- Nov 27, 1999
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NEW YORK -- Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg met Wednesday with World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein and agreed that the Freedom Tower must be redesigned to address security concerns raised by the New York Police Department.
"We believe that a building that meets the NYPD standards can be built consistent with (architect) Daniel Libeskind's master site plan," Pataki said in a statement.
The meeting took place in Pataki's Manhattan office and included Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials and police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. It occurred after plans for the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower were thrown into disarray by a security assessment the police department provided to Silverstein last month.
Rebuilding officials have said the completion of the tower, scheduled for 2009, would be delayed by up to a year to address the security issues. The tower would be the tallest in the world.
Silverstein said the meeting with the governor and the mayor was extremely productive.
"I thank them, as well as the police commissioner and other rebuilding partners, for their personal involvement and outstanding leadership," Silverstein said.
A preliminary design for the tower will be released in the next several weeks, said Kevin Rampe, the LMDC president who is leaving at the end of the month.
The cornerstone for the tower was laid on July 4, 2004, but the police department's assessment forced the architects to rethink elements of the structure, including its location on the northwest side of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, which is owned by the Port Authority.
Police have declined to talk specifically about their concerns, citing security reasons.
Pataki: Freedom Tower Must Be Redesigned :Q