Posted on 07/31/2007 3:04:36 PM PDT by alisasny
New York CityFamilies insist 9/11 remembrance be at Ground Zero THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 31, 2007
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday that the Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony would not be held in its original Ground Zero location, despite threats by family members to boycott and hold their own shadow remembrance.
Construction on the memorial, as well as new buildings that are going up, have made the site unsafe for a large public gathering like the one that has taken place at the site each year since the attacks, he said.
Bloomberg said the decision to move the sixth anniversary commemoration to a plaza off the southeast corner of the site was final, and that "it would be a big shame" if anyone skipped the remembrance events out of anger.
For five years, mourners have participated in the same ritual at the site: As the names of the nearly 3,000 victims were read aloud, echoing across what was once the World Trade Center basement, family members could also descend a long ramp into the seven-story pit. There, they laid flowers on the dusty bedrock.
Some family members have written angry letters to Bloomberg and Gov. Eliot Spitzer, warning that they will hold their own gathering if the ceremony is not moved back to its original place.
The families said yesterday that they will now apply for a permit to do so, but it is unclear whether that would be successful; the city controls permits for the land where previous remembrances were held, and a separate bistate agency is in charge of the seven-story pit.
That agency, the Port Authority, said yesterday it was working to find a way to let families visit the site on the anniversary. Spokesman Steve Sigmund said that would not include permission to hold a separate ceremony, nor would it include access to the pit.
The family groups that are protesting say the new location has none of the significance that Ground Zero has.
"This is not the site - it's across the street," said Anthony Gardner,whose brother was killed in the attacks. "You have a better view of a Burger King than the actual trade center site."
Families have long said they feel an emotional attachment to the site, a sentiment that is particularly strong for the relatives of the 1,100-some victims who have not had any identified remains recovered from the site. Many feel that Ground Zero is a burial site.
I didn't like the guy before, and he's not doing much to improve that!
It is a construction site, and dangerous, but if they wanted to, they could make it safe for one day out of the year.
The place should be a national shrine as far as I’m concerned.
Good lord, have the ceremony next to ground zero, they might be able to escost the families down.
Across from the area there is a building with a memorial inside and it has a small scale replica of what the site will look like when construction is complete.
It is absolutely beautiful in 3D.
I would like to hope that many family members would like the work to be completed and not delayed any further.
The shame is how long it has taken and the mayor is largely responsible for the delay.
Probably some GD lawyer advised the City to bug out.
With a project THAT large, there's no way they could secure it for just one day. The families should realize that after this one disruption, there will be a lasting memorial to their loved ones. It's not like the Mayor is talking about holding it in Staten Island for goodness sake. It's going to be right next door to the site!
It would be improper not to hold it at all. As it is, they're talking about a site that's adjacent to the trade center site, but just not IN the site.
The families need to be a little more patient and understanding about the way construction is done. They won't have to be gone from the exact site forever, just as long as it takes to build it to the point where it is safer for everyone involved. Would they feel better if their demands were met, and then someone died as a result of the unsafe construction area?
Our pinhead of a mayor wants to hold the ceremony in a tiny plaza that won't come close to holding all the family members, let alone the fire fighters from around the world who come here every year to pay their respects.
This, from today's Daily News really got to me:
Holding this year's 9/11 memorial outside Ground Zero is a "good idea" for more than just safety reasons, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday - touching off another round of outcry from families.
Defending the decision to hold the event at a nearby park, the mayor suggested the move's symbolism is as important as protecting mourners from construction equipment.
"You want to try different things and express to the country our remorse for those that we lost, our confidence in the future, our telling the terrorists that they're not going to end our freedoms and way of life," Bloomberg said. "You don't want to do the same thing every time."
Some relatives are upset.
"One day - that's all we ask for," said Diane Horning, who lost her 26-year-old son Matthew in the north tower of the World Trade Center.
She already had planned to skip the ceremony when told this month about plans to move it from the Trade Center site to Zuccotti Park, at Broadway and Liberty St.
The letter stressed the day's message as one of "hope" and "tolerance" - instead of remembrance, she said.
"I don't want to be told that instead of mourning my son on that one day, I should be showing the world my resilience and my values of tolerance and: 'Look at us - we're rebuilding,'" Horning said.
"Every other day, you can do that. But [9/11] is a day of grief," said Horning, president of WTC Families for Proper Burial.
Bloomberg is truly an asswipe.
Are you at all familiar with the site? Do you realize that the plaza where Bloomberg wants to move the ceremony is tiny and will never be able to hold the family members?
Do you realize that the construction is a few years late, and another day of nothing wouldn’t be a big deal?
Okay, I’ll be the unpleasant one.....
I am more than a little tired of the World Trade Tower victim’s families.....
These folk’s loved ones unfortunately lost their lives by being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
For that - most received millions of dollars from a grieving nation....
It wasn’t enough...
With the exception of the Firemen and Policemen who lost their lives trying to save others — the dead didn’t die as heroes in defense of the Republic...
For the most part — they were at work in their civilian jobs....
Why they feel entitled to the continued accommodations they demand - has for me — reached the point of absurdity..
Shouldn’t we do more to accommodate our warrior dead?
Shouldn’t we do more to accommodate our wounded warriors?
Shouldn’t we do more to accommodate our warrior’s families?
Shouldn’t we do more to accommodate those who were killed in Defense of the Republic, rather than those killed because our politicians failed us and allowed the lunatics who killed them to succeed?
Just asking......
The memorial should have been built by now, period.
Also, the NYFD needs to have the proper equipment so that they can communicate with each other in the event of another emergency like 911. As far as I know, NY politicians still haven’t gotten their act together on this - it is total lunacy.
The MSM needs to highlight this little factoid.
Yep - asswipe.
Hopefully once the construction is complete, it will be again.
Hope I can understand, but "tolerance"? Who does Bloomie want everyone to tolerate, the ragheads behind the attack?
Probably, considering he's the typical Policially Correct Liberal Idiot.
they dont even have the money for the entire memorial yet
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