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Title: WTC7-Larry Silverstein
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URL Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0scE7bQWdk
Published: Mar 1, 2007
Author: Youtube video: Larry Silverstein Intervi
Post Date: 2007-03-01 11:25:53 by honway
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http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7943&postcount=1 New York Observer March 13, 2003 Mike Sees City Taking Control At Ground Zero by Tom McGeveran The Bloomberg administration is pursuing a strategy to take over the World Trade Center site that will likely increase pressure on developer Larry Silverstein to abandon his interests in the rebuilding effort, according to a Port Authority source familiar with the city’s position. Mr. Silverstein, who headed a consortium that signed a 99-year lease on the site six weeks before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, has asserted his right to rebuild without reducing the 10.5 million square feet of office space or 600,000 square feet of retail space that existed in the complex. That condition has vexed rebuilding authorities, who must also set aside property for a substantial memorial, a massive transit hub and a restored street grid on the 16-acre site. But now, sources say, there has been progress in talks between the Port Authority and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff about a proposed swap that would trade the 16 acres at Ground Zero, owned by the Port Authority, for the land beneath Kennedy and La Guardia airports, owned by the city and leased to the Port Authority. Those talks are part of an ambitious scheme to wipe the slate clean at Ground Zero, * *allowing the city to remove many of the conditions written into Mr. Silverstein’s lease with the Port Authority. It’s a strategy that could drastically alter plans for the site, provided the city can persuade Mr. Silverstein and Westfield America, the American arm of the Sydney-based global megamall developer Westfield, to give up their leases. Port Authority executive director Joseph Seymour has said that talks on the land swap would continue through the spring and reach a resolution by the summer. Mr. Silverstein has said he doesn’t particularly care if the city replaces the Port Authority as his landlord, but the pressure on him to abandon his claim on Ground Zero is likely to intensify if Mr. Doctoroff has his way at the site. While there is little more than hushed discussion of the topic, the city would appear to have the option of condemning Mr. Silverstein’s lease if it took over the deed. While there is some disagreement on the matter in legal circles, the Port Authority has asserted that since the bistate agency was created by an act of Congress, neither the city nor the state government can condemn land it controls. If the city held the deed, that would no longer be the case. The leaseholders would have to be given fair market value for the property—which several sources have currently estimated at $1 to $2 billion—but could be compelled to leave if a public benefit would be secured by kicking them out. That severe approach is unlikely. The scenario laid out by Port Authority sources is more complex: The city would obtain the deed to the World Trade Center, along with a one-time payment still under discussion, in exchange for the land under the airports. The one-time payment that Mr. Doctoroff is proposing—which would reflect back payments on the Port Authority’s lease on the airports—is somewhere around $900 million to $1 billion. Most likely, the city would attempt to buy the leaseholders out of Ground Zero with those funds, rather than forcing their hand with a condemnation procedure. According to Swiss Re Inc., the lead insurer on the World Trade Center, the insurance proceeds from the destruction of the towers would then revert to the city, after some payouts were made to Mr. Silverstein, the Port Authority and Westfield. "There are stipulated insurance parties: Silverstein, the Port Authority and others," said Swiss Re chairman Jacques Du Bois. "What would have to happen is, in buying out Silverstein, they’d have to include that [the city] would have the right to the insurance proceeds." That money would then be used to implement Mayor Bloomberg’s plan for lower Manhattan, released last year, and to provide infrastructure improvements in and around the World Trade Center site to attract development of an unspecified nature—but without the specific requirement of 10 million square feet of office space or 600,000 square feet of retail space. Mr. Doctoroff has attracted criticism from Mr.Silverstein for meeting privately with Swiss Re executives to discuss the insurance payouts expected on the property. Mr.Dubois has suggested that the insurer would offer a more generous insurance settlement if the city were the client rather than Mr. Silverstein; litigation between Mr. Silverstein and Swiss Re over his insurance payout has become that heated. But in recent appearances, Mr. Silverstein has attempted to highlight his personal connection to the World Trade Center site. As