Talks spearheaded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to end an impasse threatening to delay reconstruction at the World Trade Center site are still stalled.
Monday was the third deadline set by the city for a resolution to talks between the developer and owner of the site. Bloomberg called for a summit last month, then set last Thursday as a deadline, then extended talks through the weekend.
Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber says the talks will continue until a consensus is reached.
Developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have tried for months to renegotiate Silverstein's lease to build three skyscrapers at ground zero. Silverstein wants the Port Authority to guarantee over $3 billion in financing for two of his towers. The agency has said it can only afford to back one.
Bloomberg has been brokering talks between the sides -- saying the memorial could miss the 10-yeard anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Earlier this year, the first official lease in the new World Trade Center was signed, when a Chinese real estate company agreed to rent 190,000 square feet in the Freedom Tower.
It took three years of negotiations, but Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. signed a 23-year lease for floors 64 through 69 in the 102-story skyscraper, which is being developed by the Port Authority.
The Freedom Tower, which will be known as 1 World Trade Center, is slated for completion in 2013.
The only other tenants slated to move into the World Trade Complex is state, city and federal government agencies who are expected to rent out more than 2.3 million square feet. Those leases have not yet been signed.
That leaves more than 7 million square feet unaccounted for, including two entire planned buildings.
