Talks between World Trade Center developer, site owner extend past deadline through weekend

WTC redevelopment talks extended through weekend

NEW YORK — The owner of ground zero and a developer are talking past a deadline set by New York City’s mayor to work out their differences.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Larry Silverstein and the agency that owns the World Trade Center site agreed to talk through the weekend and plan to have an update Monday.

Bloomberg set a Thursday deadline for Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to agree on how many office towers should be built at ground zero and who should pay for them.

Silverstein — who leased the trade center towers weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks and has the rights to build three skyscrapers there — wants the Port Authority to guarantee financing to build two towers. The agency has said it can only finance one in a tight real estate market.