part of a public-relations blitz that is now largely over, Mr. Silverstein appeared on Charlie Rose on Feb. 27 and reminisced about his longtime attachment to the site. "I always say to myself," he told Mr. Rose, "since I’ve spent this enormity of time and had this major commitment to rebuilding, having suffered what I suffered, what purpose is served by taking me out?" Mr. Silverstein told Mr. Rose about the day in 1987 that construction was finished *on 7 World Trade Center, the only portion of the site that Mr. Silverstein has an * *uncontested right to rebuild. (Construction has begun, even though no tenant has promised to move in.) "Looking up at this major building that I had just built, the Twin Towers dwarfed it," he said. "And I thought,‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to some day own that real estate?’" Five years later, in the final phases of the bidding process for the 99-year lease, Mr. Silverstein was crossing the street at the intersection of Madison Avenue and 57th * * * Street when he was struck by a drunk driver. His pelvis was shattered. The dizzying final days of preparing his *company’s bid on the World Trade Center were spent in a hospital bed, surrounded by paperwork and advisers. "I remember lying there," he said. "I said to the doctors, ‘Can you reduce the morphine?’" After a last-minute breakdown in the front-running bid, Mr. Silverstein’s team won by a hair. His son, Roger, and his daughter, Lisa, were working for him in temporary offices on the 88th floor of the W.T.C. north tower. Regular meetings with tenants in the weeks immediately following their July 26, 2001, takeover of the building were held each morning at Windows on the World. But on Sept. 11, Roger and Lisa Silverstein were running late. Meanwhile, Mr. Silverstein’s wife of 46 years had laid down the law: The developer could not cancel an appointment with his dermatologist, even to meet with tenants at his most important property. If the * *attack had happened just a little later, Mr. Silverstein’s children would likely have been trapped at Windows. As it was, Silverstein Properties lost four employees in the attack, two of whom had just recently been hired. At a meeting on Sept. 12 with his public-relations adviser, the developer outlined his public statements about the destruction of the World Trade Center. "It is not hyperbole," notes from that meeting read, "to suggest that what Larry says and does in the next several days will become part of American history. He needs to * * *display his patriotism, his vision and his humanity." But it appears that aside from displaying those qualities, Mr. Silverstein was unclear about rebuilding as of Sept. 12. The notes outline three positions. The first was a vow to rebuild: "It will again stand as a symbol of not only this city but against tyranny and evil." The second was to rebuild, but to put a distinctly populist cast on the effort: "The WTC is no longer a real estate site that belongs to a corporation—it belongs to the people of this nation. As a result a national crusade will be undertaken that allows us to rebuild this symbol of American pride and determination where the people of this nation are equal partners in this effort." The third way: "It is inconceivable that we could rebuild a place of commerce on land that has become drenched with the blood of American patriots. It needs to be consecrated much the way Gettysburg and the [U.S.S.] Arizona are now." Within days, Mr. Silverstein had dispensed with the third option entirely and publicly vowed to rebuild the Trade Center. What’s more, he has asserted his "absolute right" to be the sole developer of the site, and has asserted a right and an obligation to replace every single square foot of the office and retail space that was lost on Sept. 11. Payout Unclear He often repeats that his insurance proceeds—currently tied up in a Jarndyce v. Jarndyce–style lawsuit that will determine whether the attack constituted one or two * * * * "occurrences" for legal purposes—are the only independent source of funds for rebuilding. But it is unclear what Mr. Silverstein will receive. His insurers claim that the payout is far lower than he’s been suggesting. If they win their case and a jury rules that there was only one occurrence, the total payout will be $3.5 billion. But Mr. Silverstein’s debt on the site will eat into that significantly. Of course, if Mr. Silverstein wins, he gets just under $7 billion. When that prospect seemed the likely outcome—the State Attorney General’s office has filed an amicus brief suggesting that the developer’s interpretation of his * * * insurance policy is the correct one—keeping Mr. Silverstein around seemed a necessity. Why forgo all that rebuilding money? But with Swiss Re’s suggestion that a settlement reached with the city would be more generous than a settlement with Mr. Silverstein, that incentive is weakened. It’s no wonder that Mr. Silverstein is made nervous by Mr. Doctoroff’s private meetings with Swiss Re—though Mr. Doctoroff has claimed that they were nothing more than meetings with parties interested in the rebuilding efforts. Then, too, Mr. Silverstein