The program laid out specific timeframes for delivery of the Freedom Tower and the towers surrounding it. And with the imposition of fines, the plan actually emerges from the PA boardroom with teeth. Essentially, the Port will pay Silverstein Properties $300,000 for every day they hold up progress, and if Silverstein fails to deliver Towers Two, Three and Four in a timely manner, the whole shebang reverts to the PA.

In a public statement released the day of the approval, Larry Silverstein struck a clearly forward-looking note, even as it recounted the recent paths: "Over the past few months, we have accomplished a great deal: Seven World Trade Center is open and substantially leased. We are digging the foundations for the Freedom Tower and 805 tons of steel are on their way to Ground Zero.

"Today's agreement marks another major step forward," Silverstein continued. "We need to keep building on this partnership so that together we can get the World Trade Center rebuilt."

In his comments before the board on Thursday, PA executive director Kenneth J. Ringler Jr. sung much the same tune. In the five months that have passed since the agreement was drafted, "Our staff has worked tirelessly for hundreds of hours to resolve complex planning, design, business and net lease issues."

"Today's action is a historic milestone in the redevelopment of the site," he told the board. It will continue the substantial progress we have already made to rebuild the Freedom Tower, the transportation hub and the memorial and will allow us to have the 16-acre site rebuilt on a far more aggressive timetable than was projected during our initial planning efforts."