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Jul-25-2008NYPD wins in bitter WTC security battle(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- The Port Authority has agreed to a land swap and a $20 million payment to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to help the congregation rebuild nearly seven years after the original structure was destroyed in the World Trade Center collapse, according to agency officials familiar with the deal. (More...)
- The New York Police Department and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey agreed to devise a strategy to police streets, private office towers and public facilities, including a Sept. 11 memorial. (More...)
- The timing of the security agreement depends on how quickly the trade center site is rebuilt. (More...)
- The church agreed to rebuild on a smaller footprint a few blocks east, on land owned by the state rebuilding agency that is dismantling a toxic skyscraper also damaged on Sept. 11. (More...)
- The church's 1,200-square-foot lot had been listed as one of more than a dozen obstacles slowing long-stalled rebuilding at ground zero. (More...)
- Details of a final agreement to police streets, office towers and public projects, including the 9/11 memorial and museum, are still being hashed out. (More...)
- At the time, agency officials belatedly conceded the overall plan to create new skyscrapers, a 9/11 memorial and a PATH rail hub at the site faced significant delays and cost overruns. (More...)
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The Port Authority has agreed to a land swap and a $20 million payment to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to help the congregation rebuild nearly seven years after the original structure was destroyed in the World Trade Center collapse, according to agency officials familiar with the deal. St. Nicholas will receive a parcel of up to 8,100 square feet for the new church at Liberty and Greenwich streets, approximately two blocks from its original 1,200-square-foot site at Cedar and West streets, according to the deal's tentative terms. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board of commissioners is slated to vote on the proposal today, according to the officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly before the agency's monthly meeting. [1] The Port Authority has agreed to swap land with St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, giving the agency a key parcel it needs to begin the long-delayed excavation for a security screening center. It was a rare bit of good news less than a month after the agency said it couldn't say when the World Trade Center would be rebuilt - or how much it would cost - before "15 essential decisions" were made. This will "resolve one of those 15 fundamental issues," said Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward. "It will allow us to continue to move forward in the rebuilding of the site."[2]
Thursday, the agency announced an agreement with the NYPD to establish protocols for how Port Authority police and New York City police will work together to patrol the World Trade Center site. "This plan represents a significant step forward in a cooperative venture with the NYPD to bring the highest level of security to a site that we will all be forever concerned about," said PA executive director Chris Ward.[3] After nearly seven years of bitter wrangling, New York's Finest and PA cops unveiled a deal Thursday that lets the city develop the security plan for the site - and sticks the bistate agency with the bill for security equipment. Both parties were quick to call the counterterrorism pact a win-win that pools the might of the 35,000-member NYPD with the resources of the 1,600-member PAPD to safeguard the most vulnerable 16 acres of real estate in America. "It provides a clear delineation of responsibility so that the city and the Port Authority can work together to ensure seamless security," Mayor Bloomberg said. "It's a significant step forward in a cooperative venture with the NYPD to bring the highest level of security to a site we shall forever be concerned about," said Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward.[4]
A Port Authority source said the agreement calls for the bistate agency, which owns the 16-acre site, to provide $20 million for the St. Nicholas reconstruction effort. Half of that would come from JPMorgan Chase as part of its commitment to develop the Tower 5 site. When the executive director of the Port Authority, Christopher Ward, presented his assessment of the World Trade Center site last month, he laid out 15 unresolved obstacles, one of which was finalizing a deal with the leaders of St. Nicholas.[5] Under the agreement, the Port Authority would pay $10 million and the other $10 million would come from JPMorgan Chase & Co., which made a tentative deal last year to build one of five office towers planned to replace the trade center.[6]
The agreement marks a milestone in the rebuilding effort, under which the NYPD, working with the Port Authority, will develop and implement a comprehensive security plan for the site and the surrounding area, official said. To ensure that security operations at the site are seamless, NYPD will have access to all Port Authority facilities within the area, and the NYPD and the Port Authority will develop a plan that addresses both the public streets and transportation facilities, as well as the private office towers and other public facilities at the site, including the World Trade Center Memorial.[7] New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Port Authority police Superintendent Samuel Plumeri praised the accord. "Considering the history of this site and the ongoing threat of terrorism, it only makes sense that the NYPD devote significant resources to protect the World Trade Center," Kelly said in a statement. Plumeri said he was happy the two police agencies would have "defined purposes" at Ground Zero and noted that Kelly "understands the feelings that our police officers have" about the site. "I think we did very, very well in terms of this agreement," said Plumeri, noting further decisions about the respective agencies' areas of control eventually would be resolved as more detailed emergency and contingency plans are developed.[8] NEW YORK - Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Port Authority Thursday announced that the New York City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have agreed on a plan to jointly police and secure the World Trade Center site.[7] Before 9/11, Port Authority police proudly referred to the World Trade Center as their "house" because they had control over security at the site. Under a plan the bi-state agency approved today, they will now share those duties with the New York Police Department.[8]
