A gaggle of high-powered pols from New York and New Jersey are pushing for approval of $1.2 billion in loans to build Silverstein Properties’ 3 World Trade Center.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Councilwoman Margaret Chin and State Senator Daniel Squadron wrote a letter to governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie, who jointly control the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, urging them to back the planned tower.
“We are writing to urge the Port Authority to approve the financing agreement that will allow the construction of 3 World Trade Center to continue,” Silver wrote. “This would be a historic achievement that would bring us one step closer to fulfilling our shared goal to rebuild the heart of downtown business district, which was destroyed on 9/11.”
The letter went out last week, ahead of a planned Wednesday vote among the Port Authority’s nine board members. A debate over Larry Silverstein’s quest for the funding has split between those who view 3 World Trade Center as the final piece of the area’s post-Sept. 11 rebirth and those who say the tower would create a glut of office space in the area. [Crain’s] — Julie Strickland