http://www.wtc.com/news/pas-playing-...e-for-hub-fund
PA'S Playing Shell Game for Hub Fund
May 29, 2009
Daily News
The Port Authority is playing three-card monte at Ground Zero.
Scrounging for a way to pay for the ballooning costs of its winged Transportation Hub, the agency yesterday said it would redirect $616 million from two key projects under the World Trade Center site to the Hub.
The PA is grabbing $546 million in federal dollars from the Vehicular Security Center, a subterranean screening complex for buses and trucks, and $70 million from the rebuilding of the No. 1 subway line's Cortlandt St. station.
Federal grant money originally intended for the subway and screening complex - a centerpiece of security operations - will instead help the agency fill a cash shortfall in its multibillion dollar, Santiago Calatrava-designed PATH mega-terminal.
The shell game surfaced when the PA board voted yesterday to shift Federal Transit Administration funds to the Hub.
Despite the accounting gimmick, the agency said it remained committed to funding both the security center and the subway projects from its own resources.
The sleight-of-hand took place after the Daily News last week revealed there wasn't enough money to pay for the Hub - which is near-certain to bust its $3.2 billion budget and blow its June 2014, opening date.
With Hub-related infrastructure costs added in, the tab is 90% certain to top $4.4 billion, according to a December 2008 FTA consultant's report.
"There have been substantial, significant and important changes in how the PA manages the project since then," PA Executive Director Chris Ward countered.
Noting that steel and commodity prices have dropped in recent months to reduce construction costs, Ward said he was confident the PA would meet the $3.2 billion estimate.
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D-Manhattan), whose district includes Ground Zero and who plays a key role in transportation funding, was doubtful.
"I think the PATH station is a huge boondoggle," Nadler told The News. "The cavernous empty space, twice the size of Grand Central, is a gross waste of money in my opinion."