Dear 9/11 Family Members, First-Responders, Military Personnel, and all concerned Americans,



Recently, members of several 9/11 family groups met with Mayor Bloomberg and Mr. Joe Daniels of the National September 11 Memorial Museum Foundation. During these meetings, which we are grateful to Mayor Bloomberg and Mr. Daniels for hosting, we expressed the deep concerns that the overwhelming majority of family members and many others still have regarding several key issues with the Memorial and Museum.

We discussed numerous points regarding the Memorial and Museum such as safety, it's underground location, displays that may contain human remains, etc. However, the most critically time-sensitive issue discussed is how the names of the victims will be listed on the 9/11 Memorial. We again stated our position that the ranks of first responders and military personnel must be listed preceding their names. Additionally, we reiterated our request that the age of each victim be listed, and for non-uniformed victims, the company and the floor where they worked. Unfortunately, our request for this deserved recognition was again denied.

We realize that the way the victims are to be listed has improved somewhat from the original design which offered only an underground, random name format. Thanks to the efforts of The Advocates and others the name of each victim will be listed at ground level, not seven stories below. Additionally, first responders will be listed together under a department heading along with their respective units. These have always been key components of our long-standing request, but they are just part of a larger proposal that was drawn up several years ago by the majority of civilian and first-responder family groups after many months of hard work. This proposal was delivered to Mayor Bloomberg, then Gov Pataki, and others charged with the memorial's development. Unfortunately, it was largely ignored. To continue to deny the ranks to first-responders and military personnel, and the age, company, and floor number to all victims is an extremely disrespectful omission and one that reduces them to mere names on a wall.

The current proposal is similar to the minimalist design of The Vietnam Memorial where no ranks or branch of service are listed. Many find this concept disrespectful and offensive and it should not be the model for the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero. Rather, the majority of family members and Americans nationwide prefer a listing similar to that of such iconic structures as the Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg, Normandy, and Pentagon 9/11 Memorials where branch of service and rank are indicated. A memorial that fails for instance to list Peter Ganci as FDNY Chief of Department, or Mychal Judge (an ordained Catholic priest) as Father Mychal Judge, FDNY Chaplain, or Timothy Maude as LT General, U.S. Army, is one that fails to tell the authentic story of 9/11/01. No one should have the right to deny on a memorial such hard-earned designations to those who died while serving in those ranks. This memorial should be one that celebrates lives and reflects on the absence of people, not one that celebrates waterfalls and speaks to the absence of buildings.

We therefore request that all who recognize this egregious affront to voice their deep concerns regarding these issues. Please write letters to the editor of newspapers and contact other various media outlets and your elected officials at the local, state and federal levels. Additionally, make your opinions known directly to those at The National September 11 Memorial/Museum Foundation, to Governors Paterson and Corzine, and to Mayor Bloomberg. Let them know that we remain deeply disturbed by the continual omission of full and proper recognition for each precious soul lost on 9/11/01. We also ask that such requests, while passionate and firm, are done in a dignified and respectful fashion.

Hopefully, if we persist, the final version of The September 11, 2001 Memorial at The World Trade Center will appropriately reflect the wishes of the families and the sacrifice that was made by so many on September 11, 2001. And know it is our intention to follow up with further action and events to achieve this goal. Thank you all.



Sincerely,



Jim McCaffrey

LT/FDNY

Co-chair, Advocates for a 9/11 Fallen Heroes Memorial

Brother-in-law of B.C. Orio J. Palmer, Batt 7

(914) 482-0284

jalel31@hotmail.com

www.9/11fallenheroes.org

WTC cornerstone returned to sander
Piece to go at base of Freedom Tower is back at LI site where it was crafted, on quiet display until redesign
July 3, 2006 By LUIS PEREZ Newsday Staff Writer

Joan Hubbard was looking for a countertop but instead found the Freedom Stone.

There it was, in the southeast corner of a Hauppauge storage lot 45 miles away from Ground Zero: 20 tons of Adirondack granite, sanded, engraved and polished by the same folks who are at once helping rebuild at the World Trade Center site as well as renovate Hubbard's second kitchen.

She found the Freedom Tower cornerstone without ceremony yesterday. No sign pointed to it. In front of the 9-by-5 foot slab were daylilies, potted evergreens and small votive candles. To the sides were American flags, but nowhere was there a crowd.

Hubbard spent a few minutes marveling at the garnet-flecked stone's hypnotic depth, and its inscription, which reads in part: "TO THE SPIRIT OF ENDURING FREEDOM." She later admitted she wasn't at all sure what she was looking at.

"At first, I thought it was part of a fire department memorial," said Hubbard, 64, of Oyster Bay.

