When it comes to anything World Trade Center progress moves at a notoriously glacial pace. But the decision of what to do with Fritz Koenig's Sphere—damaged and dented, but still intact after the WTC attacks— has been excruciatingly slow, even by World Trade Center standards.

Still, as of Thursday, a small bit of progress was made when Pat Foye, executive director of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said he believes the sphere should be made part of the World Trade Center memorial, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The statement came as a relief to Sphere supporter Michael Burke, who lost a brother in the attacks and has been a staunch advocate of the sculpture’s relocation to the 9/11 memorial site ever since.

“They say the sphere is reminding us directly of the attacks,” Mr. Burke told The Journal. “That kind of ignores the sphere’s existence. It’s absurd. Barring it from the site is a betrayal.”

"The point that Mr. Burke made resonates with many people in New York and New Jersey and many people here at the Port Authority, especially given the fact that 84 members of the Port Authority family were killed on 9/11," Mr. Foye said. "This is an artifact that survived and was affected by the horrors of 9/11, and placing it on the memorial plaza, we think, is entirely appropriate."

And while it's good to see some headway being made after back-and-forth debates (which were supposed to be settled back in May), especially give the impending homelessness of the statue, which has been camped out in Battery Park for the past decade but needs to be moved for park renovations, Mr. Foye's vague statement of support doesn't give many details about where exactly the 25-foot-tall, 45,000-pound sculpture will go.

Mr. Foye said that he hopes “the ultimate result will be one that is an appropriate site for the sphere and one that’s respectful of the views Mr. Burke spoke of at our meeting today.”

sgrothjan@observer.com

Naked no more. (Getty)

The Observer is both heartened and saddened by the news that the fine designers at SOM have come up with a solution for the base of 1 World Trade Center. On the one hand, this means the tower will have a nice shiny base after all to make it look not so monolithic when it opens two years hence, the Conde Nasties packing themselves in. On the other hand, it means the Port did not take us up on our brilliant idea to clad the base of the building in a shimmering curtain of steel.

Crain's got the scoop on what will be going on the base of the tower, and it sounds less delicate—literally; the original scheme kept cracking during fabrication—though no less interesting:

Now, sources said the base will be covered with glass louvers that are set at different angles on the base and lit from behind, creating an inviting atmosphere that would also reflect the nearby memorial honoring the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The glass is treated so it would pebble instead of shatter in case of an explosion, much like a car windshield does in a severe accident.

With the deal for the Greek church in place, is there anything left to complain about at ground zero?

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

It’s hoped, officials say, that new federal funds from the stimulus will push the projects forward.

“Infrastructure is huge for us,” said a state official, who said that in addition to infrastructure funding, the state is seeking help from Washington on unemployment insurance and food stamps, among other issues. “Anything that will put people back to work and get the economy flowing again in short order.”

It is unclear exactly what form a stimulus bill would take, or when it would pass. Congress expects to reconvene next week with hopes of passing a stimulus, though the Bush administration is resistant. Regardless of the rest of 2008, many legislators expect a package will be passed in the early months of the Obama administration.

Any stimulus is likely to contain significant money for public works, an approach favored by President-elect Obama and Congressional leaders, as they believe the money that goes toward infrastructure helps create jobs quickly.

Preparing for a stimulus, officials in the Paterson and Bloomberg administrations and at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have created lists of projects that could get started within 90 days if given a federal funding boost. The 90-day turnaround was a prerequisite of stimulus legislation from September that included billions for infrastructure, though it failed in the Senate and thus was not enacted. In that bill, infrastructure funds were to be distributed by the Federal Department of Transportation, among other agencies.

Given the desire to fund projects that are nearly ready to go, the ones listed as candidates are not the large, unfunded mega-projects that are years off (such as the second phase of a Second Avenue Subway), but rather an array of smaller projects that could benefit from extra federal funds.

The M.T.A., for instance, said it could get between $800 million and $1 billion worth of projects under way within 60 to 90 days with federal funding, a list that includes station rehabilitations, bridge painting, track replacement and station cleaning. The M.T.A. on Nov. 10 announced its operating deficit for the year had risen to $1.2 billion, with fare hikes and cuts looming. The agency has already delayed projects in its capital plan, as has the Bloomberg administration.

The city had a list of over $1 billion in projects, many already mostly funded with federal money. For instance, the city listed an East River waterfront access project that has a total price of $164 million, and already has $150 million in federal funding, according to a person familiar with the city’s list. Maintenance for the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and upgrades for the Staten Island Ferry Terminal are also listed.

The state has a list of 40 projects through its Department of Transportation, totaling $300 million, that it considers ready to get off the ground, projects Governor Paterson referred to when he testified before Congress in late October on states’ need for federal assistance.

The efforts seem to have the support of members of the New York Congressional delegation—Senator Schumer said Sunday that infrastructure funding should be a major part of a stimulus package—although most every state is sure to vie for funding.

“You want to get money circulating as fast as possible, and the way to do it is projects that are ready to go and are lacking funding,” said Robert Gottheim, a spokesman for Representative Jerrold Nadler, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

On a larger scale, New Jersey officials and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are looking to use any federal stimulus package to fill a multibillion-dollar budget hole for a planned new set of New Jersey Transit tunnels under the Hudson River.

The project, Access to the Region’s Core, has $5.7 billion in funding from New Jersey Transit, the Port Authority and New Jersey State, and had been awaiting about $3 billion from the Federal Transit Administration. However, the F.T.A.’s pot of money for such programs had run all but empty just at the time that ARC has nearly completed the regulatory approval process, so now Governor Jon Corzine and others view a stimulus as a possibility for closing the gap, and for getting the project started.

“It’s hard to envision a project that is ready to go as quickly as the ARC project is,” Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority, said. “Having the federal government step up would take this thing to a point where it gets over the goal line.”

ebrown@observer.com

It's been a few years.

But on Thursday morning, The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the NY/NJ Port Authority will begin construction work on the Museum and Memorial's footings.

If you happen to have NYPD press credentials, head down at 10:15.

Click right for a rendering, or below for the full release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
**MEDIA ADVISORY**
PRESS AVAILABILITY FOR START OF FOOTINGS CONSTRUCTION FOR WORLD TRADE CENTER MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that the start of construction for the footings of the Memorial and Museum will begin on Thursday, August 17th. Foundation and Port Authority officials will hold a press availability at the World Trade Center site for b-roll and photography opportunities.

On Thursday, workers will begin necessary drilling and excavation work to build the foundations for the Memorial and Museum. E.E. Cruz & Company is performing the work. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is managing the construction of the Memorial and Museum and the Foundation is finalizing the design, planning operations, creating the Museum, and raising an additional $170 million for construction and planning.

Renderings are available at buildthememorial.org, click on 'News' and 'Media Images.'

Date: Thursday, August 17, 2006
Time: 10:30am. Press should arrive at 10:15am for check-in.
Location: Gate 7. Enter at Liberty and Washington Streets.
Security: Media covering the event must have NYPD press credentials.
Contact: World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, 212-312-8800