Brother, can you spare $180 million?
The chronically over-budget transportation hub that’s part of the massive Ground Zero rebuild will eat into even more taxpayer dollars than expected — for the second time.
Port Authority officials yesterday hiked the cost of the ornate transit center — which will house stations for PATH trains, 13 MTA subway lines, and a proposed JFK rail link — by a staggering $180 million.
The change will bring the overall cost to $3.44 billion.
In 2006, officials put an estimate for the Santiago Calatrava-designed site, which would be the third-largest transportation hub in the city, at about $2.2 billion.
In 2008, that price tag went up to $3.26 billion.
About $8.5 million of the funds will be pulled from the agency’s $600 million contingency for the entire $11 billion Ground Zero project — the first time the agency has had to tap into that reserve.
Steven Plate, the authority’s construction czar, said the sky-high white steel arches designed for the hub will cost $221 million — about twice as much as expected.
Extra steel was added as an anti-terror measure, Plate said.
PA Executive Director Chris Ward defended the overrun, saying initial estimates were only made when 24 percent of the work contracts were issued.
This hike was made, he says, with 94 percent of the contracts issued.
“That is less than a 2 percent increase based on an estimate made in 2008,” he said.
In a rare rebuke during a committee meeting about the World Trade Center, board member Henry Silverman said he needed a more thorough explanation of the cost overrun.
“I don’t think it’s good governance to pass this,” he said. “Now the cost is 50 percent more.”
But after a brief discussion, he withdrew his concerns.
PA board members are notorious for never asking questions or challenging the authority’s management.