[ELS]

If you were a New Yorker, or knew anything about the place where this occured, or had ever had it actually be a meaningful place where you’d done business, met with people, ate dinner, or just enjoyed the view from the top of.. if you had ever had those Towers be a part of your life, somone who still looked for them every time they approached New York City - you would know JUST where Ground Zero is.

As a number of NY/NJ/CT Freepers can tell you, I have done and experienced the things you mention. I used to work on Broadway near Wall St. and commuted through the WTC via the PATH train from New Jersey. I even went to a corporate Christmas party at Windows on the World. All of that has nothing to do with a definition of where Ground Zero is. (I was working in Manhattan, in midtown, on 9/11. I commuted to work on NJ Transit into NY Penn Station and always looked for the twin towers as I was riding in to work to get my bearings. For weeks, if not months, I couldn't believe what I saw, or didn't see. The clouds of smoke where the towers used to be were hard to bear. So, you might not want to assume what I know or don't know before ranting.)

Let's look at the definition you have provided from Wikipedia:

In and around New York City, “Ground Zero” is generally understood to mean the site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The building at 51 Park Pl. WAS destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Also, there is no need to exaggerate by saying "4 block lengths". Any map shows that Park Place is only two N/S blocks (which are much shorter that the E/W blocks) away from the immediate perimeter of the WTC. I have not seen any news reports that have said it is four blocks away. Do you have a citation? Had the towers fallen sideways, it would have been well within the potential quarter mile radius. Would you still define Ground Zero as the area between Vesey St., Liberty St., Church St./Trinity Pl. and West St. if the towers had not fallen straight down?

Let's look at earlier quote from Wikipedia:

The term [ground zero] has often been associated with nuclear explosions and other large bombs, but is also used in relation to earthquakes, epidemics and other disasters to mark the point of the most severe damage or destruction.

51 Park Place certainly meets this definition. It was damaged beyond repair by a part or parts of one of the airplanes on September 11, 2001. Many buildings in the area were not damaged at all. They are not part of Ground Zero.

We have a difference of opinion. The definition of Ground Zero that I use is somewhat broader than the definition you use. I suggest that we agree to disagree on this point.

[worst-case scenario]

I agree - we have a different definition, and will probably always have one. I never considered the Burlington Cota Factory as part of “Ground Zero.”

But that raises another question: If this center was going to be built in the building *next door * toe Park51, in a building that wasn’t damaged by the events of the day, would you be okay with it? Is it purely the location of this center at the particular building they’ve purchased?