As far as anyone knows (negotiations continue to take place behind closed doors, if at all), Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority are as far away as ever from reaching any sort of agreement.  However, while the lack of a resolution will certainly spell bad news in the long term, World Trade Center fans should know that construction is continuing at a reasonable pace right now.

You may have gathered this fact from the construction update we covered last week, but since the Port Authority could have been talking about previously achieved milestones - and since there are fresh quotes to share - the subject seemed worth revisiting.

Glenn Fidje, a Silverstein Properties construction exec, recently told Julie Shapiro, “Everybody is more or less in awe of how fast it’s rising. . . .  You come out in the morning and you see something, and you come out in the afternoon and it’s different. . . .  It’s amazing.”

Tower 4, in fact, has been growing quickly belowground, and is apparently due to reach (and move beyond) street level in September.  And we’ve already discussed the National September 11 Memorial & Museum’s progress.

So it seems that construction crews aren’t yet twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the men in suits to figure things out.  And it’s still possible, then, that all of the arguments and finger-pointing won’t actually cost much in terms of delayed completion dates.