commentMayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed yesterday that the 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center site will not open as scheduled on September 2012 due to financial disputes between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation. The Port Authority has previously claimed that the foundation owes it $300 million in cost overruns. However, the mayor, who is the foundation’s chairman, says that the Port Authority owes the foundation about $140 million.
The foundation declined comment for this story, and the Port Authority did not return calls by press time.
"There's no chance of it being opened on time; work has basically stopped," the mayor told reporters at an unrelated press conference yesterday. "We're trying to work out our disagreements with the Port Authority."
Even if the Port Authority and foundation soon resolve their financial issues, the museum would still not be completed by September, Joe Daniels, president of the memorial and museum, told DNAinfo.com in an article posted yesterday.
The mayor's announcement confirms several previously published media reports on the situation, including those from The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reported on November 21st that the $800-million-plus museum project is in jeopardy due to hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected costs.
Separately, the foundation announced yesterday that more than one million people have visited the memorial since its public opening last September.
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