Indeed, it is somewhat symbolic of the trade center site's stalled progress that the cornerstone has returned to Innovative Stone in Hauppauge.

Quarried in upstate New York, the rough stone first traveled to Hauppauge, where it was designed, in 2003. It arrived at Ground Zero on July 4, 2004. A year later, it sat covered up by a tarp after design changes to the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower made its placement obsolete.

Then, two weeks ago at dawn, the slab was hoisted onto a flatbed truck and quietly carted back to Innovative Stone, where it will be reconfigured to align with a revamped design, according to Karen Pearse, chief executive of the stone company.

In the meantime, Innovative Stone is welcoming visitors who want to view the stone by appointment. Its Web site, www.innovativestone.com, features a video about the cornerstone's meticulous creation.

connections
 Serena Williams Eunice Kennedy Shriver Michael Jackson Taylor Swift Apple, Inc. "A lot of people come and just want to touch it," said Pearse. "It's a powerful stone."

It was Pearse who named the rock the Freedom Stone. She donated the $14,000 quarried stone and estimates her firm has spent nearly six times that much on the entire project.

The Adirondack granite is infused with shiny crimson flecks of garnet, the official gemstone of New York. Its black-and-gray surface comes from the natural blending of feldspar, quartz and hornblende, Pearse said.

Several workers at Innovative Stone explained that the cornerstone is something of a memorial to the 2,749 people who died in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It's spiritual because of what it represents," said Manuel Hernandez, 56, of Brentwood, the materials foreman in the lot who takes great care to cover the stone with a blue tarp at night.

"It represents all those people," Hernandez said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/wtc-cornerston...-to-sander-1.721704

New York lays cornerstone for Freedom Tower
Groundbreaking less than three years after 9/11
Tuesday, July 6, 2004 Posted:
 
NEW YORK (CNN) -- In an emotional ceremony Sunday, New York laid the cornerstone for the new Freedom Tower, promising it will reclaim the city's skyline, altered after the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001.

"Today is indeed a momentous day," said Gov. George Pataki at the ceremony to break ground for what is designed to be the world's tallest skyscraper, which will stand where the World Trade Center once stood.

"Today we take 20 tons of Adirondack granite -- the bedrock of our state -- and place it as the foundation, the bedrock of a new symbol of American strength and confidence. Today, we lay the cornerstone for a new symbol of this city and this country and of our resolve in the face of terror."

An inscription on the cornerstone read, "To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom -- July Fourth 2004."

The skyscraper is expected to be 1,776 feet tall, so designed to mark the year of American independence. Initial occupancy is scheduled for 2008.

About 500 invited guests attended Sunday's ceremony -- 100 of them family members of those killed in the September 11 attacks. The 13-year-old son of a Port Authority police officer who died in the attacks read the Declaration of Independence and was the one speaker to receive a standing ovation.

"As we lay this cornerstone, we remember that the liberties, which are the bedrock of our nation, can never be shaken by violence or hate," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

"By laying this magnificent cornerstone of hope, we are sending a message to the people around the world that freedom will always prevail. The war on terror that we now fight requires courage and our freedoms will always be the source of our courage."

Daniel Libeskind, designer of the master plan for the World Trade Center site, added, "We commemorate not only the physical restoration of the site, we also celebrate the strength and resilience of the human spirit. This magnificent Freedom Tower ... will inspire New York, America and the entire world with the ideals of liberty and democracy."

While the sentiments were widely shared, some families of September 11 victims have criticized those in charge of the rebuilding effort for sidestepping historic preservation and a professed commitment not to rebuild on the acre-wide squares where the twin towers were anchored -- known as their "footprints."

"We are not opposed to the rebuilding moving forward" said Anthony Gardner, whose brother Harvey was killed inside the south tower. "We just don't want it to move forward and the physical remains of the footprints to be destroyed in that process."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/07/04...nerstone/index.html

Competition seeks artist to design construction site mural at ground zero in NYC

August 11th, 2009

Designs sought for mural on WTC construction fence

NEW YORK — Artists looking for somewhere to display their work now have a chance to be seen at one of the city’s most high-profile places — the World Trade Center site.


The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the city Department of Transportation are asking artists to submit designs for a new mural.

The mural will cover a portion of the construction fence on Church Street between Liberty and Vesey streets.

The winning design will be printed on vinyl mesh banners. Contest guidelines ask that the designs reflect “the vibrancy of the thriving downtown commercial and residential neighborhood.”

Designs can be submitted until Oct. 1. The mural will be installed in December and will remain until Nov. 2010.

On the Net: http:www.nyc.gov/dot

http://blog.taragana.com/n/competition-see...zero-in-nyc-136929/