Hawass is a lunatic, however he did not send this letter without a lobbying effort by NYC metro area based archaeologists and historians and egyptoligists lobbying him to do so.
The obelisk is in pretty bad shape, and the pigeons are destroying it. The particulate pollution in NYC is intense... it eats all stonework...
I certainly hope this motivates the city/museum to right by the monument. I also wonder what the condition of its mate in Great Britain is like.