U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled yesterday that real estate developer Larry Silverstein can’t seek $3.5 billion from airlines whose planes were hijacked by terrorists and flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Reuters reported yesterday. Silverstein, who leased the skyscrapers about two months before they were destroyed, already collected $4.1 billion from insurers and can’t collect twice under New York law, Judge Hellerstein ruled. “If this case were to go forward, the WTC companies would not be able to recover anything against the airlines,” said Hellerstein. The judge rejected any suggestion that Silverstein had sought a windfall, saying that he was among the “heroes” who sought to “create beauty out of the destruction.” Silverstein’s World Trade Center Properties LLC in 2008 sued United Continental Holdings Inc., American Airlines and its parent AMR Corp., claiming their negligence led to the destruction of the towers.
