“Build it now” was the refrain as hundreds of construction union members lined the plaza outside 7 World Trade Center Tuesday afternoon. About a dozen industry and political leaders sounded the same refrain: demanding that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Silverstein Properties Inc. negotiate an end to the stalemate over financing of SPI’s planned towers at Ground Zero.  Read more...

Thousands of unionized construction workers, plus a few elected officials, are expected to hold a rally Tuesday to pressure the two sides warring over rebuilding part of Ground Zero to reach an agreement.  Read more...

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum won’t open for at least another couple years, but the museum is starting its programming early with a speakers series targeted toward New Yorkers. Called “9/11, Today and Tomorrow,” the series will examine the continuing impact of 9/11 on everything from security to culture. The four events scheduled so far include:

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Lower Manhattan’s commercial market is remaining stable as 2010 progresses, notwithstanding the specter of massive space givebacks as financial sector tenants downsize or vacate. A report by the Alliance for Downtown New York notes that the submarket continues to boast one of the lowest office vacancy rates in the US, while the area saw twice as many retail openings in 2009 as in 2008.   Read more...

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum has tapped James Connors to oversee the museum’s design and construction department. The move comes at a time when there are growing worries about whether it will be able to open by the 10th anniversary of the attack as scheduled.   Read more...

The agency in charge of bringing down the former Deutsche Bank Building says the project is now on target, three years after the 41 story structure was supposed to be gone. NY1's Rebecca Spitz filed the following report.  Read more...

"I describe it as a national disgrace." Larry Silverstein, the 78-year-old New York City real estate tycoon, shook his head slowly as we stood over the muddy pit known around the world as Ground Zero. It took three cameramen from "60 Minutes" to photograph the expanse of the 16-acre hole that was once the basement of the World Trade Center. True, some construction had begun, but as I stood there with Silverstein looking at rainwater pooling down below, I thought, "Nobody's gonna believe this."

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised developer Larry Silverstein for offering several proposals, including putting more of his own money at risk, to end his battle with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey over building his towers at Ground Zero. He also criticized the agency for delays and challenged it to step up to the plate and lay out its ideas.  Read more...

From the fourth deck of One World Trade Center, about 100 feet above street level, the entire Trade Center site stretches out in one big jumble of steel, concrete and machinery.   Read more...

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has announced that it has released $50 million in funds to build the Ground Zero Arts Center, the long-planned cultural venue that has been the subject of fierce debate and lengthy delays. Backed by the new funding, work on the center’s foundation is set to begin next quarter, though construction on the actual building may not begin for years. A temporary rail station currently resides on a portion of the land that the Frank Gehry–designed center is set to use. Since its permanent replacement, created by Santiago Calatrava, may not be completed until 2014, construction teams will have to wait until then to finish work on the building. At that point, though, critics argue that construction costs could be even larger than the project’s current $500 million price tag.   Read more...