By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — The Deutsche Bank building is finally almost gone.
The former 41-story tower, damaged and contaminated with toxic debris on 9/11, has been demolished down to ground level, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. announced this week.
Crews are still dismantling the building's basement. The LMDC expects the job to be entirely done within the next couple weeks, so the site can be turned over to the Port Authority to build the underground vehicle security center and parking garage for the World Trade Center site.
The disappearance of the tower, though, does not end the controversy surrounding it.
Next month, the trial of three of the project’s construction supervisors will begin. The supervisors were charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after two firefighters were killed in a 2007 blaze at the building.
At the same time, the LMDC plans to sue contractor Bovis Lend Lease for roughly $100 million, based on Bovis’s alleged negligence and deconstruction delays. Meanwhile, Bovis is seeking $80 million from the LMDC.
Once the demolition is done, the Deutsche Bank building site will become a construction staging area for at least a few years.
The site was once supposed to house a commercial skyscraper, but some community leaders are pushing for a mixed-use building instead, given the lack of demand for more office space downtown.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer hopes to hold a public forum later this month to discuss future plans for the site.