has been systematically alienated from key elements of the rebuilding process. His own architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill—hired before Sept. 11 to revamp the Trade Center’s public spaces and make them more attractive to tenants—found themselves in the difficult position of having to compete with other firms to develop a public design for the World Trade Center site, even as they were developing their own plans directly for Mr.Silverstein. They teamed up with a group of artists and others to develop a plan. According to sources familiar with the situation, Skidmore was approached by key members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. shortly after the second round of nine plans was introduced to the public, and told that it was time to start working on real site designs with Mr. Silverstein and the LMDC. Skidmore eventually withdrew from the competition, but asked that its partners on the project be allowed to remain in the competition without them. The LMDC then announced that they were being removed from the competition. Now, Skidmore’s position is unclear. The site design by Daniel Libeskind has been chosen, and the Libeskinds have met with the lead partners on the World Trade Center project at Skidmore and with Stan Eckstut, who is performing an * * independent study of the site for the Port Authority. Mr. Silverstein has publicly endorsed the Libeskind plan, and it appears that he—through Skidmore—and Mr. Libeskind will work on the project together. The relationship is by all accounts amicable and cooperative, but its ambiguity is telling. And not everyone on Mr. Silverstein’s team is happy with the current situation. Sources familiar with Westfield’s position have said that in meetings with Mr. Libeskind, they felt "lectured at" about how the retail space on the site should be arranged to contribute to a sense of street life. Westfield is pressing for a large, contiguous (and unpopular) retail space, much like the retail complex below the original Twin Towers. Not Ready to Deal While Westfield shares Mr. Silverstein’s agnosticism about who controls the site, the Port Authority or the city, sources said that unlike Mr. Silverstein—who has indicated a willingness to swap some office space on the site for other space nearby—the company would not consider swapping out of the site, where 150,000 PATH passengers passed through its concourse each day. And though Mr. Silverstein has attempted to avoid difficulty over the Port Authority’s proposal to build a terminal for tour buses on the footprints of the Twin Towers—beneath the proposed "memorial pit" that is central to Mr. Libeskind’s *design—the proposal has nevertheless become a hot-button issue. The Port Authority insists that the hundreds of tour buses expected in lower Manhattan daily when the Trade Center is rebuilt will need someplace to be stowed. The P.A.’s proposal is repugnant to many—including some of the architects working on Mr. Silverstein’s team, as well as bereaved family members and many who have called for the preservation of the tower footprints—but it has become a * *rallying cry for lower Manhattan residents sick of their bus-choked streets, and for businesses near the site that see the drop-off point as a magnet for business. What happens at Ground Zero may well depend on when, and how, the place is defined more than how it’s designed. Is it, as Mr. Silverstein has suggested, a symbol of pride that must be rebuilt as the mountain of commerce it once was? Or is it, to paraphrase another option his advisers suggested the day after the terrorist attack, no longer a real-estate site that belongs to a corporation, but one that belongs to the people of the city?
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3225746/site/newsweek/ Profile: Barbara Bush September 2001 Profile: Barbara Bush September 2001 "We flew to Washington on September 10, 2001, to attend several meetings and a dinner(with Osama bin Laden's brother), spending the night at the White House. The president was in Florida, but we had a nice visit with Laura. On September 11, George and I kissed her good-bye early as we were flying to Houston via St. Paul, Minnesota, where we both were to speak. We had settled down comfortably on the plane, drinking coffee, reading the papers, and working on the computer when the co-pilot came back and reported that a commercial plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center buildings. While we were absorbing this—wondering how it could be—the pilot came back and said that we had to land at the nearest airport as the second World Trade building had been hit. All planes were being grounded. Now we knew this was not an accident but a terrorist attack. I also learned later that my nephew Jim Pierce narrowly escaped injury or possible death. He was scheduled to attend a meeting on the 102nd floor of the South Tower, which was the second building hit. However, the night before, the meeting was moved to an adjacent building because the group had outgrown the conference room. Jim later learned that twelve people were in the room where he was supposed to be; eleven died.
