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NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Future of ‘Ghost Buildings’ Shrouded in Secrecy, Uncertainty Questions of repair or raze haunt Ground Zero neighbors he 40-story Banker’s Trust Build­ vacant buildings through ing still has a 15-story gouge on its powers of eminent do­ north face. The 15-story Fiterman main. LMDC did not re­ Hall of the Borough of Manhattan turn phone calls. ■^Fiterman Community College has a corner sliced Deutschebank, the off. The 2t^story 90 West Street, a New owner of the more than York City landmark, has at least $70 mil­ 1 -million-sq-ft Banker’s lion in fire and other damage. Trust Building, also did These and several smaller buildings not return phone calls are the ghost buildings of Ground Zero. but sources say it is trying ■*»

A Having sustained collateral damage on to have the building declared un- / ' Sept. 11, they remain gtishcd, slashed, fit. Structural damage is ronsid- gouged, contaminated and otherwise ered severe. Steel from Two WTC, Sg compromised. And they stand in stark the 110-story south tower, contrast to their repaired neighbors. knocked out one mid-face column Frozen in time, these haunted ,sidelin­ line for .some 15 stories and badly ers, stabilized and either mothballed or damaged another. That brought wj simply wrapped to contain debris, are down 15 floors for one, two or the only concrete reminders of the* de­ three bays. struction wreaked by terrorists. What was Though the nearly 30-yearold once the World Trade Center is just an building did not succumb struc- open pit—benign to behold compared turally, the giant open wound was Werizon to the jarring sight of the nearby build­ a welcome mat for contami- ings. nants—asbestos, polychlorinated W* I The structures’ fates are shrouded in biphenyls and mercury possibly |y secrecy and uncertainty. Owners .say little among them. Mold has reported 8^ or won’t talk at alt, mid have muzzled their ly proliferated. design and construction teams, even According to with respect to a building’s current con­ sources, the real is­ dition. sue at Banker’.s J Some do talk on condition of anony­ Trust is not the con­ it* mity'. Invariably, the words “insurance,” tamination but its “claims” and “disputes” come up. Own­ extent. The dust ap­ ^Gardef F ers want one thing. Insurers want anoth­ parently infiltrated er. Negotiations stretch out for months everywhere and and months. everything, includ­ ank • New YoH For Fiterman Hall, which was six weeks ing ductwork. A gut from the end of a five-year renovation, rehab might be tlie the issue apparently is whether tire insur­ only way to ensure er for the J65-million project i.s respon­ an environmentally F sible for damage caused by the collapse sound cleanup. But of .Seven WTC. The owner says it is. The the owner wants the insurer says it isn’t. building taken Beyond insurance quagmires, wild down so it can start cards abound. One big one is the still- from scratch, say

rq unshaped redevelopment plan for sources. Ground Zero, which is likely to spill out­ At 90 West Street, side the 16-acre WTC site. Sources sug­ a steel-framed build­ gest the state’s Lower Manhattan Devel­ ing with terra cotta —* opment Corp, may take over some of the floors and terra cot-

20 ENR/SEPTEMBER 9, 2002

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