The Freedom Tower

A decal of an American flag at the top of on one of the foundation beams going up at Ground Zero was abruptly removed.
The Stars and Stripes was affixed on the first column to go up at the construction site for the Freedom Tower was taken off after the builders were asked why the stripes and stars were on the wrong side of the flag. Reports at the site noticed that the 50 stars were on the right side of the flag instead of the left. When photographs of the beam were published, readers who saw the photos also called news media and questioned why the flag was displayed incorrectly. The emblem on the 31-foot beam was removed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Federal code, according to the Associated Press, requires the blue field displaying the stars always be on the left side. “When construction workers put the decal onto the column as it lay on the ground,” the AP said, “the flag was horizontal and the stars were on the left. Once a giant crane raised the column, the flag was also vertical, with the stars on the right,” a PA spokesman said.

The perimeter of the Freedom Tower is going up. Construction workers raised three columns to form the perimeter yesterday. The three columns were all signed by various people in New York and Virginia where the columns were forged with reinforced steel. There are at least 81 steel I-beams that will soon be raised to support the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. The beams were forged in Germany and shipped to Virginia where they were reinforced with steel plates for added strength.

The families of World Trade Center victims gathered at Ground Zero again today … this time to sign beams and to attach photos of their loved ones to the first steel girders to go up at the site of the Freedom Tower. The families and first responders have been busy for the last few days signing messages on the steel beams at Ground Zero. Many wrote goodbyes, prayers and other messages while others pasted photos to the beams, all pledging to never forget the tragedy of 9/11.

The first beam was installed today during a dedication ceremony.
A 30-foot tall beam, signed by many relatives representing the more than 2,700people who died on 9/11 was put into place as part of the 1,776 foot Freedom Tower foundation today. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. George Pataki and officials for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey took part in the signing.

The Twin Towers Alliance has one simple mission: Build a movement of Americans dedicated to rebuilding the Twin Towers, exactly as they were to restore the New York City skyline to what it was before 9/11. To do this, it advocates stopping construction of the Freedom Tower. They are collecting signatures, even as steel beams for the Freedom Tower, arrive at the construction site at TwintowersAlliance.com. Their appeal begins with this call to action: “Restore America’s skyline! Say no to the fraud ‘Em Tower. Why it is wrong for New York and the Country. It has nothing to do with Freedom. It is an open secret that the way it was chosen was a sham and the entire site plan is the result of you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll scratch-yours. To call it the Freedom Tower mocks the word.
“Most people have no idea that rebuilding was never one of the options. When it is explained to them, they are shocked. When they learn that restoring the street grid to its pre-WTC configuration was considered an ‘imperative’ by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, they angered. There is nothing standing in the way that can’t be overcome.”
Well, who knew?

Will Jimeno is one of the real survivors of the World Trade Center attacks. In a story for a Christian website, Journal Chretien, Jimeno says it was his Christian faith that helped him survive the events of 9/11. In a news release about the DVD release of the movie, World Trade3 Center in which Jimeno’s real life drama takes center stage, the former Port Authority policeman said “faith helped me through one of the most horrific moments in history. Jimeno was trapped beneath the rub ble for 12 hours before he was rescued. The DVD of the movie was released last week in a commemorative edition.

The Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a $5.7 Billion budget for next year. The PA is the parent bureaucracy which owns the 16-acre World Trade Center complex, including the Freedom Tower. The new budget includes authorization to to lease more than 412,000 square feet of office space in the Freedom Tower. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine says the new PA budget … ballooning to include another $8 billion over the next 10 years for trade center redevelopment shows the PA’s dedication to redevelopment the World Trade Center. Corzine said the funds were vital to protect “the critical infrastructure.” New York Gov. George Pataki said the funds “makes extraordinary investments” possible to secure bridges, tunnels, air and seaports and a rail system used by millions between New York and New Jersey.

First responders and relatives of victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy will be able to sign steel beams that will be used in the foundation for the Freedom Tower. Police, fire fighters and other first responders and relatives of 9/11 victims will be able to sign the beam on Sunday at Battery Park City in lower Manhattan from 10 a.m. until noon. Others citizens will be able to sign another Freedom Tower beam from noon until 3 p.m. outside 200 North End Avenue on Sunday.

The owner of the World Trade Center property at Ground Zero is having financial problems. The Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey has been under tremendous financial pressure since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center complex. The collapse of the Twin Towers hurled the agency into the building business as the owner of the 16 acre World Trade Center site. It is also responsible for rebuilding the site, including the Freedom Tower, but has had well known difficulties finding tenants, including state and city workers and PA employees.
The solution might involve the PA raising bridge and tunnel fees. New Yorkers and New Jersey residents will bare the brunt of that decision — again.

The list of victims whose names will be displayed prominently will be group in meaningful ways. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation today approved a plan to list the victims in groups. The largest group will be the names of 1,431 people who worked or died in the North Tower along with 87 passenger and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 11 will be engraved around the north pool at the memorial. Eight other groupings will be posted around the South Tower pool along with the names of more than 400 firefighters and police who died at the WTC. The south pool at the memorial will list more than 700 victims who were working or visiting the South Tower along with 60 passengers and crew members aboard United Flight 175.

This comes from the Mortgage Manifest blog:
“Freedom Tower Back to Being a Big Box

We all knew it was coming sooner or later, I mean, hey come on, even Penn and Teller got into the act with their show Bullshit on Showtime about the failures of the WTC Memorial construction.
But now it’s official, The Freedom Tower is a skyscaper just like any other in the land.
No big surprise here, of course they state security reasons, and the dictates of the marketplace as just a few of the justifications. It’s not that I don’t like big bastions of commerce rising into the sky, I do, I like them very much. I live in Manhattan don’t I? It’s just that there was so much press, competitions, and hub-bub about the design and scope of the building that it tended to raise everyone’s expectations very high. I was thinking along the liines of THE GLORIOUS TOWER IN THE SKY.
But it’s not a total loss, they are going to give us a lightshow.”