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NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

going to announce here in just a second, will have seven minutes to call us at our contest line, write it down, 212-268-WABC. And the winner, Mr. Mayor, is?

Mayor: Kevin Epstein from Manalapan, New Jersey, Kevin Epstein

Gambling: All right Kevin, you’ve got seven minutes to call us, 212- 268-WABC, for that cruise for two from Holland America on the MS Noordam which will be departing from New York City so call us now, the clock is ticking, 212-268-WABC. If we don’t hear from Kevin, I’ve got another name so we’ll get to that but hopefully Kevin will be our grand prize winner. Let us continue because you have to leave here early this morning. Ground Zero.

Mayor: Yup.

Gambling: The memorial

Mayor: Yup.

Gambling: You have strongly inserted yourself once again in that. You have made the statement that you are going to be very much in the decision making process of what develops.

Mayor: Well the City has a responsibility here. So does the Port Authority, so does the MTA. The Governor has really been the spearhead here and he’s worked very hard. This is not easy. This is probably the most complex construction project and one of the more complex projects in the country to try to bring together all of the objectives of remembrance and storytelling and economic development and so there are no easy answers here. What Eve tried to do lately is say, look, we’re four years into it and let’s make sure that what we’re building is what the marketplace wants.

Gambling: Should we be further down the road than we are? Four years later?

Mayor: You know, I think, number one the most important thing is to do it right rather than do it quickly. Number two, I think if you go back and look at it from the perspective of a decade from now, you’ll say, look, it was very complex and, yeah, they could always have shaved a month here or there but fundamentally - if people want instant solutions and some of these things, number one, are better off if you wait a little while to get the perspective of looking back, and number two, there are no easy answers when you have so much complexity from a physical point of view but we - also, incidentally, in all fairness to the governor, we’re making a lot of progress. The Calatrava Port Authority terminal is about to start, the Freedom Tower is about to start this spring, the memorial construction is about to start this spring. The City has been focusing on the rest of downtown, whether it’s parks or infrastructure under the streets or building, you know, there’s an awful lot going on. The Governor and T broke ground the other day at the new Goldman Sachs building. Larry Silverstein, in all fairness, did build Number Seven, now he’s got to rent it but he’s got a building already up already.

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