Posted on 12/20/2001 7:21:13 AM PST by newwahoo
Well, I'm wondering if your're saying that from an economic or moral point of view. If its just economics we could take a 15 acre chunk out of central park and just build towers there.
Maybe so, but I didn't know any of those people. And if you're right about the old graveyards under the city it also kind of makes a point regarding memory. Who remembers those people? Do their bodies get moved every time Con-Ed wants to lay down a new pipe? Will a dopey list of names and some pictures be the only thing there 50 years from now? Something that people can just walk by and ignore or not even notice?
I don't have good answers to these questions.
This is still my sentiment. The best statement to make to the barbarians who would seek to destroy the lives of our citizens and the life of our nation is one of defiance, and that should take the form of affirming life itself. We need to show them and the world that we will not be cowed into hunkering down among the buildings and trees of our cities, afraid to reach for and ascend the pillars of sunlight and rebuild the beauty and magnificence that was once there on that site, and should be again. We need to prove to those who would destroy us that we will not be crippled by endless weeping for our dead. We will remember them and celebrate their lives, but it will be done by rebuilding the structures that exemplify the drive and energy and courage of a free and noble people, and are the products of the engines of a vibrant and free economy, and of a society that will always reach for the stars because we know our destiny is to rise above the scrabble and lichens of the bare earth, not to hide among them. Surely there will be those who will fear returning to such a place to live and work. But equally certain there will be those who will not be afraid, and for their sake, as well as the thousands who perished on that day, we should stand firm in the face of the enemy, and prove that we as a people will not have our spirit broken with our buildings, but will rebuild and strengthen each.
Here's another potential issue that comes to mind. I wouldn't be surprised if guys like Sharpton come out and say that rebuilding on the site would be "disrespectful" and that if new towers are to built they should be built in Harlem or the outer boroughs. Maybe I'm reaching, but I wouldn't be shocked to see this when the dust settles.
A union scum who would clamber over the smoldering corpse of her son to spout the union party line? Good G-d. The left literally has no soul.
I do know that NYers are resilient and strong and capable of just about anything. Shortly after I was able to return home, I read in the Slimes and the Daily News that restaurants in Chinatown were having a hell of a time, what with their phone service still out and most of their business has traditionally been delivery orders. They were really hurting, so we made plans to go over there that Saturday, thinking that we'd help pour a little money into the neighborhood. I was never so happy to see such crowded streets, stores and restaurants. As we were waiting for a table in one dim sum place, I was chatting with the hostess and she told me that since those articles were printed, people were just coming to Chinatown in droves and that it really made a difference.
Nobody of any consequence takes Sharpton seriously, and during the democraps' run-off, Ferrer floated the idea of moving the financial district to the outer boroughs and it sank.
I could deal with one tower. But let's make it the biggest in the world again. We just don't do second-best ;-)
Drew Garrett
Me neither. Its probably a mixed bag; some will, others won't. I have as much sympathy and mourn for their losses to as great an extent as any other citizen not directly touched by personal loss but still affected by the events of that tragic day. But I know this: our loss as a nation will be greater and longer lasting if we don't rise from the rubble and rebuild what was there, as great or greater than that which was lost. Our history as a people has always been to take the best shot our adversaries have to give and come back from it stronger and more determined to win out over those who attack us without provocation and thereby arouse our anger. My hope is that the WTC will be rebuilt, as a vibrant and living memorial to those who died there. To leave an open, sterile, and gaping wound in the ground and sky of our country's greatest city would be a perpetual reminder of what the barbarians took from us, and of what, out of fear, we chose not to rebuild.
People forget that when first built the WTC was a huge socialistic boondoggle, and remained largely unrented for a long time. Some type of memorial should be built, but as for commercial development, let the leaseholder build whatever he thinks he afford to build with his insurance proceeds. This whole incident is turning into a disgusting pork fest.
Well you just gave me a shudder, those are my exact words every time we drive to Brooklyn. We come down the FDR, approach the Brooklyn Bridge exit, and...nothing. Not there anymore. Big gap where they used to be. It isn't right, it isn't right.
They were never my favorite buildings but their ABSENCE just flat out hurts. I want them back. Put me in the crowd (a minority, it seems) that wants a huge number 11 at the tip of the island again.
I'm not sure if the opinion is a minority or not, but that is largely irrelevant. Those towers came to represent more than just an ordinary commerical property. It was that way for many people, and evidently was true for the barbarians as well. They chose to attack these for what they symbolized, not so much (although it did that as well) for the lives lost and economic damage.
This is often the case for many things we build in this country. Things often grow beyond their original purpose. Read the history of the Empire State Building, for example, or the Chrysler Building. The same with the Golden Gate Bridge, or the Sears Tower, or Yankee Stadium. Sure, these things have their purpose, commerical, industrial, or entertainment. But in the national conscience, they have come to mean more. Loss of the WTC, if it stands, will carry beyond this generation. While we have lost things before (e.g., the Arizona), we have always replaced them with something bigger and better. We can remember our loss and mourn for our dead, but not at the cost of our national spirit.
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