Freedom Tower construction begins after controversy

The skyscraper is scheduled to open in 2011.
NEW YORK (AP) -- After months of disputes over the future of ground zero, state and city officials finally brought in the heavy equipment and began construction Thursday on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower that will rise on the site of the World Trade Center.
"It is going to be a symbol of our freedom and independence," Gov. George Pataki said after three yellow construction trucks -- driven by workers wearing hard hats emblazoned with the American flag and the words "Freedom Tower, World Trade Center" -- rolled down a ramp to applause from politicians.
The project has been held up by bickering between city and state agencies and the project's chief developer, and by objections, mostly from Sept. 11 family members, to the design of the trade center memorial.
But a breakthrough came this week when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, reached an agreement with developer Larry Silverstein, who held the lease on the twin towers.
Compromise made
The agency had been pressing Silverstein to give up control over the $2.1 billion Freedom Tower, for fear he would not have the financial means to complete the project. Silverman agreed to surrender control of the skyscraper and a second building, but will build three other office towers at ground zero.
The Freedom Tower is scheduled to open in 2011, and officials said Wednesday's deal means all five towers could be built by 2012. Construction has also begun on the memorial.
The project will return of millions of square feet of office space, shops and people to downtown's financial district.
"Everybody had a smile on their face and everybody understands -- if you're not happy with the design, you had your chance, if you're not happy with the deal, you had your chance," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "We've finally all come together and said what we're going to do, so now we're going to do it."
Demand in doubt
Business and civic leaders have wondered whether there is demand for that much office space downtown, and said that the Freedom Tower has not attracted tenants yet because of its height and its potential as a terrorist target.
But Pataki said: "We are not going to just build low in the face of a war against terror."
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