Appeals Court Upholds Port Authority Liability in Trade Center Attack

A New York appeals court has upheld a verdict finding the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was responsible for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

The jury found the authority had not properly protected the garage where the bomb exploded, the Associated Press reports. Jurors had determined the authority was 68 percent liable for the bombing and the terrorists were 32 percent liable, a finding that means the authority could be 100 percent responsible for damages, the New York Times reports.

Six people died in the attack.

The Times says the decision “was filled with pungent and scathing language.”

The court said the authority was aware of but chose to ignore “an extreme and potentially catastrophic vulnerability that would have been open and obvious to any terrorist who cared to investigate and exploit it.” The authority’s own studies had predicted “with exact prescience” how an attack could be carried out, the opinion said.

Only about 50 of 575 lawsuits filed in connection with the bombing are still pending.