9/11 SPECIAL: Pataki on WTC Site, Memorial – Part 2

On September 11, 2001, then-NY Governor George Pataki just happened to be in Manhattan. ?As the attacks unfolded, he immediately joined with NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and other city officials, helping to coordinate aid for the city and state coming from the federal government. ?So how does he feel about progress at Ground Zero?

FOX News Radio’s Chris Hoenig spoke with the former Governor about that very topic:

See images from FOX News Radio’s tour of the World Trade Center site and 9/11 Memorial HERE:

Created with flickr slideshow.

Some facts about 1 World Trade Center:

Construction began in 2006.

Completion expected between 2011 and 2014.

Slated to cost $3.1 billion.

??Steel has risen to the 78th floor.

Installation of glass curtain wall has risen to the 49th floor

Installation of concrete floors has risen to the 68th floor

Installation of podium glass will begin in 2012 to allow for construction activities ?and deliveries to proceed in this area

New York’s tallest skyscraper, antenna mast rises to 1,776 feet.

3 million square feet Class A office space.

Public observation deck on 100th and 101st Floors.

Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP.

Some facts about the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center:

Construction began in 2006

The 9/11 Memorial will be dedicated on September 11, 2011 the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in a ceremony for victims? families.

It will open to the public on September 12, 2011, and will welcome visitors who have reserved advance passes.

The combined cost of the memorial and museum is about $700 million with an annual operations budget between $50 million and $60 million. (A memorial to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that opened in 2000 cost $29.1 million.)

The Sept. 11 board has raised about $400 million from private donations and is seeking federal funds so that the memorial and the museum can be free of charge ? although it also said it’s considering a voluntary fee of up to $20.

Architect Michael Arad’s design, “Reflecting Absence,” features waterfalls cascading into reflecting pools where the towers stood.

The names of all those killed on Sept. 11, 2001 and in the earlier World Trade Center attack on Feb. 26, 1993, are inscribed on bronze parapets surrounding the waterfalls.

Set within an 8-acre Memorial Plaza, planted with hundreds of oak trees. (Memorial occupies approximately half of the 16-acre site.

Design competition elicited more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.

Additional office buildings and a new transit hub remain under construction with the museum.

The museum is due to open September 2012.

Click HERE to listen to more of our special 9/11 coverage, including Part 1 of our interview with former Governor Pataki, and our series “9/11: 10 Years Later.”