From the NYT article...

City officials have estimated security and logistical costs could total more than $200 million per year for a trial that could last several years, and some politicians have complained that a trial could make the city an even more attractive target for Al Qaeda.

CNN reports this:

As city officials and residents contemplated the staging of the trial in Manhattan, doubts emerged about the wisdom of the location.

Police estimated that the cost to the city would be more than $200 million per year in a trial that could last several years and that 2,000-plus checkpoints would need to be installed around Lower Manhattan.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly also said additional protection would need to be deployed for the city, not just "the core area of Manhattan."

New Yorkers such as Pat Moore contemplated what it would be like to live through such a trial.

"Those people would virtually be held prisoner in their homes," Moore said of those who live near the courthouse. "We've all been traumatized, any of us who were there that day [September 11]."

Bloomberg initially supported the move, saying "it is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered."

But this week the mayor used different rhetoric, saying he would prefer the trial be held elsewhere, perhaps at a military base where it would be easier and cheaper to provide security.

"It's going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb a lot of people," Bloomberg said.

On Thursday, a group of New York politicians urged the Obama administration to re-examine locating the trials in downtown Manhattan.

"We are concerned that the administration has not fully considered the impact that the trials would have on Lower Manhattan in choosing the Moynihan Courthouse in Foley Square," U.S. Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velázquez, both Democrats, and state and local officials said in a letter dated Thursday to the attorney general.

"The Lower Manhattan neighborhoods in which this courthouse is located are only now recovering from the physical, emotional and financial devastation caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and therefore the impacts of this trial site choice are likely to be extremely burdensome."

The officials asked for a meeting with Holder to discuss the matter and how federal criminal trial locations are determined.

"We respectfully request that your office conduct a full and thorough examination of all potentially viable trial sites within the Southern District of New York in order to assess each site's safety and security requirements, impacts to the surrounding residential and business communities, and financial implications. Without such a full evaluation, it is impossible to determine which Southern District location choice would be optimal."

Other politicians who signed the letter were New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, state Sen. Daniel Squadron, City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilwoman Margaret Chin.

Also, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson cited his "hesitation" with the decision, pointing to the burdens it would pose on New Yorkers. In addition, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, said the lawmaker's "single biggest concern is making sure that the federal government cover the hundreds of millions of dollars per year cost to New York City for security during the trials."

Steve Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said he foresees a severe drop in tourism and real estate prices in one of the most highly populated areas of Manhattan.

The trial may take months, but not years. And interest in it will come and go. All the people who attend, including media, will eat lunch in the vicinity, so coffee shops and delis and street vendors will do quite well.