NEW YORK CITY—After a healthy dose of controversy and theraising of questions over the Port Authority of New York and NewJersey's role, the agency has decided to scrap plans to provide a$1.2 billion financial guarantee that would allow a new tower torise at the World Trade Center site and, instead, it will pursue adeal to finance the soaring building with private funds.

A PANY/NJ spokesman tells GlobeSt.com, “We've been pursuing twotracks, along with developer Silverstein Properties: arestructuring, based on an agreement reached in 2010—in which thePort Authority pledged to provide a $200 million backstop for thenew building—or a public/private partnership. We have reached apoint, based on recent conversations, where we're confident that wecan put together a deal based on a public/private partnershiprather than restructure the deal.”

He adds candidly, “It's not clear what that's going to looklike; there are a number of private businesses interested andwe're talking to all of them. But when we can announce that, wewill. Meanwhile, our focus is to get 3 World Trade Center built andto reduce the risk to the Port Authority.”