A stalemate continues in the negotiations between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Larry Silverstein over the financing of towers at Ground Zero and Mr. Silverstein has indicated he will seek arbitration if the issues are not resolved in ten days.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said "not everyone worked as hard as necessary to find a solution," adding that "no one disputes that the Port Authority is engaged in many projects important to our region, but pitting these projects against the development of the World Trade Center site creates a false choice."

Mr. Silverstein gave the Port Authority a "notice of dispute" letter yesterday that triggers a ten business-day period in which the parties must meet to try to resolve their differences and then permits either party if no agreement is negotiated to call for a panel of experts to resolve the dispute through arbitration.

His letter maintained that the authority has not met its rebuilding obligations and that failure has impacted his organization's ability to develop three towers at the former World Trade Center site.

"Unfortunately and despite the best efforts of the region's top elected leader5s, the Port Authority still refuses to negotiate in good faith to resolve the impasse," Mr. Silverstein wrote.

"One way or another," Mr. Silverstein declared, "we must take any and all steps necessary to resolve, once and for all, the disputes that have arisen as a result of the Port Authority's continued and admitted delays." Mr. Silverstein said he remains "absolutely determined to see the World Trade Center fully rebuilt as the centerpiece of the dynamic mixed-use community that has emerged downtown - the greenest and most exciting place to live, work and visit in this incredible city."

Chris Ward, the authority's executive director, subsequently issued a statement in which he said the authority is certain that the Silverstein organization understands "that an arbitration decision...will not resolve when there will be a market for two private office towers on the site, and how this speculative private office space should be financed," adding that "A resolution to these issues can only be accomplished through good faith negotiations, not a legal fight." He said that the authority is "unwilling to sacrifice critical transportation projects to subsidize private speculative office space."

An article by Charles V. Bagli in today's edition of The New York Times said that "Mr. Silverstein said the authority's delays and failures over the past seven years prevented him from obtaining financing for the three office towers at the trade center site 'in a much more positive economic climate' than exists today. Mr. Silverstein's latest move seems designed to pressure the authority to acquiesce to his demand that it guarantee as much as $3.2 billion in financing of two of the three office towers he is to build at the site. It also highlights the failure of Mayor Bloomberg's highly publicized effort to resolve the impasse between the two sides."