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Cops stalling Ground Zero rebuild
Cops stalling Ground Zero rebuildTurf war over Ground Zero

By BRAD HAMILTON and REUVEN BLAU

Last Updated: 5:28 PM, September 27, 2009

Posted: 3:13 AM, September 27, 2009


J.C. Rice

POUR PERFORMANCE: A cement mixer waits its turn at an NYPD weigh station near Ground Zero. Commissioner Ray Kelly (inset) has been accused of using "muscle" in a turf war with the Port Authority.

A nitpicking cop crackdown on concrete at Ground Zero is costing taxpayers millions and snarling construction at the already behind-schedule Freedom Tower and other structures at the site, cement suppliers say.

Cops harass their mixing trucks with inspections that take so long, the concrete starts to harden and can't be used, the firms say.

Suppliers say police hold some rigs at a weigh station for up to two hours, during which the mix begins to set, forcing the trucks to turn back without unloading.

They're also writing a flurry of tickets -- retaliation by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in an ongoing turf war with the Port Authority, industry and police sources say.

The authority owns Ground Zero and patrols the construction zone with its own police force.

The NYPD sought to control security there but remains on the sidelines until construction of the Freedom Tower and other skyscrapers is complete.

"Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg are trying to flex their muscles at the Trade Center site -- it seems they are intentionally holding the concrete pourers at the site," said Paul Nunziato, incoming president of the Port Authority's biggest police union.

Concrete-truck drivers say they've been pummeled with violations, some for seemingly minor offenses such as having a dirty license plate. One firm's fleet got hit with 46 tickets in a single day.

NYPD highway cops run a makeshift weigh station on Trinity Place, a few blocks south of a Ground Zero entrance gate, pulling over trucks as they approach.

"They are there four to five days a week," said a site supervisor for Tishman Construction, which is building the Freedom Tower. "They'll hold as many as 10 trucks a day."

Cops check permits and equipment, aggressively combing over vehicles, drivers say.

"They'll bust everybody who comes through there," said a driver for Ferrara Brothers Building Materials, which supplies concrete to the site's transportation hub and Tower Four. "A couple of times they held us for over an hour and we had to return. After 90 minutes, the mix is no good. One time they said my brake line was rubbing against a tire and they towed me."

Police also snag trucks at a security stop on Broadway near Cedar Street, drivers said.

The action is driving up taxpayer costs on a project that has already ballooned to $16 billion, industry leaders said.

"One day you have 300 union guys waiting on a deck to pour concrete," said a cement company executive. "They're all making $70 an hour and now they're all just standing around. Do you know how expensive that is?"

One expert estimated the damage at about $1.2 million per week, or some $25 million since the crackdown began in May.

And the glacial pace of construction slows.

The Freedom Tower's completion date has already been pushed back to 2013.

Work on the Freedom Tower began in April 2006. Three and a half years later, the structure rises about eight stories -- most of it steel frame.

"I built Trump World Tower, which is 92 stories, in 18 months," said Donald Trump. "I've done four floors in a week. What's happening at the Freedom Tower is a terrible situation."

"The idea that construction projects that are so vitally important to the future of our city . . . would become collateral damage in what is, essentially, a turf war is unconscionable," said Denise Richardson, managing director of the General Contractors Association of New York.

Asked about the ticket blitz, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, "No comment."

The weigh station was not in effect last week, leading some observers to speculate that an "armistice" is in the works.

brad.hamilton@nypost.com

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