The mall planned for the World Trade Center site will include a Barneys, DKNY, Gap, Express, Charles David, H2O, and Starbucks, according to renderings released yesterday by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

But there’s a catch – none of the retailers included in the images has committed to renting space at the site, where shopping is scheduled to begin in 2010.

The episode is the latest in a series of missteps that have marked the effort to rebuild at the site of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Two of the cultural institutions slated for the site, the Drawing Center and the International Freedom Center, have withdrawn. The one tower that has been rebuilt, 7 World Trade Center, lacks a major tenant. And plans for the Freedom Tower, the largest building at the site, have been reworked amid security concerns.

Asked why the retailers were pictured in the plans without having agreed to open stores at the site, a spokesman for the Port Authority, Steven Coleman, said the images were examples of “artistic license.”

He said he was not sure if the retailers knew they were pictured in the Port Authority’s renderings. “That’s not to say they won’t open stores there,” he said.

None of the retailers contacted by The New York Sun would say whether they plan to open outlets at ground zero. Many were unaware they had been included in renderings of the project.

The mall will be part of a transportation hub linking the PATH rapid-transit system with all downtown subway lines via underground passageways. Riders will also be able to connect to the World Financial Center Ferry Terminal via a West Street underpass.

The Port Authority expects that the hub will include 550,000 square feet of retail space when it is completed. In addition, the Port Authority is exploring ways to design and accelerate construction of an additional 300,000 square feet of retail space along Church Street from Vesey to Liberty streets. Port Authority owns the World

Trade Center site, on which Silverstein Properties is planning to build the 1,776-foot-tall Freedom Tower.

“Restoring the vitality and street life to the neighborhoods around the World Trade Center site has been one of our primary goals since 9/11,” Governor Pataki said in a press release yesterday. “By offering a wide variety of high-class retail establishments, we will provide a major boost to the economy and quality of life for those who live and work downtown.”

Charles David, a shoe, boot, and handbag retailer with stores on Long Island and in New Jersey, is investigating various locations in New York City, according to a company spokeswoman, Pansy Tolou. However, it is nowhere near making a final decision on any one of them, she said.

Beyond that, representatives of the various companies contacted would not comment.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation announced yesterday that it had raised just over $100 million, a milestone in their goal to raise a total of $500 million.

At a ground zero press conference, Governor Pataki signed into law legislation that would allow New Yorkers to donate to the foundation directly through a check-off box on their state tax returns.

“As we continue to move forward with the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, we’ve placed the memorial at the centerpiece of our efforts,” Governor Pataki said. “This tax check-off will give generous New Yorkers a way to honor the memory of our nearly 3,000 fallen heroes.”

Mr. Pataki proposed the legislation in January, and both the State Senate and the Assembly passed it unanimously.

Since 1995, New Yorkers have donated nearly $17 million through similar tax check-off funds to charitable organizations including the Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund and the Missing and Exploited Children Fund.

The foundation’s announcement marked the start of the public phase of its fund-raising efforts. It will now launch an international campaign to solicit donations from corporations and individual donors.

“The memorial will be a lasting tribute to those we lost on September 11 and in 1993 – one that will not only honor the friends, neighbors, and loved ones we lost, but demonstrate the strength and resilience of our city and our nation,” Mr. Pataki said.