after police officials and Mayor Bloomberg have deemed it safe. The south end will reopen, while some of the lawns and other areas will remain closed. Access to the plaza directly in front of City Hall will still be restricted for security reasons. (New York Daily News)

Winter Garden at the Attack Site Looks to Spring - Jan 15, 2002
The 45,000-square-foot Winter Garden near the World Trade Center, one of the city's great public spaces, must now go through an extensive rebuilding effort. The public space, which featured a performance stage and a pedestrian bridge used by 80,000 people a day to get to 1 World Trade Center, is structurally sound but was significantly damaged by what engineers say was the "top ten floors of the north tower" falling on the complex. (New York Times)

Downtowners Worried Sick - Jan 12, 2002
A federal report concluded in December but just released last week confirms what many Lower Manhattan residents already know: many people are displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress and physical distress due to the World Trade Center attacks. The report describes a "high proportion of the population" experiencing symptoms related to respiratory irritation. (New York Post)

Migrants Did Dirty & Dangerous Work - Jan 11, 2002
Contractors have plucked up to 600 illegal immigrants off street corners to scrub potentially toxic dust out of buildings near the World Trade Center - without giving the workers safety training or protective equipment, the Daily News reported today. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office is investigating labor law violations allegedly committed by several cleaning companies near the disaster site. (New York Daily News)

Studies Will Take Sept. 11's Measure in Health Effects - Jan 11, 2002
Public health researchers from New York hospitals and universities are are beginning an ambitious series of long-term studies to identify and then track a wide range of people who lived through the World Trade Center attack. These studies range from investigating cases of pregnant women near ground zero to building a registry of every single person that has worked, even if only for one day, at the World Trade Center site. (New York Times)

PATH Train Found at Ground Zero - Jan 10, 2002
Recovery workers at Ground Zero have uncovered a commuter train lying
underneath the rubble of the World Trade Center, but no bodies were found inside the train, officials said. (Associated Press)

Tickets Ease Ground Zero Waiting - Jan 9, 2002
The huge lines leading to the Ground Zero viewing platform all but disappeared yesterday as the city began handing out free, time-stamped tickets to the daily throngs of visitors. Now, instead of waiting in the cold for hours, visitors must go to the South Street Seaport to pick up tickets good for a specific half-hour period. Under the new system, 5,500 people per day can visit the platform. (Newsday)

NYC to End Count of WTC Victims - Jan 9, 2002
City officials are close to determining a final count of the people who were killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, police said Wednesday. The city's total has stood at 2,893 for three days, decreasing from near 7,000 in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11 attacks. Officials eliminated mistakes and duplicated entries in missing-person reports, and the tally could still be reduced further, said police department Chief Charles Campisi, who heads the effort. "We're very, very close," Campisi told The Associated Press. "I would say we're 99 percent there." (Associated Press)

Still Digging for Lost Sons After a Million Tons of Pain - Jan 8, 2002
There exists a sad fraternity of men at ground zero, a dozen or so who lost their sons or brothers in the cataclysm of Sept. 11. For almost all of the 118 days since, most of these men have spent the daylight hours in search of their kin. While the news turns to rebuilding and memorials, these firefighters and rescue workers continue their search. (New York Times)

City to Give Out WTC View Tickets - Jan 8, 2002
In an effort to control the huge throngs that line up daily for a glimpse of Ground Zero, the city will issue free, time-limited tickets to the public viewing stand starting tomorrow. Starting tomorrow afternoon, time-stamped tickets will be distributed free - two per person - at the South Street Seaport Museum. Up to 100 people will be allowed on the viewing stand for 15 minutes at a time. (New York Daily News)

Anguished Search for Traces of the MissingAnguished Search for Traces of the Missing - Jan 6, 2002
Investigators are combing through literally billions of pieces of debris at the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, now home to the 900,000 tons of rubble carted away from the World Trade Center site. So far, 1200 wrecked and burnt-out vehicles have been found at the site, as well as 2900 human body parts. The effort includes hundreds of New York police detectives and federal agents working from 5 A.M to midnight every day. (New York Daily News)

Mercury Concern at WTC - Jan 5, 2002
Workers at Ground Zero called for more comprehensive health tests yesterday after four Port Authority police officers assigned to the site showed elevated levels of mercury in their blood. According to Port Authority spokesman Allen Morrison, it is unclear how they were exposed to the mercury. Air and water samples taken near Ground Zero since September by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have not turned up any detectable levels of mercury, officials said. (New York Daily News)

Changes Continue at Ground Zero - Jan 4, 2002
Changes continue at Ground Zero as a viewing platform opened to the public at Church Street and Fulton Street last week. Now that most of the larger rubble has been cleared away, two of the largest cranes at the site are being dismantled. Cleanup work will now be consolidated under the direction of Bovis Lend Lease, one of the four contractors that have been assisting in the cleanup since September 11. (Associated Press)

