New York, NY –
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been pushing the federal government to pay for security costs if the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and four other 9/11 detainees are held in Lower Manhattan.
Now, he says, he just wishes President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder would consider another location.
"It would be great if the federal government could find a site that didn't cost a billion dollars, which using downtown will," the mayor says. "And it will also impact traffic and commerce."
The mayor has suggested the trial be held at a military base instead, because it would be easier to provide security and farther from crowds. The current security plan in place will cost at least $200 million a year.
An area business group is also calling for the trials to be moved.
The Real Estate Board of New York says holding terror trials in Lower Manhattan will paralyze business, disrupt commutes, and re-traumatize a community still recovering from 9/11.
The real estate board's president, Steven Spinola, says that the city's estimated cost of $200 million a year for security is too low.
"You haven't calculated the full cost because you're going to have to provide grants or loans to businesses to get through this trial," he says.
After 9/11, businesses received large grants and loan programs to revive commerce in the neighborhood.
Spinola and other business leaders have contacted federal officials to urge them to choose another location.
No start date has been set and the trials could take years.
Ailsa Chang is an award-winning journalist who covers criminal justice, terrorism and the courts for WNYC. She found her way into public radio after practicing law for five years, and can definitely say that walking the streets of New York City with a microphone is a lot more fun than being holed up in the office writing letters to opposing counsel.
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