Tear That Building Down

On a tentatively upbeat note, it seems that the view out my windows might be improving a bit this year. Yesterday, this article ran in the New York Times. (Alternative link on wtc.com here.) It states that the deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank building (130 Liberty St.) is set to resume now that the mysterious sub-contractor John Galt has been replaced by LVI Services Inc., a demolition and remediation firm.

There has been no visible progress on the deconstruction since the fire last August. Although, there are still workers going in and out of the site every day—and lining up outside on Sundays for their paychecks.

I have to admit, I still have my skepticism. In the article are a few quotes like this:

A press release issued by the agency did not give any details about the arrangement with LVI, including the cost of the contract, the date on which LVI would start work or how long the job would take.

...and this:

As part of the new arrangement, the development corporation, Bovis and LVI have altered the deconstruction plan. As workers removed asbestos from each floor, crews demolished the clean floors. Under a new two-stage process, LVI will first remove the asbestos throughout the building and then take down the tower. Work could take another year, construction executives say.

Later on, it talks about the deal with JP Morgan Chase, who has plans to build a new 42-story tower on the site. The Port Authority is supposed to hand over the land to JP Morgan Chase in September 2008, though we all know how good the Port Authority is at finishing it's projects on time. And of course, the Port Authority has it's bases covered:

Anthony Shorris, executive director of the Port Authority, said that the authority still planned to deliver the site in September, although, he added, the agreement with Chase included a six-month extension.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. From the looks of it, nothing will change on the outside until the asbestos is all removed. I hope that doesn't take long. I'm still looking forward to having the great view of downtown I was promised when the building was supposed to be finished last fall.

(PS: I'm reading Atlas Shrugged now, and laughing everytime someone says, "Who is John Galt?" It hasn't gotten old yet.)