Nothing will be built on the site of Ground Zero for several years because of extensive work needed on the foundations, developers said today.
Plans to construct a new skyscraper will be delayed by vital work needed on the six floors of underground space, said Mr John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
The subway system that was destroyed on September 11th must also be rebuilt before any building starts above ground.
A master plan for rebuilding on the World Trade Centre site would not be released for some time, Mr Whitehead said.
"People will have to be patient, because nothing can be built yet on the surface of the site itself for several years," he told a meeting at Crain's New York Business magazine.
"You have to know what is going to be in the six floors of the 16-acre site underground before you can plan what is going to be above ground."
But he said work could start on rebuilding 7 World Trade Centre, a building close to Ground Zero which also collapsed on September 11th, later this year.
Developer Mr Larry Silverstein has completed a plan for an office tower with 1.5 million square feet of commercial space.
The comments come as excavation work on Ground Zero begins to draw to a close with much of the rubble now removed.
Recovery workers are reported to be planning a ceremony to mark the end of the work, which is expected to be completed in May.
A 30 foot steel column, once part of the south towers central core, will be the final piece to be removed in a special "last march out of the hole", according to the New York Post.
Workers have put a US flag on top of the column because it stands above an area where many bodies have been recovered, including several firefighters and police officers killed in the building's lobby.
PA