Statement Of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

I am pleased that the Port Authority's preliminary report on the state of the World Trade Center rebuilding effort is now in the public domain.

The report verifies what I have been warning for years: that the deadlines and estimates originally pronounced by the Pataki Administration were never achievable, and that the biggest obstacle to reconstruction was and is the inability of the City and the State to provide the unified and focused leadership necessary to advance this historic undertaking to completion steadily and efficiently.

If we have learned anything from the past, particularly from the tragedy at the Deutsche Bank building, it is that the community must be involved in every step of the rebuilding process.

There are difficult choices to be made and real progress must occur. One of the first projects that must be completed for the men, women and the families who live in, work in and who visit Lower Manhattan is the construction of the Fulton Transit Hub. We should not have to wait years and years for a project that can be moved forward now.

I am pleased that Governor Paterson is strengthening the state's commitment to Lower Manhattan and I am committed to working with Port Authority Director Chris Ward, the steering committee, and the LMCCC in bringing greater progress to the rebuilding effort. I am confident that our ongoing discussions along with the requisite public hearings will produce a plan that will make wise choices, lead to real results, and place the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan back on track.