Yet throughout this time, aides to Mr. Bloomberg publicly portrayed the project as advancing smoothly.
European officials have portrayed the project as one that helps unite Europe and enhance its collective energy security.
The Times reported that administration officials outwardly portrayed the project as advancing smoothly even as internal reports described it in dire terms.
Heavyweights such as Jerry Brown, California's governor, portray the project as part of the state's history of big thinking, and insist that private money will materialise.
So while opponents portray the project as a titanic setback of environmental progress, the developer says its proposal respects nature, and even improves it.
After Libya publicly renounced its weapons program, the Bush administration and Britain tended to portray the project as large and aggressive, while the International Atomic Energy Agency said Libya was several years away from producing a nuclear weapon.
A brochure filled with photos and renderings portrays the project as a green, upmarket version of the luxurious Phuket resort in Thailand, though it is not clear where tourists will come from.
Benjamin Krause, country director for the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, portrayed the project as a mostly Haitian endeavor, bowing to the sensitivities of a country that threw off French colonial domination but has wrestled with foreign intervention, and the level and form of international aid to accept, ever since.
City officials attribute much of the additional costs to added features and portray the project as "exceedingly successful," allowing employees to be more efficient.
Mr. Coburn said it was not his intention to portray the projects he singled out as lacking merit.
Soon the stage was filled with choristers portraying the scientists on the project, all in white lab coats with note pads in hand.
