Quote:
Originally Posted by CoolCzech
We're talking about the most significant skyline in the United States, America's face to the world. It's beyond mere office buildings: it will be practically a national monument.
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That's exactly what it is. New York - and the US to some extent - will be judged in the years to come on its response to 9/11. It's why everyone agreed in the beginning that all of the office space would be rebuilt on spec (even though it's not
really new supply). Politicians, and particularly these people who run the PA are only around briefly. Witness Pataki's decision to shift the Freedom Tower to position of first built (one of his few good decisions regarding the site). Pataki is long off the scene, yet the Freedom Tower marches towards the sky. It's doubtful it would be now. If PA officials had their way now, and the towers put on ice for a decade or more, it's doubtful they would get built at all. But Silverstein's towers 2 and 3 are really not much bigger than the BofA. When the demand for new office space returns in force (and everyone knows it will), these towers would be ready - but they need to start rising now for that to happen. That's why if Silverstein needs the PA's help to secure financing, so be it.