Before Sept. 11, security was largely the Port Authority's responsibility. "Considering the history of this site and the ongoing threat of terrorism, it only makes sense that the NYPD devote significant resources to protect the World Trade Center," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.[9]
Specific details for a comprehensive security plan must still be developed, but top city and Port Authority leaders hailed the progress that's been made so far in the long-standing effort to forge an agreement. Some family members of Port Authority police officers killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack appeared before the agency's board of commissioners as recently as last month, urging the agency not to cede control of the site to the NYPD. They said such a switch would be disrespectful to the memories of the 37 Port Authority officers who died when the Twin Towers collapsed.[8]
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have reached a tentative agreement on the site, and the Port Authority's board of directors will vote on the deal at a meeting today.[5] The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board was to consider a complicated land deal with the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at a board meeting Thursday.[6]
The New York Police Department and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey agreed to devise a strategy to police streets, private office towers and public facilities, including a Sept. 11 memorial. [10] Police from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will provide security coverage at the site's skyscrapers, PATH rail terminal and the new 9/11 Memorial.[8]
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns ground zero, and its leadership has agreed to the $20 million price.[11]
The land where the bank plans to move is taken by the 26-story former Deutsche Bank tower, a demolition project slowed by a fatal fire, the discovery of human remains from the 9/11 terror attack and regulatory squabbles. That building and the church site have stalled the Port Authority's schedule for building an underground security center for parking tour buses and other vehicles at the complex. Ward said in June that all projects at Ground Zero are over budget and behind schedule, and he said he would have new estimates in September.[6] The inability to strike a deal has impeded the Port Authority from building the southern foundation wall at ground zero and finalizing designs for an underground vehicle security screening center at the former World Trade Center site.[5] Relocating the church will allow the Port Authority to proceed with plans to construct an underground vehicle-security center at the southern tip of Ground Zero that would serve the rebuilt former World Trade Center site.[1]
Newsday Staff Writer The World Trade Center site's owner has offered $20 million to acquire the 1,200-square-foot lot of a church destroyed on Sept. 11, freeing one more piece of land needed to rebuild every inch of Ground Zero.[6] NEW YORK (AP) — Leaders of a church destroyed on Sept. 11 have surrendered land needed to rebuild the World Trade Center site in a $20 million deal with the government.[11]
NEW YORK (AP) — Police and the World Trade Center site's owner sketched out a security agreement Thursday that settles a turf war over who will protect ground zero against terrorism as the Lower Manhattan site is rebuilt.[10] Associated Press Writer July 24, 2008 NEW YORK - Police and the World Trade Center site's owner sketched out a security agreement for the area Thursday, ending a turf war over how to best protect ground zero against terrorism.[9]
The timing of the security agreement depends on how quickly the trade center site is rebuilt. [10]
The 300-member congregation's leaders have been negotiating with the agency for years over a price for the lower Manhattan site where the church stood before the trade center's south tower collapsed on it on Sept. 11, 2001.[6]
The NYPD and Port Authority have disagreed on who should police the area since hijacked jetliners destroyed the World Trade Center.[9] The Port Authority will have primary responsibility for security at the PATH train station and will oversee the installation and maintenance of all security equipment at the World Trade Center.[10]
"The next step will be to work closely with NYPD to develop a comprehensive security plan for the site," said Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority, which owns the site.[10] The stalled negotiations for the church land were listed among more than a dozen obstacles to rebuilding the site in a June 30 report written by the authority's executive director, Christopher Ward. "We're bringing a proposal to the board that will resolve one of the 15 fundamental issues presented in our assessment last month and will allow us to continue to move forward in the rebuilding of the site," he said.[6]
The Port Authority board of directors vote in favor of a deal Thursday to buy the land where a church destroyed on September 11th, 2001, once stood.[3] The assessment came after New York Gov. David Paterson sought a progress update. "It's a linchpin issue," one of the Port Authority officials said of the deal with St. Nicholas representatives.[1] The group is to include representatives from the city, Port Authority and New York and New Jersey governor' offices. Associated Press writers Sara Kugler and Amy Westfeldt contributed to this report.[10]
