Who Sold Rights to ‘World Trade Center’ for $10?

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) —

Someone in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey authorized the sale of rights to use the name “World Trade Center” for $10 in the 1980s, resulting in millions of dollars in fees for use of the name in 28 states. Now, New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman wants to know who that was.

The 1986 deal sold the naming rights to Guy Tozzoli, one of the Port Authority’s outgoing executives, for use by a nonprofit organization called The World Trade Centers Association. A spokesman for the WTCA said the organization has “a long history of creating value” and acquired the naming rights legally. Tozzoli died in February.

A letter expected to arrive at the attorney general’s office Monday sets an Oct. 25 deadline for responses to the World Trade Centers in cities including Houston, New Orleans, Detroit and Sacramento, Calif. The letters seek the date in which each entity entered into an agreement with the World Trade Centers Association, the amount paid to the association, and names of principals involved.

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