Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
9/11 Museum Delayed AGAIN Because Bloomberg And Cuomo Can't Get Along
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 9, 2012
Modified Sep 10, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 9, 2012
Modified Sep 10, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In case it wasn't blatantly obvious to you, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo do not particularly care for each other. You can call it a matter of clashing styles, or you could call it a matter of clashing egos—the two have butted heads far more often than not during their shared time in office. And once again, because of their inability to work together, the $1 billion National 9/11 Memorial and Museum has been delayed at least a year or more. “It would be catastrophically sad if they can’t find a solution,” Ira M. Millstein, a board member of the Sept. 11 foundation, told the Times. “They really ought to sit down in a room and look at each other. It can’t be solved with e-mails.” Or maybe they could smoke a peace pipe, since that's just about the only thing they can agree on.
The museum was originally slated to open in 2009—but infighting over the budget between Port Authority and the 9/11 Foundation that runs the museum. And that places Bloomberg and Cuomo on opposite sides: Bloomberg, who is chairman of the 9/11 Foundation, wants PA to pay the majority of $150 million in infrastructure costs, while Cuomo along with NJ Gov. Chris Christie—who are in control of PA—don't want to write a blank check, and want PA to have more day-to-day control over the entire WTC site. As a One Port Authority official previously put it, "This whole fight is Cuomo and Bloomberg. And it’s about which one of them is going to control the legacy of 9/11." But everyone knows neither can win when Rudy Giuliani is still around!
The infighting is so bad, insiders fear the museum won't even be ready to open in 2013. Meanwhile, exhibits are gathering dust in fabrication shops in Buffalo and Santa Fe, according to museum executives. “People walk up to the doors of the museum, and the doors are locked,” said board member Christine Ferer, whose husband, former PA executive director Neil Levin, died in the attack. “Locked inside is the full story of 9/11.”
Jim Riches, head of the 9/11 Parents & Families of Firefighters and WTC Victims, told the Post that there is another fight looming on the horizon over the $20 admission fee to the museum: “The fight now is over control of the cash — who’s going to get the money out of what happens down there,” he said. “I don’t think any of them should make money off the worst day in American history.”
Tagged
9/11 museum
bloomberg
Cuomo
gov cuomo
mayor bloomberg
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
5 men charged with trespassing in 2 Manhattan manhole cases
Two people who were found soaking wet and smelling of sewage say they went underground to look for jewelry, according to police and a criminal complaint.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 7:49 p.m. ET
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
News
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .