Larry Silverstein got a huge chunk of $$$ (actually made a PROFIT) for each individual building that collapsed on 9/11/01 by holding lower Manhattan hostage to future construction. So what can we learn from this? Check out Don Paul's research at 9-11Research.wtc7.net. Here's his summation of what happened, with my bold emPHAsis:
In February of 2002 Silverstein Properties won $861 million from Industrial Risk Insurers to rebuild on the site of WTC 7. Silverstein Properties' estimated investment in WTC 7 was $386 million. So: This building's collapse resulted in a profit of about $500 million. 8
A Para
ble
To put these events in perspective, imagine that a person leases an expensive house, and immediately takes out an insurance policy covering the entire value of the house and specifically covering bomb attacks. Six weeks later two bombs go off in the house, separated by an hour. The house burns down, and the lessor immediately sues the insurance company to pay him twice the value of the house, and ultimately wins. The lessor also gets the city to dispose of the wreckage, excavate the site, and help him build a new house on the site.
http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/background/owners.html
Blame for 1993 Attack at Center Is Still at Issue
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: January 10, 2008
One of the most painful parts has been the wait, a lawyer for victims of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center told an appeals court on Wednesday.
Next month will be the 15th anniversary of the Feb. 26, 1993, terrorist strike in the trade center’s underground garage, an event that has almost been forgotten in the glare of the attack that brought down the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
It was only two years ago, though, that its victims won a major victory, when a Manhattan jury found that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the trade center, was more to blame for the bombing than the terrorists.
This was the sixth appeal in the case, one of the victims’ lawyers, Victor A. Kovner, told the judges’ panel, and “the fourth time I personally am before the court.” In nearly 15 years, he said, “there hasn’t been a single damages trial” to determine how much the victims shou
ld receive for the pain and suffering they endured and for their financial losses.[…] The 50 percent figure is important because if the authority is more than 50 percent liable for the attack, then it must pay 100 percent of any damages for pain and suffering, the victims’ lawyers said later. The authority is responsible for financial damages regardless of how the blame is apportioned, the lawyers said. […] At the trial, the plaintiffs focused on a 1985 report commissioned by the Port Authority, warning that the underground garage was vulnerable to a car bombing and recommending that it be closed to public parking.
[…] the [Port] authority asked a five-judge panel to throw out what it called the jury’s “bizarre” verdict declaring that the agency was 68 percent responsible for the bombing and the terrorists bore only 32 percent of the responsibility.
[…] Originally, hundreds of people and companies sued. By early 2005, many still had lawsuits, while others had dropped out or settled. Victims’ lawyers said yesterday that there were 47 cases remaining, including 43 personal injury cases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/nyregion/10wtc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
In February of 2002 Silverstein Properties won $861 million from Industrial Risk Insurers to rebuild on the site of WTC 7. Silverstein Properties' estimated investment in WTC 7 was $386 million. So: This building's collapse resulted in a profit of about $500 million. 8
A Para
bleTo put these events in perspective, imagine that a person leases an expensive house, and immediately takes out an insurance policy covering the entire value of the house and specifically covering bomb attacks. Six weeks later two bombs go off in the house, separated by an hour. The house burns down, and the lessor immediately sues the insurance company to pay him twice the value of the house, and ultimately wins. The lessor also gets the city to dispose of the wreckage, excavate the site, and help him build a new house on the site.
http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/background/owners.html
Blame for 1993 Attack at Center Is Still at Issue
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: January 10, 2008
One of the most painful parts has been the wait, a lawyer for victims of the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center told an appeals court on Wednesday.
Next month will be the 15th anniversary of the Feb. 26, 1993, terrorist strike in the trade center’s underground garage, an event that has almost been forgotten in the glare of the attack that brought down the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
It was only two years ago, though, that its victims won a major victory, when a Manhattan jury found that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the trade center, was more to blame for the bombing than the terrorists.
This was the sixth appeal in the case, one of the victims’ lawyers, Victor A. Kovner, told the judges’ panel, and “the fourth time I personally am before the court.” In nearly 15 years, he said, “there hasn’t been a single damages trial” to determine how much the victims shou
ld receive for the pain and suffering they endured and for their financial losses.[…] The 50 percent figure is important because if the authority is more than 50 percent liable for the attack, then it must pay 100 percent of any damages for pain and suffering, the victims’ lawyers said later. The authority is responsible for financial damages regardless of how the blame is apportioned, the lawyers said. […] At the trial, the plaintiffs focused on a 1985 report commissioned by the Port Authority, warning that the underground garage was vulnerable to a car bombing and recommending that it be closed to public parking.[…] the [Port] authority asked a five-judge panel to throw out what it called the jury’s “bizarre” verdict declaring that the agency was 68 percent responsible for the bombing and the terrorists bore only 32 percent of the responsibility.
[…] Originally, hundreds of people and companies sued. By early 2005, many still had lawsuits, while others had dropped out or settled. Victims’ lawyers said yesterday that there were 47 cases remaining, including 43 personal injury cases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/nyregion/10wtc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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