NY PROBES $10 DEAL IN WTC NAME GAME
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is probing the most towering sweetheart deal of all time.
Schneiderman has sent a letter demanding to see the records behind the agreement for the World Trade Center’s naming rights, which were sold to a former Port Authority executive in 1986 for just $10.
Late PA honcho Guy Tozzoli and his group, The World Trade Centers Association, have made tens of millions of dollars off of the landmark’s name.
The PA and the public, meanwhile, haven’t gotten a dime.
After the pact was exposed publicly in the past month, Gov. Cuomo called on Schneiderman to launch a probe, saying Tozzoli “received exorbitant annual compensation from WTCA, bringing in $600,000 in pay in 2011.”
Schneiderman’s office has responded to the governor’s request by sending letters to the WTCA on Oct. 3 asking for specifics on naming deals that the group has entered into over the years.
“As the holder of a license to use WTCA’s trademarks, you may have information that could assist us in our investigation,” a letter said.
A response, including PDFs of documents, must be provided by Oct. 25, the letter said.
The World Trade Centers Association has sold the rights to use the World Trade Center name to hundreds of companies — from a luxury hotel and convention center in Boston to a conference center in Las Vegas to an office suite in a rundown storefront in Hackensack, NJ.
It isn’t clear how much it has made over the past three decades, but in 2011 alone, the WTCA raked in $6.9 million.
“The World Trade Center is one of those iconic symbols of New York, and no one should be exploiting it for profit,” said a source familiar with the investigation.
“The attorney general is looking to find out how the WTCA got such a sweetheart deal.”
Tozzoli — who oversaw the design and construction of the Twin Towers — died in February at 90. He has been succeed by Eric Dahl, the founder of a Swedish consulting company.
Dahl defended the deal to The Post.
“The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is an organization with a long history of creating value,” Dahl said in a statement. “The WTCA lawfully obtained all rights to the World Trade Center trademark in 1986 in an agreement reached between the WTCA and the Port Authority.”
Although current PA officials have reportedly been surprised to learn of the deal, Dahl said the “agreement has been honored . . . with the knowledge and participation of the governing bodies of both organizations and was reapproved by the Port Authority as recently as 2006.”
Particularly galling to Cuomo and other PA officials is that the WTCA is now selling back the World Trade Center name to be used for the new One World Trade Center tower in return for a fee and nearly half a million dollars in free office space.