Cases: Skyscraper Safety Campaign, Inc., et al. v. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, et al

(M.Codispoti)
Clockwise: Sally Regenhard, Thomas D. Shanahan, Anthony A. LoPresti, Hon. Alan J. Gerson.

(M.Codispoti)
Clockwise: Monica Gabrielle, Thomas D. Shanahan, Anthony A. LoPresti, Sally Regenhard, Hon. Allan J. Gerson.

June 2003

Skyscraper Safety Campaign, Inc., et al. v. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, et al

Text by SARA KUGLER

Associated Press Writer
June 2, 2003, 6:36 PM EDT
NEW YORK -- Families of Sept. 11 victims said they will argue this week that city building and fire codes should be required for new construction on the World Trade Center site, which is owned by an interstate agency immune from the local regulations.

A group of victims' relatives and politicians said Monday during a news conference at ground zero that they expected to meet Thursday with officials directing the redevelopment, including representatives from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the owner.

"We have a simple request, and that is: No building in this city should be above the law," said Sally Regenhard, mother of a fallen firefighter and founder of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign.

The group contends that the Port Authority's immunity from city codes was established in connection to its role as an interstate agency operating bridges, tunnels and ports and should not apply when it acts as a "commercial landlord," as in the case of the trade center.

The Port Authority maintains it voluntarily adhered to city codes in constructing the first trade center and intends to continue that policy with the rebuilding on the site. The new plan chosen in February by the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency formed after Sept. 11, 2001, to oversee the rebuilding of the trade center's neighborhood, includes a 1,776-foot-high tower and several smaller surrounding buildings.

The agencies confirmed the planned meeting with the Skyscraper Safety Campaign and said in a joint statement that they are "committed to ensuring the rebuilding effort upholds both excellence of design and high safety standards."
Federal investigators studying the collapse of the twin towers are examining whether some parts of the construction were not up to code, as the Port Authority claimed, but Regenhard said the group's focus Monday was "not so much to look back, but to look forward."

She and her attorney, Tom Shanahan, added that they plan to file a lawsuit in state Supreme Court late this week or next week if they are not satisfied after meeting with the LMDC and the Port Authority.
Shanahan's co-counsel, Anthony LoPresti, said that the Port Authority has been "left to self-monitor itself" and that agreements established in the 1990s to allow city fire department inspections of the structures are "self-serving and inadequate."

The suit would ask a judge to agree with the plaintiffs that the Port Authority's immunity from local codes does not apply when it manages a property like the 16-acre trade center site, located in the middle of bustling lower Manhattan.
The suit also asks for the same declaration at other properties run by the Port Authority, including the city's two airports and the bus terminal on Manhattan's west side.