Scrivener.net

The shame of the post-9/11 World Trade Center reconstruction site.

Empire State Building was built in 470 days -- from first shovel of dirt turned on January 22, 1930, to the grand opening of the building on May 1, 1931.

We're now going on eight years after the 9/11 attacks, and the site of the former World Trade Center still hasn't even been fully cleared -- the ruin of the Deutsche Bank Building is still standing [.pdf], apparently being cleared square inch by square inch.

And now we have another announcement of yet more delays and cost over-runs. Among them, the new "transportation hub" of the center, bringing subways and PATH trains connecting to New Jersey into it, which was supposed to open in 2006, now has its opening put off until 2014, and ...

There's a 90% certainty that building the grandiose train hall and its infrastructure ... will cost [$4.4 billion] three times the $1.5 billion spent for the original World Trade Center.

Here's a rundown of the delays and overruns so far...

FREEDOM TOWER
Original completion date: 2006, then 2011
Today: End of 2013
Original projected cost: $2 billion
Today: $3.1 billion

DEUTSCHE BANK BUILDING (130 Liberty St.)
Original dismantling date: December 2008, then October 2009
Today: January 2010
Original projected cost: $164 million
Today: $274 million

WTC TOWER 2
Original completion date: 2012
Today: Larry Silverstein projects end of 2014 or early 2015; PA says fully rented by 2026; building could become stump.

WTC TOWER 3
Original completion date: December 2011, then 2012
Today: Fate of building unknown; could become stump. PA projects construction to begin in 2026, completion in 2030.

WTC TOWER 4
Original completion date: December 2011, then 2012
Today: Late 2012 or early 2013
Original projected cost for T2, T3 and T4 combined: $6 billion
Today: Projected $7 billion

WTC TOWER 5 (on site of 130 Liberty St.)
Original completion date: 2012
Today: Abandoned

9/11 MEMORIAM & MUSEUM
Original completion date: 2009
Today: Soft opening, Sept. 11, 2011 (10th anniversary); museum opening, 2012
Original projected cost: $530 million
Today: $610 million, with $90 million contingency

TRANSPORTATION HUB
Original completion date: 2006, then 2009, then 2011, then June 2014
Today: 90 percent chance of missing June 2014 opening date
Original projected cost: $2.2 billion, then $3.2 billion
Today: 90 percent chance of busting $3.2 billion budget, 50 percent chance of costing $3.8 billion, 10 percent chance of costing $4.3 billion

[NY Daily News]

After 9/11 people said, "If we don't rebuild the terrorists will have won."

We've beaten ourselves.