At Ground Zero, Uneasy Agreement on Final Rite - Jan 1, 2002
Suggestions from construction workers, firefighters, victims' relatives and anyone else with a direct link to the disaster site helped inform Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's final decision to hold a simple ceremony on Thursday, with an empty stretcher, a truck carrying the last girder, a little music and a lot of silence. But some family members have accused the mayor of increasing their pain by choosing to hold the ceremony on a weekday, rather than on a weekend. Some have even suggested that he simply did not want his weekend disrupted. (New York Times)

Ground Zero Ceremony Stirs Emotion - Jan 1, 2002
The place where the World Trade Center once towered evokes a flood of contradictory emotions. The recovery effort ends today, but no matter what building, park or memorial is erected on its site, Ground Zero will never disappear from New Yorkers’ collective consciousness. People whose lives changed forever at that spot describe what’s being left behind. (Newsday)

Feds Find Ground Zero Asbestos Free By 9/18 - Jan 1, 2002
The air at Ground Zero was free of hazardous levels of toxic contaminants, such as asbestos, just a week after the twin towers collapsed, U.S. health officials said yesterday. The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that none of the 1,174 air samples taken by city and federal officials between Sept. 18 and Oct. 4 showed asbestos levels exceeding federal safety levels. (New York Daily News)

9/11 Counseling Sought for Fire Dept. - Jan 1, 2002
After two suicides by paramedics who worked extensively at Ground Zero, the city’s paramedics union called on the Fire Department yesterday to implement mandatory counseling for those who worked at Ground Zero. (Newsday)

At Tower Site Vast Top Seen As Memorial - Jan 1, 2002
For months now, Larry Silverstein and his house architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, have been quietly drafting plans for a massive office building on the World Trade Center site that would equal the former Twin Towers in height, but with one significant difference: The top would be an uninhabited "memorial" structure that would fade into the clouds, suggesting a height beyond conventional measure. (New York Observer)

9/11 Counseling Sought for Fire Dept. - Jan 1, 2002
After two suicides by paramedics who worked extensively at Ground Zero, the city’s paramedics union called on the Fire Department yesterday to implement mandatory counseling for those who worked at Ground Zero. (Newsday)

9/11 Paramedics Counseling Sought - Jan 1, 2002
After two suicides by paramedics who worked extensively at Ground Zero, the city’s paramedics union called on the Fire Department yesterday to implement mandatory counseling for those who worked at Ground Zero. (Newsday)

- Jan 1, 2002
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Flushing Cemetery Dedicates WTC Memorial - Jan 1, 2002
To help preserve the memory of those who perished in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, Flushing Cemetery has dedicated a new memorial. The World Trade Center Memorial features a 6 1/2-foot-tall granite slab depicting the twin towers. On either side of the slab is a granite block, the left block dedicated to the victims and the right to those involved in the rescue efforts. (New York Daily News)

Rebuilding May Expand Beyond Site, Include Housing - Jan 1, 2002
The agencies overseeing the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site have begun to look beyond the 16 acres where the twin towers stood for locations for some of the office and retail space that was lost at the site, officials said yesterday. Plans for rebuilding in these areas near the site may include housing. (New York Times)

Small Businesses Benefiting Most Downtown, Report Says - Jan 1, 2002
More than nine months after the attack on the World Trade Center, economic recovery grants totaling $292 million have been made to thousands of lower Manhattan businesses. 75 percent of the economic aid distributed so far has gone to some 11,700 small businesses that employ an average of 10 people. (Independent Budget Office)

Statue Will Salute Bravest Flag Raisers - Dec 21, 2001
A statue inspired by three firefighters who raised the American flag amid the rubble of the World Trade Center was unveiled yesterday, with officials saying it will serve as a permanent symbol of their bravery and strength. The statue, "Flag-Raising at Ground Zero," will be cast in bronze and is expected to be installed at the MetroTech complex in April. (New York Daily News)

Toppling of 'Shroud' Stirs Emotions - Dec 16, 2001
Work crews pulled down the last standing piece of the Twin Towers, four stories of steel known as "the shroud." (New York Times)

Tower Facade To Fall - Dec 14, 2001
The last vestige of the Twin Towers - a haunting skeletal fragment of one of the gleaming buildings - will be taken down this weekend. (New York Post)

Remembering the dead - Dec 13, 2001
To some, re-creating the towers would send the strongest possible message to the world that America will not be cowed by an act of terrorism. But others would like to see the site, or a large part of it, turned over to a lasting memorial to everyone who died there. (BBC News)

