Bob Hennelly
WNYC's Bob Hennelly is an award-winning investigative journalist. While at WNYC he has reported on a wide gamut of major public policy questions ranging from immigration and homeland security to power outages and utility mergers.
No New Developments for Toxic Downtown Building
The former Deutsche Bank building, severely contaminated on 9/11, was supposed to have been demolished by the end of this year.
Friday, December 21, 2007
New York, NY –
But following this summer's fatal fire, officials have no idea when it will come down. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has this update.
It has been over four months since a fire at the ill-fated vacant tower killed two firefighters. Yet, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation that owns the site is still immersed in negotiations on how to proceed.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver blames the federal EPA.
SILVER: We are the victim of the previous mistakes of the federal EPA, who basically does not want to sign off on anything because of their previous mistakes on 9/11.
An EPA spokeswoman refuted Silver's charge and the agency won high praise from Congressman Gerald Nadler's office for their work on the 130 Liberty Street project.
Meanwhile, a criminal probe continues of the circumstances surrounding last August's fire. For WNYC, I'm Bob Hennelly.
OUTRO: Last week, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told a City Council hearing his department had yet to sign off on a plan to move forward.
Once the building is demolished, the site is supposed to be turned over to the Port Authority. The plan is for JP Morgan Chase to then lease it and build a 40 story office building.
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