By Steven McCauley

Teams set off controlled explosions at Ground Zero on Monday, June 12, clearing the way to begin construction of the Freedom Tower. But some of the rumblings coming out of the site weren’t so promising. The next day, Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia warned the city that if the government didn’t lock up more leases for space in the Freedom Tower by September, the plans for the building might have to be scaled down. While Coscia maintained that he wasn’t making any threats, his comments cast doubt over the tower’s future, which nonetheless has already had two groundbreakings. The character of the WTC Memorial is no less uncertain. On Thursday, consultant Frank Sciame proposed his cost-efficient redesign of the memorial to Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg. The proposal would cut the budget in half, down to a reasonable $500 million, and would most notably raise the list of the 9/11 victims’ names above ground. It would also strike one of the two planned entrance ramps, and may eliminate the reflecting pool waterfalls. Pataki and Bloomberg expect to reach a decision on the proposal this week. As they deliberate, their counterparts in Congress are taking aim. Last Thursday, the Daily News reported that nine New York delegates, including Carol Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, demanded that the city start settling people’s claims of 9/11-related illness. The representatives were moved to action by the deal that the city struck with former Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington last month; they’re now calling for everyone to receive the same treatment.