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WPCNR TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE NEWS. From the Governor’s Press Office. March 9, 2013:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Friday afternoon  that a $1.5 billion TIFIA loan for the bridge project to replace the Tappan Zee will move to next stage of the U.S. Department of Transportation loan process. This financing will lower tolls on the bridge below all prior projections, though the state continues to seek additional financial support for the project.

“This is another important step forward for the new NY bridge project, one that will help keep tolls affordable for motorists,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo. “Today’s action is also amplified by the fact that under design build the selected bridge plan came in $1 billion under the expected price, maximizing the impact of this major financial support.”

In addition to the potential funding from this TIFIA loan, New York State continues to seek additional financial support to reduce costs from federal, state and local sources and will be using the Toll Task Force to identify alternative financing sources and keep tolls low.

U.S. DOT will conduct a credit review of the project prior to finalizing the TIFIA loan. As part of the next step of the TIFIA process, New York State is required by U.S. DOT to pay $100,000 for financial advisors to review the project.

The Governor previously directed the State Thruway Authority to form a Toll Task Force to find alternatives, revenue generators and cost reductions that reduce the potential toll increases. The Task Force will examine a series of options to keep tolls low once the final financing on the project has been established including expanding discount programs, seeking financial mechanism that lower the cost of credit and borrowing, and ensuring that any increase in tolls on the bridge goes solely to the bridge and regional transportation.

The new New York Bridge project is the largest transportation design-build project to date in the United States and one of the largest construction contracts in New York State history. Under the design-build process, engineering and construction firms join forces to compete for a single contract that covers both design and construction, and bids are selected based on the best value offered. Through this process, the final selected proposal from the Tappan Zee Constructers offered the lowest cost and the shortest construction timeline to complete the new New York Bridge project.

Over the last decade, there were 430 public meetings, 150 concepts and $88 million spent on figuring out how to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge without any substantial progress made on building a new bridge. In just the last year under Governor Cuomo, the bridge project received federal approval of the environmental impact statement, reached a project labor agreement, and reviewed and selected a contractor for the new bridge. Construction on the bridge is now expected to begin in the next few months.

The new New York Bridge to replace the Tappan Zee will include eight general traffic lanes plus emergency lanes and extra-wide shoulders for immediate express bus service when opened and will be transit-ready for all modes including bus rapid transit, light rail or commuter rail.

WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 7, 2013:

Sulaiman Abu Ghayth, a/k/a “Suleiman Abu Gayth,” a former associate of Osama bin Laden, has been arrested and charged in an indictment unsealed today in New York City with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, announced Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office George Venizelos, and the Police Commissioner of the City of New York (NYPD) Raymond W. Kelly. Abu Ghayth is expected to be presented and arraigned tomorrow, March 8, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

“No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America’s enemies to justice,” said Attorney General Holder. “To violent extremists who threaten the American people and seek to undermine our way of life, this arrest sends an unmistakable message: There is no corner of the world where you can escape from justice because we will do everything in our power to hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The arrest of Abu Ghayth is an important milestone in our ongoing counterterrorism efforts. I applaud the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors responsible for bringing about this significant case and arrest,” said Assistant Attorney General Monaco.

“It has been 13 years since Abu Ghayth allegedly worked alongside Osama bin Laden in his campaign of terror and 13 years since he allegedly took to the public airwaves, exhorting others to embrace al Qaeda’s cause and warning of more terrorist attacks like the mass murder of 9/11,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “The memory of those attacks is indelibly etched on the American psyche, and today’s action is the latest example of our commitment to capturing and punishing enemies of the United States, no matter how long it takes.”

“Sulaiman Abu Ghayth held a key position in al Qaeda, comparable to the consigliere in a mob family or propaganda minister in a totalitarian regime,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos. “He used his position to persuade others to swear loyalty to al Qaeda’s murderous cause. He used his position to threaten the United States and incite its enemies. His apprehension is another important step in the campaign to limit the reach of al Qaeda and enhance our national and international security.”

“While New York City must remain vigilant to continued terrorist threats against it, Abu Ghayth’s apprehension and prosecution promises to close another chapter in al Qaeda’s notoriously violent history of killing Americans,” said NYPD Commissioner Kelly. “This case also represents another success in the ongoing partnership between federal agents and NYPD detectives through the JTTF.”

As alleged in the superseding indictment that has been filed against Abu Ghayth in federal court:

Since around 1989, al Qaeda has been an international terrorist organization dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence. Osama bin Laden served as the leader, or “emir,” of al Qaeda until his death on or about May 2, 2011. Members of al Qaeda typically have pledged an oath of allegiance, called bayat, to bin Laden and to al Qaeda.

The core purpose of al Qaeda, as stated by bin Laden and other leaders, is to support violent attacks against property and nationals, both military and civilian, of the United States and other countries. Between 1989 and 2001, al Qaeda established training camps, guest houses, and business operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries for the purpose of training and supporting its agenda of violence and murder. Members and associates of al Qaeda have executed a number of terrorist attacks, all in furtherance of the organization’s stated conspiracy to kill Americans, including the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, which killed approximately 2,976 people.

From at least May 2001 up to around 2002, Abu Ghayth served alongside Osama bin Laden, appearing with bin Laden and his then-deputy Ayman al Zawahiri, speaking on behalf of the terrorist organization and in support of its mission, and warning that attacks similar to those of September 11, 2001, would continue.

In particular, around May 2001, Abu Ghayth urged individuals at a guest house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to swear bayat to bin Laden. On the evening of September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks on the United States, bin Laden summoned Abu Gayth and asked for his assistance, and he agreed to provide it. On the morning of September 12, 2001, Abu Ghayth, appeared with bin Laden and al Zawahiri and spoke on behalf of al Qaeda, warning the United States and its allies that “[a] great army is gathering against you” and called upon “the nation of Islam” to do battle against “the Jews, the Christians, and the Americans.” Also, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Abu Ghayth delivered a speech in which he addressed the then-U.S. Secretary of State and warned that “the storms shall not stop, especially the airplanes storm” and advised Muslims, children, and opponents of the United States “not to board any aircraft and not to live in high rises.”

Abu Gayth arranged to be, and was, successfully smuggled from Afghanistan into Iran in 2002.

* * * * *

The indictment charges Abu Ghayth with participating in a conspiracy to kill United States nationals, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2332(b). The offense carries a maximum term of imprisonment of life. No trial date has yet been set in the case.

The charges and arrest of Abu Ghayth are the result of the close cooperative efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Joint Terrorism Task Force—which principally consists of agents and detectives of the FBI and the New York City Police Department—the United States Marshals Service and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State also provided assistance.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys John P. Cronan and Michael Ferrara of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, with assistance from Trial Attorney Jolie Zimmerman of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.