The owners of the World Trade Center cannot demand billions of dollars more in insurance money for the destruction of the Twin Towers, a judge decided yesterday.
Manhattan federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued the ruling after listening to witnesses for the owners and for the airlines of the planes that were hijacked.
The trial was arranged to decide whether the owners of the complex can collect more than the nearly $5 billion they’ve already received toward reconstruction.
Lawyers for the airlines argued that the additional claims that had been made against them duplicate claims that have already been paid by insurance companies.
But developer Larry Silverstein and World Trade Center Properties insisted through their lawyers that the aviation companies owed at least $3.5 billion for letting the hijackers board the planes.
The owners said that it has cost them more than $7 billion to replace the twin towers and more than $1 billion to replace the third trade center building that fell.
In court papers, both sides had accused the other of unfairly characterizing their claims.
Attorneys for the developers said they would appeal the judge’s ruling.