9/11 Families Vow Action If City Moves Memorial Service From WTC Site

9/11 Families Vow Action If City Moves Memorial Service From WTC Site

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index...id=1&aid=72089

Letter
Click Here (PDF)

July 28, 2007

A group of 9/11 victims' families says if the city doesn't keep this year's 9/11 memorial service at the World Trade Center site, they'll hold a separate one on their own.

Because of construction at the WTC site, the city has changed the location of the service to Zuccoti Park, on Broadway and Liberty Street.

But in a letter to Governor Eliot Spitzer and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the family members say the service should be held at the Trade Center site, as it has been for the last five years.

The families argue that the site is sacred ground, and that there's still enough room there to hold the ceremony safely.

The families say they want to be a part of the official memorial service, but if they don't hear back from the city by Tuesday, they'll file a permit to hold their own ceremony.

Which is exactly what they SHOULD do!

Bloomberg says decision to move 9/11 ceremony is final

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...gion-apnewyork

By SARA KUGLER
Associated Press Writer
July 30, 2007, 4:14 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday 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 to the victims, 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, 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.

"They can't take place in the old location _ we just couldn't make it safe. Construction is going on over there," Bloomberg said.

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 angry family members have written 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 Monday 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 swath of land where previous remembrances were held, and a separate bistate agency is in charge of the seven-story pit.

That agency, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Monday 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 same significance that ground zero holds.

"This is not the site _ it's across the street," said Anthony Gardner, whose brother was killed in the attack. "You have a better view of a Burger King than the actual trade center site."

Bloomberg said the plaza has its own historic significance from that morning. There was much "pain and suffering" there, he said.

People died in that area, and shortly after the attack, temporary morgues were set up there along the street. The plaza is also close to the Engine 10, Ladder 10 firehouse that lost six of its firefighters and was nearly destroyed in the attacks.

"Hopefully the families will participate ... but that's where it's going to be. We can make the area big enough, we can secure the area, it's safe," Bloomberg said.

"We're trying to change it a little bit each year _ you don't want to do the same thing every time."

It is likely that this fight will not end this year. With the World Trade Center memorial and various buildings now going up, the area will be under construction for years, and it is possible that the anniversary ceremony won't return until the rebuilding is complete.

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 as though ground zero is a grave site.

The city is now re-excavating areas around ground zero to look for more body parts after a cache of human bones was found in an abandoned manhole last year. More digging turned up other subterranean pockets of remains that were missed during the initial cleanup.

Some families believe the city has not kept them fully informed about the new round of remains excavations, which is expected to last for many more months.

Not only do the families not know how their loved ones died because this Government is so criminal, and REAKS of 9/11 complicity, but now they're not going to let them memorialize their loved ones where it is MOST important to them.

Families insist 9/11 remembrance be at Ground Zero

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ne...y-nynews-print

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.

9/11 Families Boycotting City Memorial

http://www.nypress.com/blogx/display...m?bid=80518415

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The families of a group of 9/11 victims are so angry the city is refusing to hold its annual memorial ceremony at ground zero that they’ve decided to organize their own. Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the memorial would have to be moved to Zuccotti Park, just southeast of the site, because ongoing construction makes it too dangerous for a large public gathering. Bloomberg also argued that the change in location would serve as a symbolic gesture that the city has moved on since the attacks. But the families say that that just isn’t good enough: “This is not the site—it’s across the street,” Anthony Gardner, whose brother was killed in the attacks, told reporters. “You have a better view of a Burger King than the actual trade center site,” he said. The groups are expected to apply for permits for their own gathering later today.

The Port Authority has reportedly said that it is currently trying to find a way to let families visit ground zero that day. But according to Newsday, spokesman Steve Sigmund said relatives would not be given permission to hold a separate ceremony. Relatives would also be prohibited from descending into the 7-story pit to lay flowers, a ritual they have completed every year since the tragedy.

Quote:

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a ritual they have completed every year since the tragedy.

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And should be allowed to CONTINUE. I can't believe that douche Bloomburgh said that we couldn't just keep doing the same thing every year. I mean, eventually the basement will be filled in, thus it wont be possible. IMO they shoud make an area in whatever they do there that allows access to the same concrete.

9/11 kin file request to keep commemoration at ground zero

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...gion-apnewyork

By DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press Writer
August 1, 2007, 1:52 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- A group of 9/11 family organizations, outraged by city plans to move the commemoration ceremony, filed a permit request Wednesday asking to hold the annual event at the World Trade Center site.

The coalition filed the request with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site.

The city has said that ground zero, now undergoing reconstruction, is not safe for the large annual gathering and it plans to move the recitation of names to a nearby plaza.

"This is the place we have. A precedent has been set in letting us touch ground zero," said Diane Horning, a representative of one of the family groups.

