The Port Authority has called off the Oculus’ annual skylight tribute to 9/11 victims due to the building’s ongoing leaks.
Officials quietly dropped the news at the bottom of a press release last week, saying the World Trade Center’s $4 billion transit hub’s skylight will not be opening on Sept. 11 as designed “due to continuing engineering analysis necessary to repair the skylight operating systems.”
The Oculus’ skylights were designed to open each year on Sept. 11 at 10:28 a.m. to mark the anniversary of the collapse of the World Trade Center’s second tower.
The agency still plans to honor the 84 agency employees killed during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks with a memorial service at St. Peter’s Church on Wednesday afternoon, and display a flag on the George Washington Bridge for all of six hours.
The terminal has been plagued by leaking ceilings since it opened in October 2016. In 2017, Post reporters spotted drops coming from the ceiling when it wasn’t even raining.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the rubber molding holding the skylight together ripped during 2018’s 9/11 ceremony.
The Port Authority spent $30,000 last winter in an attempt to plug the problem, but to no avail — the ceiling leaked again on May 5, the Journal reported.
“Under the advice of expert consultants, we are conducting engineering analysis on the Oculus skylight operating systems and reviewing carefully the best approach to repair a complex, one-of-a-kind architectural feature,” Port Authority rep Lindsay Kryzak told the Post. “Our priority is to get it right.”