Despite Political Infighting, Construction Continues at WTC Site

Two important milestones were reached recently at the World Trade Center site: the 9/11 Memorial opened in September and One World Trade Center became the city's tallest building in April.

But the project's been beset by many delays over the years.

Reporter Scott Raab has been documenting the rebuilding process for Esquire. He was on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show discussing the behind-the-scenes dealings for the rebuilding.

In his most recent article, he discusses the different political infighting — between the Port Authority and the NYPD, between the governors of New York and New Jersey, and between various stakeholders — that has beleaguered construction.

He also discussed the ballooning cost of the transportation hub being built by the Port Authority.

"The PA was seduced by this monumentalism, which really infected the whole site to some degree," he explained.

"This idea of tribute, of paying tribute by building this lavish [building] — and having the one-name, star-architect, Santiago Calatrava, build it. It was supposed to be federally funded to the tune of $2 billion. It will come in at somewhere around 4 billion dollars,” he said.