Nearby, plans also call for an office tower -- tentatively slated to be constructed by JP Morgan Chase -- to be built where the damaged Deutsche Bank building awaits demolition. Port Authority officials have said they expect to have more realistic timetables and cost estimates ready by the end of September for rebuilding the entire project, anticipated to cost $16 billion.[1] Amid mounting fears about protecting the site from terrorists, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly privately argued the Port Authority was ill-equipped to supervise the complex security grid. It appears he got his way in the agreement, which was approved by the Port Authority board Thursday, and interviews with law enforcement officials.[4] The NYPD appears to have won its longrunning turf battle with the Port Authority and seized control of most security operations at Ground Zero.[4] Resolving the situation with the church is just one of at least 15 key elements Port Authority representatives last month said must be settled before the rebuilding of Ground Zero could proceed.[1]
The move doesn't come cheap: The Port Authority agreed to contribute up to $20 million to help build the new church.[2] The Port Authority would have to pay the $20 million if JPMorgan opted out.[6]
The Port Authority faces one more obstacle regarding the vehicle security center. It cannot be completed until the former Deutsche Bank building is torn down.[3] The Port Authority was to do some work on the church's floor, which would sit above an underground parking facility it is building.[6]
The Port Authority secured one key victory: It was able to remain within the designated WTC area from Murray St. to Rector St. and between Broadway and the Hudson River. "The NYPD wanted to banish them entirely," a law enforcement source familiar with the plan said. "They get to stay now, but the NYPD is clearly in the driver's seat."[4] The previously-stalled negotiations were identified as one of the obstacles in the rebuilding efforts identified by Port Authority leadership last month.[3]
The church agreed to rebuild on a smaller footprint a few blocks east, on land owned by the state rebuilding agency that is dismantling a toxic skyscraper also damaged on Sept. 11. [6] The church hammered out a deal with the agency to move to a larger site one block east at the corner of Liberty and GreenwichSts., freeing up land for critical construction.[2] The agency expects $10 million to come from JPMorgan Chase & Co., which has a tentative deal to build one of five office towers planned at the site.[11] In exchange for construction funding - which includes $10 million from the bistate agency and $10 million from JPMorgan Chase, which will develop an office tower next to the church - St. Nicholas will move about a block west to the corner of Greenwich and Liberty Streets.[12]
Since St. Nicholas will rise on top of a subterranean bomb-screening facility, if the board votes to approve the proposal, it will also commit the agency to building a bomb-proof platform under the new church, which will cost an additional $20-to-$40 million.[2]
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will receive $20 million in exchange for the land.[3] The congregation at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will use the cash to build a new church a few blocks away.[11] Representatives of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church could not be reached for comment late yesterday.[1]
The church's 1,200-square-foot lot had been listed as one of more than a dozen obstacles slowing long-stalled rebuilding at ground zero. [11] A breakthrough $60 million deal that could jump start the reconstruction of Ground Zero will be unveiled Thursday.[2] The deal clears the way for the construction of the Vehicular Security Center, a $478 million central security checkpoint where trucks and buses will be screened for explosives, and also for the site's southern foundation wall.[2]
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the pact would ensure "seamless security that will keep the World Trade Center site safe and accessible."[10]
Under the agreement, the NYPD will control the streets within the roughly 16-acre parcel as well as a vehicle security center.[8] Under the agreement, a special NYPD unit of 600 officers will patrol the site, manage security operations and oversee screening and vehicle access.[10]
Details of a final agreement to police streets, office towers and public projects, including the 9/11 memorial and museum, are still being hashed out. [4] Plans for five office towers, the memorial, a transit hub and a performing arts center were announced five years ago, but all of the projects are behind schedule.[10]
At the time, agency officials belatedly conceded the overall plan to create new skyscrapers, a 9/11 memorial and a PATH rail hub at the site faced significant delays and cost overruns. [1]
The NYPD's concerns about the risk of truck bomb attacks against landmark sites forced the 2005 redesign of the project's signature Freedom Tower after police said the 1,776-foot skyscraper's open lobby and street proximity made it a likely terrorist target.[10]
SOURCES
1. Port Authority to pay church $20 million - NJ.com
2. Deal with church clears WTC hurdle
3. NY1: Top Stories
4. NYPD wins in bitter WTC security battle
5. Port Authority Nears Deal With Church at Ground Zero - July 24, 2008 - The New York Sun
6. $20M offered for church land near Ground Zero -- Newsday.com
7. Untitled Document
8. Port Authority cops, NYPD will share security duties at Ground Zero - Breaking News From New Jersey - NJ.com
9. NYPD, Port Authority agree on WTC security plan -- Newsday.com
10. The Associated Press: NYPD, Port Authority agree on WTC security plan
11. The Associated Press: Church surrenders lot near ground zero for $20M
12. New York Post
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