By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Facing a $3 million shortfall on a portion of the 9/11 Memorial 74 days before it opens, the Port Authority is refusing to pony up any more cash for the project.
Agency officials announced the funding gap Thursday morning and said they would not put in any more than the $4 million they have paid already.
"I'm going down to City Hall today to make it clear that somebody else is going to have to find the $3 million," PA Executive Director Chris Ward said during a meeting of the agency's World Trade Center Redevelopment Subcommittee.
The total cost to get the 9/11 Memorial ready for its Sept. 12 opening is $16 million, Ward said.
The work, which is separate from the construction of the memorial itself, includes a new visitor check-in and screening center, a path to the memorial and a security fence.
The state and federal government have put in about $5 million for the work, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum has put in about $4 million, Ward said.
But no one has stepped forward with the remaining $3 million needed to complete construction.
Dave Tweedy, the PA's chief of capital programs, said the authority needs to "put pressure on the other stakeholders."
"We're coming to crunch time and we have to get this work done," Tweedy said.
Once it opens, the memorial is expected to draw 1,500 people an hour to the tree-dotted plaza, which features twin waterfalls surrounded by bronze parapets inscribed with the victims' names.
Family members of 9/11 victims can begin reserving free tickets to the memorial on July 6, and the general public will be able to make reservations starting July 11.
The mayor's office and the 9/11 Memorial Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
