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“They could have gotten Larry out,” Mr. Betts said. It would have meant writing a check, Mr. Zuccotti said, but it could have been done. Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, said the mayor and the governor “could have gotten in a room with Larry Silverstein and said, ‘You’re out of here.’ ”
But Mr. Yaro said the Port Authority had multiple motivations for retaining the Silverstein lease. “They saw it as their key to hanging on to the site,” he said. “They were afraid of losing control to the city or the state.”
Further, the Port Authority was counting on Mr. Silverstein’s aggressive pursuit of insurance proceeds as well as the more than $100 million a year in rent that the Port Authority depended on to keep its overall operation flush.
“I don’t think that should shock anybody,” Mr. Ringler said. “The World Trade Center was a moneymaker for this agency so that this agency, who pools its resources, can do all the other things we have to do.”
The World Trade Center site has been an even better moneymaker since Sept. 11, however, primarily because the attack coincided with the sale of the lease to Mr. Silverstein. While the Port Authority reported an average annual net income of $22 million on the complex in the five years before Sept. 11, it reported an average annual net income of $106 million on the empty site in the five years after.
“When you look at how much more profit we made,” Anthony R. Coscia, the authority’s chairman, said, “all it represents is monetizing an asset we sold before Sept. 11,” that is, turning the buildings into cash.
Being offered in this auction are 7 early 1900's photographs of an Initiation Ceremony held on board a U.S. Navy Ship by "KING NEPTUNE AND HIS COURT'" as they crossed the International Dateline (the Equator). King Neptune's Initiation Ceremony has long been a tradition in the U.S. and British Navy's. This ceremony was done to initiate first timers crossing the equator and involved many different forms of harassment some rather humiliating. King Neptune's Court consisted of King Neptune, his First Assistant, Davy Jones, Amphitrite, Shellbacks and Pollywogs (sailors who being initiated.) The photographs are all mounted on boards resembling cabinet cards but the photographs are all amateur. The contrast is good and for the most part they are very sharp. The photographs are not identified in anyway, the names of the sailors , the name of the ship or dates that the initiation took place are shown. However the photographs do graphically illustrate and ceremony I have often heard about but had never seen actual photos of which I assume is the same for most people. For any photograph collectors these would be extremely interesting and a valuable addition to their collection. PHOTO 1 King Newptune, Davy Jones, Amphitrite and other assistants all in costumes symbolizing their positions in the court. Photo 2 Shows two of the shellbacks pouring a drink down the throat of a Pollywog. Photo 3. Shows Amphitrite and a Shellback applying some sort of substance to a Pollywogs head. Photo 4 Large group of sailors looking on as King Neptune's helpers dump Pollywogs into a pool of water formed by a canvass spread over a hatch. Photo 5 King Neptune and his Assistants are shown dumping a Pollywog who is sitting on a barrel into the pool of water. Photo 6 Shows group of Pollywogs jumping around in the pool of water. Photo 7 Shows what appears to be the Pollywogs grabbing the members of King Neptune's Court and dunking them in the pool with them. Not shown but if you wish to see a scan of it please email us.