So many happy coinkydinks for some.
Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is. ~George W. Bush How lucky was he that he had a dermatologist appointment, and that both his kids were running late that day?
Where were some of the elites during the 9/11 attack? Bush,Jr. was in Florida.
WOW, what a lucky coincidence that they BOTH happened to be running late that day!!! Why their office floor was on nearly the exact level of where that plane crashed into - they almost certainly would have been killed... Apparently God is smiling down from Heaven on the Silverstein family. But then again - Jews ARE God's CHOSEN people aren't they.
No matter how noble the objectives of a government; if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion - it is an EVIL government. Eric Hoffer
It would be very interesting to know how many employees worked in the offices where four employees were lost and how many missed work that day or were running late. A legitimate investigation would have asked those questions.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2002/02/04/story3.html Franklin unit rebuilds after 9/11 tragedy San Francisco Business Times - February 1, 2002 by Ron Leuty In a few seconds, Anne Tatlock's job turned from the daily grind of wealth management to a fight for the survival of Fiduciary Trust Co. International. But five months after terrorists turned a jetliner into a fireball that swept through Fiduciary's World Trade Center headquarters -- leaving 87 employees among the nearly 2,900 dead -- the subsidiary of San Mateo-based Franklin Resources Inc. has quietly taken care of its own while rebuilding its business. On the morning of Sept. 11, Tatlock herself had just arrived with a small group of business leaders at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha for a charity event hosted by Warren Buffett. She then heard the news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center's north tower. Fiduciary's offices, spread among the 92nd through 97th floors of the south tower, typically at that time would be filling with the firm's 650 employees. But workers had started making their way to ground level after the first plane struck the neighboring structure. Moments later, back in Omaha, a television picture flashed on a large screen, and Tatlock witnessed the second plane plowing into the south tower. "There on the screen, I saw the second plane crash into my office," Tatlock recalled.
I would like to see a list of these business leaders. Why would a billionaire need a US Air Force Base for a charity event? You think if I call my local Air Force Base they will open up the gates for me to have a charity event?
http://www.buildthememorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_lead_ATatlock Anne M. Tatlock Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Anne Tatlock joined the Investment Department of Fiduciary Trust in 1984. Ms. Tatlock became president in 1994, chief executive officer in 1999, and chairman in 2000. Additionally, she is vice chairman and a member of the Office of the Chairman of Franklin Resources, Inc., the parent company of Fiduciary Trust. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust, Ms. Tatlock was with Smith Barney & Company for 22 years, where she was first vice president and manager of the Capital Management Group. Ms. Tatlock graduated from Vassar College in 1961 and earned a Master's degree in economics from New York University in 1968. She is a director of Fortune Brands, Inc., and Merck & Co. Inc. Additionally she is a trustee of American Ballet Theatre (president 1998-2001), The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (chairman 2003-), The Conference Board, The Cultural Institutions Retirement System (chairman 1996-2001), The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Mayo Foundation, The Teagle Foundation and Vassar College. Ms. Tatlock has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Why would a billionaire need a US Air Force Base for a charity event? You think if I call my local Air Force Base they will open up the gates for me to have a charity event? not likely There was a list I read somewhere of who showed up to Buffett's breakfast buffet. I remember one was a woman CEO from WTC, another miracle.
Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is. ~George W. Bush It appears great efforts were made to be absolutely certain that not a single member of the Council on Foreign Relations died on 9/11. Anne M. Tatlock is one example.
Gee honway, PLEASE keep digging!!!!! THIS IS BECOMING A VERY INTERESTING THREAD INDEED!!!
