A rendering of the World Trade Center towers

An interim report released by the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the entire agency needs an “overhaul,” Bloomberg News and the New York Post reported.

The auditors called the agency “a challenged and dysfunctional organization suffering from a lack of consistent leadership, a siloed underlying bureaucracy, poorly coordinated capital planning process, insufficient cost controls and a lack of transparent and effective oversight,” according to their report, which was released yesterday. The Port Authority was not able to produce any documents showing reasons for the cost overruns of approximately $4 billion, the Post said. [more]

Andrew Cuomo and 633 Third Avenue

Time Equities has put Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office space on the market for twice what it paid five years ago, the New York World reported, which lends further speculation to the Empire State Development Corp’s decision to sell the space back in November 2006. [more]

From left: former Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, 80 Riverside Boulevard and Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development

After nearly three years of litigation in multiple venues, a state Supreme Court judge ruled last week that former Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was correct in his 2010 order for the return of $16 million in disputed escrow deposits at the Rushmore condominium.

Justice Anil Singh, in a 15-page decision, ordered co-developers Carlyle Realty Partners and Extell Development, to return the deposits to 40 buyers at the 80 Riverside Boulevard tower. [more]

Pratt Area Community Council Executive Director Deb Howard and construction at Atlantic Yards

Sick of the constant litigation surrounding Atlantic Yards, Brooklyn activists are appealing to a higher power: Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Patch reported the Pratt Area Community Council wants Cuomo to step in “and get this project to deliver on its promises” of bringing affordable housing and jobs to the neighborhood, quoting Deb Howard, the council’s executive director. [more]

One day before delivering a State of the State address that focused on building a new convention center in Queens, Governor Andrew Cuomo quietly entered a nonbonding agreement with the Genting Group to build a Queens center that includes an expansion of the gambling already present at Aqueduct, the Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, Hell’s Kitchen residents are already pushing a housing and parkland plan to replace the Javits Center, DNAinfo said. [more]

For all the attention Governor Andrew Cuomo directed towards a new convention center in his State of the State address yesterday, there was little mention of the $500 million renovation New York City’s current convention center, the Jacob Javits Center, is undergoing. Now, the Wall Street Journal reported, the future is unclear for the building Cuomo said is harming the state’s economy. [more]

From left: Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Aqueduct racinoIn his State of the State address today, Governor Andrew Cuomo will outline an ambitious plan to erect the country’s largest convention center near the Aqueduct racino in Queens, according to the New York Daily News. It is part of the governor’s new emphasis on legalizing casino gambling in the state in order to generate much-needed revenue. Cuomo envisions a $700 million, 3.8 million-square-foot center that would render the Javits Center, on Manhattan’s west side, obsolete. [more]

From left: Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a rendering of the Sept. 11 Museum

A $300 million dispute has nearly ceased construction at the Sept. 11 Memorial Museum, DNAinfo.com reported, and might need to be resolved in court. Now, it seems all but certain that the museum won’t open by its September 2012 target.

After initially making claims of being owed $156 million, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey recently updated the figure, saying the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Foundation actually owes it $300 million for cost overruns at the site. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is chair of the foundation, said the foundation believes the Port Authority is the indebted party at the site. [more]

A federal appeals court last week denied a request by two Upper West Side hotels to block a new law cracking down on short-term apartment rentals.

In February, the owners of the Hotel Alexander and Dexter House filed suit against former Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, claiming that the city’s new multiple dwelling law–which bans the practice of renting out units in apartment buildings and other multiple-dwelling properties for overnight stays — is unconstitutional. The owners said they had purchased their businesses– single-room occupancy hotels– based on the ability to rent units to tourists overnight. In May, a Manhattan District Court rejected their request for an injunction, but the hotel owners appealed.

The Hotel Alexander, located at 306 West 94th Street, is owned by an entity called Esplanade 94, while Dexter House, at 345 West 86th Street, is owned by Dexter Properties. [more]

Plans for the 1,000-seat Joyce Theater and performing arts space at the World Trade Center site have stalled as the Bloomberg administration waits for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to name representatives to the Frank Gehry-designed arts center’s board of directors, the institution of which is necessary for $100 million in funding, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has consistently supported the center, has picked his appointees for the board, which must be formed by Dec. 31 for the project to remain eligible for Lower Manhattan Development Corporation funding. Cuomo has not named anyone so far, leading some to speculate that he is purposefully dragging his heels, trying to win the funds for other projects. [more]