Fulton Street Transit Center

With The Times giving details today on the changes being considered to the Santiago Calatrava-designed PATH hub, we caught up with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver out at the Democratic National Convention in Denver to get his reaction to the news that the Port Authority may put columns in the signature main hall of the station, which was to be open.

Mr. Silver did not take a firm position either way, but signaled openness to scaling back the aesthetics of the planned iconic station.

"Obviously, the functional purpose of it is still important, and we ought to watch that we get what's going on there as quickly as possible, get it moving," he said.  read more »

Three days after the MTA acknowledged it would have to scrap the iconic entrance to its Fulton Street Transit Center, Governor Spitzer spoke on the effects of rising construction costs at a New York Building Congress luncheon today at the Mandarin Oriental, warning of challenges ahead.

Much of the rise cannot be controlled, as the acting force is global demand for construction materials, he said, along with the rising costs that come locally from having so much construction.  read more »

Construction of the new W.T.C. at ground zero began … yesterday. A 168-foot-long gentle S curve, anyway, that curves through the south tower footprint, says The Times.

It's from yesterday, but this article on proposed federal tax changes should give new homeowners the chills.

Also in The Times, a rundown of the Mayor's affordable-housing record.

Speaking of the Mayor, the Post reports that he wants Governors Island to be developed into a public-health research center.  read more »

The Ground Zero Small Business Association, representing 140 businesses and 700 workers, is struggling to get a fairer deal from the M.T.A. for its members' displacement by the Fulton Street Transit Center, says The Sun.

-Matthew Grace