Silverstein Can’t Get $3.5 Billion From Airlines for 9/11
Real estate developer Larry Silverstein can’t seek $3.5 billion from airlines whose planes were hijacked by terrorists and flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, a judge ruled. - Silverstein, who leased the skyscrapers about two months before they were destroyed, already collected $4.1 billion from insurers and can’t collect twice under New York law, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled yesterday in a courtroom less than a mile and a half from the World Trade Center site.
“If this case were to go forward, the WTC companies would not be able to recover anything against the airlines,” said Hellerstein. The judge rejected any suggestion that Silverstein had sought a windfall, saying he was among the “heroes” who sought to “create beauty out of the destruction.”
Silverstein’s World Trade Center Properties LLC in 2008 sued United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL), American Airlines and its parent AMR Corp. (AAMRQ), claiming their negligence led to the destruction of the towers. The company, which rebuilt the destroyed 7 World Trade Center and is rebuilding three other towers on the site, argued that the insurance accord didn’t bar it from seeking additional damages in civil cases because the payout didn’t correspond to specific types of economic losses, such as replacement costs for the buildings or lost rent from tenants. Hellerstein disagreed.