BY Michael Mandelkern
Community Board 1’s W.T.C. Redevelopment Committee met on Monday to track the deconstruction progress of 130 Liberty Street and development status of the World Trade Center site.
Josh Rosenbloom, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp-oration’s director of city operations, told the board that, despite past delays, the L.M.D.C. expects to clear 130 Liberty Street, site of the former Deutsche Bank building, for future development by the end of this month. As of Monday afternoon, 35 percent of the concrete and supporting steel had been stripped from the second floor.
The L.M.D.C. is now focused on finishing the western and southern perimeter of the site. Workers will haul in heavy equipment next week to complete the project. But Pat Moore, a member of the C.B. 1 committee, bemoaned the machinery’s clamor.
“It’s early, loud and just awful,” said Moore.
Moore said she was specifically referring to a recent Sunday when she was awoken by construction noise.
Rosenbloom replied, “It’s not going to be quiet, but not louder than a jackhammer.”
Moore, whose bedroom window is right above the Ladder 10/Engine 10 Firehouse, said she woke up last Monday morning to see construction workers removing the scaffolding and flooring from the firehouse’s roof. She questioned whether any dust that might have been under the flooring might have been toxic.
“Anything that may have come off in construction should have been minimal,” said Rosenbloom.
By the end of the week workers will dismantle the tower crane that has protruded from the site for the past five years. Rosenbloom called the crane’s removal “a positive milestone for the community.”
Employees are still working on the sewage system on the west side of Greenwich Street for the Port Authority’s future Vehicle Security Center, which will be constructed below the 130 Liberty site, and is set to be completed by 2013. Rosenbloom confirmed that the Port Authority will get full construction access to the site in February, but said that control over 130 Liberty Street is a “more complex real estate issue.” The site is set to change hands, from the L.M.D.C. to the Port Authority, after the building is completely town down.
Construction workers will continue to work from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and Sunday when necessary. The recent blizzard that hit New York City, cold temperatures and heavy dust clouds through the deconstruction have hindered some steady work.
The Port Authority touted progress made on the W.T.C. site as a whole.
“There’s a lot of buzz and enthusiasm for the 10th anniversary of 9/11,” said Quentin Braithwaite, the Port Authority’s assistant director of W.T.C. construction. “A great majority of infrastructure is in place,” he added, “including the memorial pools where Towers One and Two once stood.”
Tower One is now 54 stories high, about halfway done by Braithwaite’s estimate. About 100 trees have been planted throughout the memorial pavilion. The waterfall in commemoration of those killed on 9/11 began running in one the fountains last October and the second fountain is expected to start flowing sometime in late February or early March.
Both One and Four World Trade Center are set to be completed by the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014.
