Manhattan, NY – The owner of the World Trade Center site said it is at least a month behind on a deadline to turn over part of the site to a private developer and will pay at least $9 million in fines.
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The Port Authority had a Tuesday deadline to excavate foundations for two of five planned office towers and turn the land over to private developer Larry Silverstein, or pay Silverstein $300,000 for every day it was late.
The deadline — and penalties — were worked out last year in a contentious renegotiation of Silverstein's lease that officials said would help speed up long-stalled development at the 16-acre site.
The agency's executive director, Anthony Shorris, said today that contractors worked 20-hour-a-day schedules for months and removed 300,000 tons of material so far, but could not finish by the deadline.
"They were ambitious goals. We did our best to meet them," Shorris said. "This is an enormous project. … I wished we'd be right on schedule."
The agency said it would finish the foundation for one of the planned office towers in two weeks, and for the next tower two to four weeks later, meaning it will pay Silverstein $9 million to $13.5 million in fines.
Shorris said the job's contractor will not receive a $10 million bonus it was to get if it finished the project on time. [AP]
They gained 10 million by not paying the 10 million bonus to the contractor.
As long as they can raise tolls on teh bridges to keep paying fines, they have no reason t obe fiscally responsible.