[Silly]

I'm saying you can't compare the two. The staircase is one of the few parts of the building left the way it was which is why preservationists are involved. The cross is made of steel from the site, but as far as I know it was welded together with debris as a memorial.

These are apples and oranges, and a discussion about preserving the staircase is not helped by a discussion about the cross.

[presidio9]

The cross is made of steel from the site, but as far as I know it was welded together with debris as a memorial.

Bzzt. Incorrect.

Also, the staircase is definitely not "the way it was."

[ravingnutter]

Silecchia noticed the two steel beams in the perfect shape of a cross as debris was being removed from a fallen crosswalk that connected the World Trade Center's North Tower to Building Three two days after the disaster.

The beams, at least six feet high and four feet wide, were bolted together as part of the original structure. The edges of the beams bear no markings of being cut or welded to make the shape of a cross.

The most heart-wrenching discovery was that a silver object melted onto the cross' left side was the remains of a firefighter's jacket who died in the blast. Firefighters say the fire-resistant jacket turned silver and took on the look and consistency of metal when it encountered extreme heat and fire. Now, it is wrapped around the left arm of the cross.

Source