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The state official in charge of taking down the former Deutsche Bank tower says the structure is likely to remain standing into next year.

Avi Schick, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, estimated in January that the contaminated building would be dismantled by the end of the year. But at an LMDC meeting this morning, Schick says it was taking longer than expected to remove asbestos and mold and that it was more important to do the job well, than to do it quickly.

SCHICK: The city, the state, the regulators are working toward that goal. And we are not going to cut one safety corner to get to that goal.

A fire at the building last summer killed two firefighters. Schick says the building will be decontaminated by the end of the year, but may not be taken down by that time. The entire job, including acquisition, is around $274 million.