NEW YORK, NY December 08, 2005 —The city economic development agency will only approve liberty bonds for developer Larry Silverstein if he completes re-construction of the World Trade Center site on a specific time table, officials said today. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein has more.

REPORTER: Mayor Bloomberg and the Port Authority have spoken openly about their desire to remove Silverstein entirely from the project. At hearings today, Bloomberg's economic development chief Andrew Alper said the city is raising the bar for Silverstein's participation in rebuilding.

Alper said that "several major sticking points" need to be worked out before the city will approve $3.5 billion in liberty bonds. The sticking points include a construction timetable, allowing for more retail space, and curtailing Silverstein's fees.

ALPER: We're happy to have him make a profit but we don't want to take excessive development fees that would detract from the liberty bonds and the insurance proceeds that are available to reconstruct.

REPORTER: Senator Charles Schumer said today he believes the bonds should be tied to Silverstein's ability to fill the mostly-empty WTC with tenants. For WNYC, I'm Andrea Bernstein.