No matter how noble the objectives of a government; if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion - it is an EVIL government. Eric Hoffer
I think Anne M. Tatlock's miracle was associated with her membership in the Council on Foreign Relations.
I recall a male CEO appearing on Larry King Live shortly after the attack. Same kind of story,he was running late or something of that sort,he lived,many of his employees died. He was very emotional in the interview. Does anyone recall the interview and/or the CEO's name?
Does anyone recall the interview and/or the CEO's name? http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0302/22/lklw.00.html BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, SEPTEMBER 19, 2001) HOWARD LUTNICK, CEO, CANTOR FITZGERALD: Every person who came to work for me in New York, everyone that was in the office, every single one who was there isn't there anymore. You can't find them. (END VIDEO CLIP) LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, Howard Lutnick of Cantor Fitzgerald. He lost 658 workers, including his brother, on September 11. How is he doing? And how is he handling claims that he betrayed victims' families? .............................. KING: There is an incredible photo in the book, taken at 8:45 a.m. 9/11. Howard has just taken his son, Kyle, to his first day at kindergarten at Horace Mann. The first day of school. At 8:46, American Flight 11 bound for L.A. from Boston tore into the north side of the WTC Tower. The picture was just a memento of his first day, Howard? LUTNICK: Sure. The classic first-day photo, my son with his, you know, wet hair around his ears, standing on his backpack right in front of the school. And I kneeled down next to him to take that picture, and basically that was the moment that saved my life, and my boys know that they saved my life by taking them to school.
#2. To: All, *9-11* (#1)
. His son, Roger, and his daughter, Lisa, were working for him in temporary offices on the 88th floor of the W.T.C. north tower. Regular meetings with tenants in the weeks immediately following their July 26, 2001, takeover of the building were held each morning at Windows on the World. But on Sept. 11, Roger and Lisa Silverstein were running late. Meanwhile, Mr. Silverstein’s wife of 46 years had laid down the law: The developer could not cancel an appointment with his dermatologist, even to meet with tenants at his most important property.
#3. To: honway (#2)
(About the quote: Speaking on the war in Kosovo.)
#4. To: honway (#2)
#5. To: All (#2)
Bush,Sr. and his wife were airborne on a chartered jet.
Henry Kissenger was in Germany.
Greenspan was in Europe.
Colin Powell was out of the country.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was out of the country.
Bill Clinton was in Australia.
Al Gore was in Austria.
#6. To: honway (#1)
His son, Roger, and his daughter, Lisa, were working for him in temporary offices on the 88th floor of the W.T.C. north tower. Regular meetings with tenants in the weeks immediately following their July 26, 2001, takeover of the building were held each morning at Windows on the World. But on Sept. 11, Roger and Lisa Silverstein were running late.
#7. To: Burkeman1, robin (#4)
As it was, Silverstein Properties lost four employees in the attack, two of whom had just recently been hired.
#8. To: robin (#3)
So many happy coinkydinks for some.
#9. To: robin, Burkeman1 (#8)
On the morning of Sept. 11, Tatlock herself had just arrived with a small group of business leaders at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha for a charity event hosted by Warren Buffett. She then heard the news of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center's north tower.
#10. To: All (#8)
On the morning of Sept. 11, Tatlock herself had just arrived with a small group of business leaders at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha for a charity event hosted by Warren Buffett.
Fiduciary Trust Company International
#11. To: honway (#9)
I would like to see a list of these business leaders.
(About the quote: Speaking on the war in Kosovo.)
#12. To: All, *9-11* (#10)
Anne M. Tatlock...is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
#13. To: honway (#10)
#14. To: robin (#11)
. I remember one was a woman CEO from WTC, another miracle.
#15. To: robin, *9-11* (#11)
(Edited)
#16. To: All, *9-11* (#15)
I recall a male CEO appearing on Larry King Live shortly after the attack. Same kind of story,he was running late or something of that sort,he lived,many of his employees died. He was very emotional in the interview.
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