Santiago Calatrava’s Oculus at Ground Zero, in Lower Manhattan. (Hilary Swift/NYT)

Next week, starchitect Santiago Calatrava’s dinosaur of a transportation hub will open at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. The cost, mostly in federal dollars, was $4 billion for the station and its Oculus, a sculptural – or, really, sepulchral – public space. It looks like a dinosaur skeleton. Weren’t the bones supposed to open and close or flap or something? Well, that bit ended up on the cutting room floor. What we got was a replacement for the transit hub destroyed on 9/11 – a necessary investment, one must suppose – plus a shopping mall. Just what New Yorkers were demanding!

Today the New York Times published a silly bit of fluff, perhaps intended to sooth the hurt feelings of Calatrava, a Spaniard, and others involved in the massive boondoggle. New York decided to spend not a nickel to celebrate the PATH center’s public opening, so ace Timesman David Dunlap was sent in to fill as many column inches as he could (“Oculus, Centerpiece of Transit Hub and Selfie Magnet, Is Set to Open“) with hosannahs. For instance:

Say this about the Oculus: It is breathtaking from the inside — luminous, intricate, uplifting and tranquil. Photos of it resemble idealized architectural renderings.

It had better be! Dunlap assures readers that the Oculus will be “selfie central,” and that it will be compared with Grand Central Terminal. Yes and no, methinks. It may be selfie central but it bears no comparison to Grand Central. Whole different kettle of fish. (I was startled to read, in Dunlap’s article,  that while entering this public space is free, entering the museum at Ground Zero costs a family of four $179. C’mon now. Can that be true?)

But don’t miss “How Cost of Train Station at World Trade Center Swelled to $4 billion,” also by Dunlap. The photo from above the Oculus automatically turns into an excellent series of time-lapse photos of Calatrava’s extravaganza in construction. That’s the only dance the public will get to see it perform. So it’s worth the effort to click the link to watch it happen. Otherwise, it is doomed to sit there like a fossil.

Accompanying the NYT graphics is Dunlap’s catalogue of blunders that  doubled the cost and stretched construction beyond the completion date by seven years. Read it if you dare. It will curl your toenails even faster than the time-lapse photos can speed the arrival of the facility’s erection.

Screen shot of Oculus from David Dunlap’s NYT story today.