Ground Zero rebuild late, over budget

NEW YORK (CNN) - Reconstruction of the World Trade Center site is over budget and won't be finished by the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the landmark twin towers, the owners reported Monday.

"While significant progress has been made, the schedule and cost estimates of the rebuilding effort that have been communicated to the public are not realistic," Christopher Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, wrote in a letter to New York Gov. David Paterson. Paterson asked for a status update on the construction efforts earlier this month.

The complex was destroyed when al Qaeda operatives flew hijacked jetliners into the twin towers on September 11, 2001, killing more than 2,700 people. The Port Authority, which owns the site, listed 15 separate issues it said had slowed reconstruction efforts, including security and policing plans and contracting strategies for rebuilding the subway stations that sat beneath the site.

"Progress has been made. Ground Zero has gone from a standstill to a busy construction site, but the rebuilding effort is not where it should be and it is not where we promised it would be," Paterson said in a written statement after Monday's announcement.