March 5th - March 9th, 2012

Dual WTC Communications

March 5 – The NY Post reports, the disagreement between City Hall and the Port Authority over the design of a unified radio system for cops and firefighters at the new World Trade Center is costing taxpayers $12 million.

That’s because while the PA is building its own controversial radio system at the WTC — at a separate cost of $130 million to the bi-state agency — the city, is also spending $12 million to unilaterally expand its own communications system at the site.

The city funds will come from the federal counterterrorism grants already dispatched to Albany, sources said.

Developers Plans 1 WTC Antenna

March 6 – The Wall Street Journal reports, the builders of 1 World Trade Center in New York plan to offer to transmit radio and television signals from the skyscraper’s spire, potentially competing with the Empire State Building.

The Durst Organization is close to an agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 1,776- foot tower under construction in lower Manhattan, to build and operate an broadcast antenna atop the building, they said today in a joint statement. The Durst Organization oversees the development as an equity partner with the bi-state agency.

The Durst firm agreed to spend about $7.4 million to build the 1 World Trade Center antenna, according to the statement. It is prepared to pay another $20 million more in “tenanting costs” to enable broadcasters to use the spire, which is expected to generate about $10 million a year in revenue.

Playground is Dedicated to 9/11 hero Moira Smith

March 8 – New York Daily News  reports, on Saturday at 11 a.m., the playground in Madison Square Park will officially be named PO Moira Smith Playground.

“I was first approached about this idea by City Council President Christine Quinn down at Ground Zero when President Obama visited last year," says Smith. "She made good, naming a playground for Moira in the confines of her old 13th Precinct. I was deeply touched because Moira used to do walk-and-talks through this park as a community policing officer. She loved the park. It's a green oasis in a concrete desert, filled with business people eating lunch, young people, and now parents like we once were taking their kids, going to a playground named for her."

The police officer and mom, Moira Smith was patrolling the 13 Precinct on Sept. 11, 2001, when the first hijacked plane flew into the World Trade Center and was in Tower 2 when it collapsed.

1 WTC Top Out Delayed

March 8 -- Though the weather was unseasonably warm this January it was also unusually windy. Because of that, the Port Authority had to halt the erection of steel on One World Trade Center for a considerable number of days for safety reasons. Due to the weather, it’s  now clear that they won’t make their original April target date to top off the iron work, reported CBS New York.

Port Authority executive director Patrick Foye said Thursday that “significant progress is being made. I spoke to the team today. We expect this spring, especially with the unseasonably warm weather, to be a very active time and we think there will be a topping off. I’m not gonna give you a date.”

The steel is now at the 93rd floor and will top out at 104. The building will be completed in late 2013 or early 2014 and will be 1,776-feet-tall. That will make it the tallest building in the country.

WTC Arts Center Names Boepple

March 8 – The Wall Street Journal reports, nearly two months after a board was named to create a performing-arts center at the World Trade Center, the institution has passed two important milestones: It has been granted nonprofit status and hired its first staffer to help bring the institution into being.

The new hire is Maggie Boepple, a former president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and government affairs consultant for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other agencies.

Ms. Boepple, 65 years old, will serve as senior adviser to the arts center board.

New Seaport Pier 17 Plans Unveiled

March 9 --  The Howard Hughes Corp., the Seaport's owner, unveiled a sweeping new plan Thursday to redevelop Pier 17, reported DNA.info. The plans include tearing down the existing shopping center and replacing it with high-end stores and restaurants housed in a modern all-glass structure.

"We're very excited to unveil this," Chris Curry, the company's senior executive vice president for development, told a packed Community Board 1 meeting Thursday night. "We're really happy to be here after many months of work."

Pending city and public approval, Curry hopes to begin construction in 2013 and open the airy new Pier 17 building in 2015.