Remembering the dead - Dec 13, 2001
To some, re-creating the towers would send the strongest possible message to the world that America will not be cowed by an act of terrorism. But others would like to see the site, or a large part of it, turned over to a lasting memorial to everyone who died there. (BBC News)

Rebuilding WTC Area From the Ground Down - Dec 11, 2001
As a result of the terrorist attacks, more than 300,000 telephone lines were severed. About 13,000 customers lost power. Nearly 6 miles of water mains broke. The final repair tab will come to at least $2.3 billion, based on estimates by Con Edison, Verizon and the city Department of Environmental Protection, which manages the city's water supply.Insurance will not cover all the costs, and customer rates could rise to pay for the repairs and technology improvements, officials said. (New York Daily News)

At the Pit, a Night Shift to Numb the Body and Soul - Dec 10, 2001
There is no extra money for working the night shift, though there are extra
physical and psychological challenges. There are the strained marriages, the spotty eyes from the floodlights, the cold and the wind. At night, the
tourists don't line up to take your picture or slap your back. The movie
stars rarely visit. At night, it is all about the work, work that the men
and women at ground zero consider an honor to do. (New York Times)

The Battery Recharges - Dec 10, 2001
The psychological and financial damage caused by the World Trade Center attacks forced about half of Battery Park City's residents to move out -while the other half have found their homecomings grueling and painstaking. (New York Post)

Gem Of A WTV Lawsuit Vs. Chase - Dec 8, 2001
Sylvia Yamamura, a 30-year-old Manhattan lawyer, knows her precious
heirlooms lie somewhere in the fire-scarred safe-deposit vault of the Chase Manhattan branch at 5 World Trade Center - and she's suing Chase to get them back. Her class-action lawsuit was prompted by a Dec. 3 letter, sent by the bank to its 2,500 safe-deposit customers. The letter tells customers it has abandoned efforts to salvage their property.
(New York Post)

Ground Zero Cleanup To Remain A City Job - Dec 8, 2001
Mayor Giuliani is heeding the advice of federal experts not to replace city workers overseeing the World Trade Center cleanup and will not be hiring the Bechtel construction company for the job. (New York Post)

Firefighters Oppose a Plan to Record Their Memories of Sept. 11 - Dec 7, 2001
In the days after the Sept. 11 attack, the Fire Department tried to gather
its surviving firefighters to record an oral history of the day when more of
their colleagues perished than any other. It was to be a kind of spoken
monument of scarred memories, captured in individual voices, to immortalize an awful but seminal event. The department officials wanted to act fast to get the most detailed recollections, in the rawest terms. But the plan hit a wall as soon as it began, and the bid to document the department's saddest and most heroic moments has turned into an ugly dispute between department officials and many firefighters and their unions. (New York Times)

Shrine to WTC Civilian Victims - Dec 7, 2001
A makeshift memorial to the civilian victims of the World Trade Center attacks has been scaled back, while a similar nearby shrine to fallen cops and firefighters has received a more permanent home. The memorials, which sit opposite one another along a path that leads from the Hudson River esplanade in Battery Park City to the fallen south tower on Liberty St., are now strikingly disparate. Battery Park City Authority officials said the changes were made this week for maintenance reasons and to protect thousands of mementos from the coming cold weather. (New York Daily News)

Firm bidding on cleanup promises recovery of remains will remain priority - Dec 6, 2001
The company negotiating for the Ground Zero cleanup job says it will not try to speed up the recovery effort at the risk of compromising the search for human remains. Bechtel Corporation has in the past used incentive-based contracts that result in bonuses if a job is completed ahead of schedule. Incentive-based contracts are not uncommon in the industry, but at Ground Zero, where an effort to recover human remains continues, such a deal could be controversial. However, an official with the San Francisco-based firm, Bechtel, said yesterday that the firm will forego a schedule-based incentive formula in their contract if chosen for the trade center project. (Newsday)

Cleaning Up at Ground Zero - Nov 28, 2001
Mayor Giuliani is moving to award the city's biggest-ever emergency contract to one of America's most politically connected corporations. With barely a word of explanation and brushing aside four local firms that have been doing the cleanup since immediately after the attacks, Giuliani has moved to appoint the giant San Francisco-based Bechtel Group, Inc. to take over the lucrative job of cleaning up the World Trade Center site. Since the federal cleanup funds are being allocated by a Republican administration, Washington insiders see the award as a favor to a firm long close to the GOP. But whatever the rationale, Bechtel is a dream ally for someone like Giuliani with potential national political aspirations. The privately held contracting colossus was the fifth largest political contributor during last year's presidential race and poured an additional $449,000 in soft money into political coffers, two-thirds of it to Republicans. (Village Voice)