WTC Developer Asks Court
To Make Insurers Uphold Deal

The World Trade Center developer asked a court Monday to declare that insurers not be allowed to back out of billions in payments on the destroyed twin towers following a recent reshuffling of the rebuilding plan.

Developer Larry Silverstein and the owner of the site, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, filed a complaint in Manhattan's State Supreme Court alleging that several insurance companies -- which control billions of dollars in rebuilding funds -- have indicated they might not continue to make payments.

The complaint says the insurers have been dodging responsibilities ever since an April agreement between Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority that redivided the financing and duties for building office towers at the WTC site.

The insurance companies "have persistently sought to shirk their contractual obligations" on the payments and have refused to promise Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority that the new agreement won't interfere with future insurance funds, the plaintiffs said.

Rebuilding officials say the agreement will speed up the timetable to build five office towers at the 16-acre site and ensure the project, including a Sept. 11 memorial, will be built by 2012.

Officials also acknowledge, however, that the agreement isn't final and depends upon government commitments that haven't been reached yet to lease hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space at the site. Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority are concerned the insurers see that uncertainty as wiggle room.

At a state assembly committee hearing last month, Mr. Silverstein described his frustrations with the companies and said "the World Trade Center cannot be rebuilt" without the insurance money.

Mr. Silverstein has been awarded $4.6 billion in insurance to pay rent for rebuilding rights and to build the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower.

Swiss Reinsurance Co., which provides the largest share of insurance for the trade center and has said it plans to continue paying, wasn't one of the seven companies named in the complaint. Others declined comment or didn't immediately return calls.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki have recently weighed in on the matter; both said Friday the next step should be legal action. "Our patience is wearing thin," Mr. Pataki said in a statement.

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