The fiscal crisis may further delay completion of the redevelopment of Ground Zero, according to Chris Ward, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

In an interview with Julie Shapiro and Josh Rogers in this week's edition of the Downtown Express, Mr. Ward said that if the economy does not improve soon it may be necessary to phase in the development of Towers 2 and 3 at the site.

"If Towers 2 and 3 do not rise over the next several years, as was expected," the article said, "Ward promised that something temporary would go in their place. One possibility is to build a retail-filled podium of several stories, then add the skyscrapers when the economy improves. Another possibility is to build a platform at grade. No matter what, the sites will not remain fenced off behind barriers indefinitely. 'This will not be left a construction site,' said Ward, who took over the Port last May. 'The last thing that's good economically and the last thing for the community is to...have it feel like some pit.'

According to the article, Mr. Ward "said he was optimistic the incoming Obama administration, which is emphasizing economic stimulus, will back extending the deadline for the tax-free Liberty Bonds beyond the end of the year." Larry Silverstein plans to use the bonds for three W.T.C. office towers and the Port Authority will use them for the Freedom Tower, which is under construction.

Mr. Ward said Tower 4 will be the easiest for Silverstein to build on time (2012), the article continued, "because it is the most economically viable -- the city and the Port have already agreed to lease two-thirds of the office space from Silverstein."

The article also noted that the Port Authority did not turn over excavated sites for the three towers to Mr. Silverstein in the fourth quarter because "a 200-foot wall the Port left standing right where a column for Tower 4 needed to go," adding that Mr. Ward said "he knew the wall needed to come down, but he thought Silverstein had enough space to work around it and build other parts of the tower's foundation first."

Mr. Ward said that the Port Authority has added some columns to the below-ground mezzanine of the PATH hub at the site being designed by Santiago Calatrava, "enabling workers to build the roof of the mezzanine first, which gives the memorial a floor," the article said, adding that "Silverstein, the city and the memorial foundation all lobbied the Port to scale back the $3.2 billion station further, but Ward said that was much more difficult than it seemed because everything is interconnected."