NEW YORK (AP) – New Yorkers and tourists got their first look inside a $3.9 billion transportation hub at the World Trade Center site on Thursday as officials opened one entrance to the cathedral-like pavilion.
The partial opening comes after years of delays and cost overruns. The hub was originally budgeted at $2 billion with a target completion date of 2009. Rising costs have been blamed on factors including architect Santiago Calatrava’s demands and the logistical complexity of building it while the Sept. 11 memorial and office towers were also under construction.
“We really hope from the bottom of our hearts that New Yorkers embrace it and love it,” said Calatrava, who shook hands with workers.
“I think it’s absolutely spectacular,” said one New Yorker, Jay Singer, 50. “It’s the most amazing steel construction I have seen since I watched the twin towers being built as a small boy.”
“I think it’s beautiful,” said another, Chrissa Chappell, 41, a professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx. “Maybe it can be an example to the rest of the country.”