Silverstein hit hard and often on his now-ubiquitous two-planes,two-claims argument during a roundtable luncheon on the future ofmega-transactions. The discussion was part of New York UniversityReal Estate Institute's annual real estate investmentconference.

"The first thing you have to learn in real estate is todistinguish between one event and two events. That's fundamental,"Silverstein quipped, referring to his oft-repeated contention thatthe trade center towers were destroyed in two separate acts. Oftenflippant in his remarks, the developer also spoke passionatelyabout the need to redevelop the trade center site for thewell-being of the city and the nation.

However, with his attorneys on the verge of filing court papersresponding to Swiss Re's suit, which argues that the trade centerbombings constituted a single event meriting a single claim, thedeveloper never veered far from his main theme. He hammered homehis argument that the twin towers fell in two separate attacks andthat, as such, he is entitled to two payouts on his $3.6billion-per-event coverage.