9/11 Memorial Service Moved From Ground Zero Without Consulting The 9/11 Families

Very sad, and infuriating at the same time. Just today two more victims were discovered.



The families respond...

Governor Spitzer, Attn: Marlene Turner
Mayor Bloomberg, Attn: Commissioner Nazli Parvizi, NYCAU
Via Email and Fax
July 16, 2007

Dear Governor Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg,

We have just learned of the City’s plans for the six anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. While we support your decision to have first responders read the names of the 9/11 dead, we ask that you reconsider the decision to relocate the annual 9/11 commemorative events from Ground Zero to Zuccotti Park.

For five years, families of 9/11 victims have gathered at the World Trade Center site to stand on sacred ground, and mourn the men, women, and children murdered in the worst attack on U.S. soil in our nation’s history. For us, and many Americans around the nation, the World Trade Center site is sacred ground. The ongoing discoveries of human remains at the site remind us of the brutality of the attacks and confirm its sacredness.

Nearly half of the victims’ families have no private place to grieve because no earthly remains of their loved ones have been recovered. Each year, despite the emotional pain, victims’ families put their lives on hold to attend the annual commemoration at the World Trade Center site. Some travel from across the nation, others from around the world, to gather at the place where their loved ones died. They have descended to the footprints at bedrock to pay tribute, as the names of the victims were read.

Ongoing construction—without any details—has been identified as the reason for the relocation. While we support the revitalization of the site, is it so terrible to stop construction for 1/2 day so that fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, children, friends and fellow citizens can respectively gather to remember and honor their fallen loved ones? We also fear this relocation raises legitimate safety and security concerns.

How will the thousands of mourners physically be able to gather at Zuccotti Park? Will the adjacent streets be closed to accommodate attendees? How will access to the ceremony be afforded? Will there be any form of access to the World Trade Center site on the anniversary of the attacks?

We welcome and appreciate the opportunity to discuss these concerns with you and your staff directly.

Sincerely,

Bruce DeCell, 9/11 Families for a Secure America

Bill Doyle, Doyle 9/11 Support Network

Anthony Gardner, World Trade Center United Family Group, Inc.

Kurt and Diane Horning, WTC Families for Proper Burial, Inc.

Jim McCaffrey, Advocates for a 9/11 Fallen Heroes Memorial

Dennis McKeon, Where to Turn, Put it Above Ground

Margie Miller, 9/11 Long Island Families

Sally Regenhard, 9/11 Parents & Families of Firefighters & WTC Victims, and The Skyscraper Safety Campaign

Patricia Reilly, Coalition of 9/11 Families

Feel free to let Gov. Spitzer, and Mayor Bloomberg know that you want to remember our fallen citizens at the place they were murdered.

Eliot Spitzer
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-474-8390

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 788-8123

E-MAIL:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html