NEW YORK—The 9/11 Museum, next to the already-opened 9/11 Memorial, was supposed to open on Sept. 11, but will not. About a year after construction was halted after conflicts over funding, an agreement has been reached to potentially resume construction.
The parties involved—Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—are portraying the agreement as one that will ensure completion of the memorial.
But a document from Cuomo’s office outlining the Memorandum of Understanding states that the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (which the two governors control) will have to review financial information from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum before moving forward.
That review must happen before Sept. 20. After the review, the Port Authority will present its review and the memorandum to its board of commissioners for approval. Then the Port Authority “agrees to accelerate construction” of the museum “to full pace promptly 10 business days after approval is received,” according to the document.
Construction, once resumed, will not stop unless the museum fails on its end on funding.
The agreement includes the creation of three entities: a task force that will coordinate any activities that would affect World Trade Center stakeholder (such as a visit by a dignitary); a working group that will help memorial staff plan major events (such as the anniversary of 9/11); and an advisory committee that will help the memorial and the Port Authority resolve any disputes that may arise in the future.
All parties involved (the two governors, the mayor, and the Port Authority) will appoint members to each body, except the mayor can’t appoint a member to the advisory committee while he is chairman of the memorial, which he currently is.
Differences Expressed Earlier in the Day
The news came after Cuomo and Bloomberg both addressed the issue publicly on Monday morning, displaying differing viewpoints.
“We have already given the Port Authority every single penny that we are required to,” Bloomberg said at a press conference, adding that the memorial had first been asked only to give “a couple million” but had later raised more than $450 million.
Meanwhile, Cuomo said on the radio show “TALK1300” that a “good financial plan” was needed since hundreds of millions of dollars still needed to be raised. When told about this figure, Bloomberg said Cuomo’s advisers must be giving him bad information. A $300 million figure is cited in the agreement document, but will be lowered to $150 million after cost reductions including lowered overtime costs.
“Very gratifying that on the eve of this important anniversary we have an agreement that will ensure the completion of the 9/11 Museum,” said the mayor’s office via microblogging website Twitter. Cuomo said, in a statement, “Today’s agreement puts in place a critical and long overdue safeguard to finally protect toll payers and taxpayers from bearing further costs, and, at the same time, put the project on a path for completion.”
One of Cuomo’s concerns was not raising any tolls to get money. Part of the agreement includes getting the Memorial and Port Authority working together to get federal funding. Also, the CEO and CFO of each entity will meet quarterly to review finances.
The museum will cost $60 million a year to run, including high security costs, and will honor the victims of 9/11 through artifacts, archives, and narratives about the story of the attacks in 2001 and 1993, according to the 9/11 Memorial website.
When asked if the museum would be done by Sept. 11, 2013, Bloomberg said, “I don’t think anybody can, with any certainty, say it’s going to be done by that date.”
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