Family members will have some access to the site just not to the pit and not for a ceremony, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

"It's just not safe," said Bloomberg. "Listen, we've had enough tragedy on that site. Our first priority, No. 1, is to make sure that everybody's safe, and nothing's going to get us off that."

Construction will be halted at WTC site on 9/11

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...halted_at.html

by Claire Heininger
Wednesday August 01, 2007, 3:34 PM

As family members of 9/11 victims spar with New York City over plans to move this year's commemoration ceremony away from the World Trade Center site, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today offered something of a compromise.

After a group of family organizations filed a permit request with the Port Authority - which owns the site - asking to hold the annual event where it has been held for the past five years, the agency said it "appreciate(s) this request" and will suspend construction there on Sept. 11.

"As an agency that lost 84 friends and colleagues on September 11, the Port Authority is sensitive to the needs of those who lost loved ones," Port Authority Chief of Public and Government Affairs Stephen Sigmund said in the statement. "We are actively looking at ways to accommodate family members who want to pay their respects on the World Trade Center site on 9/11, but the substantial construction activity and current site conditions will not allow the formal ceremony to be safely conducted on the site.

"We stay in regular contact with family members and we appreciate this request."

New York City officials have said that the state of construction at Ground Zero makes it unsafe to host the annual ceremony, which in past years has drawn large crowds for the reading of nearly 3,000 victims' names and two moments of silence. They planned to move the gathering to a plaza off the southeast corner of the site.

Family members - who at past remembrances were permitted to walk down a ramp into the seven-story pit and place flowers on the bedrock - balked, saying it is "essential" to hold the memorial at the "authentic site" of the attacks.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg reinforced the city's position Monday, saying family members will have some access to the site -- just not to the pit and not for a ceremony.

"It's just not safe," said Bloomberg, according to the Associated Press. "Listen, we've had enough tragedy on that site. Our first priority, No. 1, is to make sure that everybody's safe, and nothing's going to get us off that."

Sept. 11 Families to Meet With NYC Mayor

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...ap3983633.html

By SARA KUGLER 08.02.07, 7:54 PM ET

NEW YORK - Relatives of Sept. 11 victims who requested a face-to-face discussion with Mayor Michael Bloomberg to resolve a dispute over the relocation of this year's anniversary ceremony are set to meet with him next week.

Some relatives of those who died are upset that the city has moved next month's sixth anniversary service to a plaza near the World Trade Center site. Bloomberg and the agency that controls the site, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said this week that the space can no longer accommodate the large public gathering because of all the construction going on there.

A coalition of family groups on Thursday asked for the meeting because they want to "work together to find a mutually agreeable plan to honor our loved ones in a meaningful and respectful way," a statement said.

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said the mayor agreed to meet with them next week.

The families asked for the meeting a day after they applied for a permit that would give them special access to the lower Manhattan site on the anniversary.

The family groups also are asking to be allowed down into the seven-story pit that once was the twin towers' basement. Every Sept. 11 since the 2001 attacks, those who lost loved ones have spent much of the day in that subterranean area, placing flowers on the ground.

So far, their requests have not been granted, but the city partly relented this week and said families would have access on Sept. 11 to the street-level southern border of the trade center site to lay flowers.

One compromise being floated would be that the name-reading would still take place in the plaza but the families would be allowed to descend the ramp into the pit.

Bloomberg, 9/11 kin reach deal on ceremony

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...adlines-nation

By Karla Shuster
August 10, 2007

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and a coalition of relatives of Sept. 11 victims reached a compromise Thursday that would allow them to briefly descend into a small section of the former World Trade Center site, which the city previously had said was unsafe for the annual memorial.

"It's a relief for the families and solace for me to know I can go down to where he drew his last breath and leave a flower," said Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches of Brooklyn, whose son Jimmy, a firefighter, died in the attack.

The deal came after a half-hour meeting between the mayor and about 10 family members at City Hall, during which they made a presentation urging Bloomberg to reconsider his decision to move the entire ceremony to Zuccotti Park, across the street from ground zero.

The city, state and Port Authority had said that, unlike past years, ground zero was unsafe because reconstruction was well underway. In previous ceremonies, families had unfettered access to what is called the Pit, seven stories below street level.

Last week, the families filed a permit application with the Port Authority for access to ground zero at three points, including on West Street overlooking the site for the traditional reading of victims' names, and to the Pit via a ramp on Liberty Street.

The deal reached Thursday will allow families to walk, single file, down the ramp to leave flowers on an area of bedrock that is a few hundred square feet. The procession will take place as first responders read the victims' names at Zuccotti Park.

"They'll just have a moment to toss their flowers on the sacred ground," said Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was killed. Like many victims' relatives, Regenhard has not received any of her son's remains and has had nothing to bury.

Bloomberg, in a prepared statement, said the Port Authority had assured the city that limited access to ground zero could be done safely.