After almost a year of delays, Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo have agreed to stop fighting over the 9/11 museum, and construction will now proceed.
In statements last night, Bloomberg and Cuomo announced that they reached an agreement over the weekend over which agencies will pay for the memorial, estimated to cost over $1 billion, and which officials will manage the project. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also had to sign off on the agreement, since he and Cuomo share control of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He did so over the weekend.
“I’m very gratified that on the eve of this important anniversary we are able to announce an agreement that will ensure the completion of the 9/11 museum,” Bloomberg said, according to the New York Times.
“By ensuring that no additional public funds are spent to complete the memorial and the museum,” said Cuomo, “today’s agreement puts in place a critical and long overdue safeguard to finally protect toll payers and taxpayers from bearing further costs, and, at the same time, put the project on a path for completion.”
The museum is about three-quarters finished, and was originally scheduled to open in 2009.
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