In an "op-ed" article in today's edition of The New York Times, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver write that the Port Authority of New York and Jersey and the developer of the former World Trade Center site, Larry Silverstein "must make a choice" to compromise by tomorrow on their disputes to move forward with the rebuilding of Ground Zero, "or will they allow their dispute to return to arbitration, condemning the World Trade Center site to years more of delays?"

"The latest stalemate" now "threatens to overshadow and overwhelm all of the progress," they wrote, adding that "With capital markets still tight, Mr. Silverstein is seeking credit assistance from the Port Authority for two of his skyscrapers; but the Port Authority is willing to fully back only one of them."

"Because the new World Trade Center has been designed so that all the buildings share key infrastructure," they continued, "an indefinite delay for one building would delay the entire eastern side of the site. That would mean the loss of 10,000 construction jobs and leave us with an enormous empty lot where we should have a revitalized Trade Center. That outcome is unacceptable."

"Several months ago, the two of us spelled out a compromise. It's a deal that's still within reach," they declared in the article, adding "Our proposal would require Mr. Silverstein to invest significantly more equity and take on more risk, and the Port Authority to provide more temporary credit assistance to move construction forward on both towers. Mr. Silverstein has been receptive to this plan, but the Port Authority has not, couching its opposition as an effort to protect taxpayers and preserve its ability to pay for other transportation and development projects in the region. Its continued intransigence, however, comes with its own price."

"Delays at the site have already cost the Port Authority tens of millions of public dollars. Not only would further delays cost much more, but rent proceeds from a thriving World Trade Center would provide money for the Port Authority's other transportation projects around the city, including Moynihan Station and a new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River. From the beginning, the redevelopment process was always intended to be a public-private collaboration. We need a reinvigoration of that partnership now more than ever....The future of Lower Manhattan - and a piece of our national pride - depend on it."

In an editorial on the opposite page that valued New Jersey commuters and the memorial for those lost at Ground Zero way above the long-range needs of the city, The Times argues that "the Port Authority has already agreed to help finance one of his three buildings, but it should be very stingy with the rest," adding that "it has many other, far more important demands on its funds, including upgrading bridges, tunnels and airport terminals." "The city," the editorial continued, "certainly doesn't need three new office buildings immediately," adding that "the last thing a battered downtown needs is a next of empty office buildings."

"Ground zero," it said, "is no longer the depressing place it was a few years ago. The important public structures are starting to take shape - the memorial to the victims, Santiago Calatrava's birdlike transportation hub, and 1 World Trade Center (the centerpiece once known as the Freedom Tower), 20 stories high and climbing."

According to the editorial, the authority "must keep its finances safe for the region's transportation facilities and concentrate on making sure that the memorial is available to visitors by Sept. 11, 2011....For Mr. Silverstein and the mayor, that memorial - and not simply 4 million square feet of extra commercial office space - should be the goal."