The Freedom Tower

America’s 9/11 Foundation put on an annual memorial ride to raise money for scholarships for children of Ground Zero first responders.
It was quite a spectacle: More than 700 motor-cyclists roaring cross-country for the annual trek to tour the three 9/11 sites in Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C and Ground Zero. Riders came from places across the country and observers estimate the number of riders grew to over 1,000.
Heather Keels at Hearld-mail.com writes:
“I think it’s important, as an American, to go to the Pentagon and Ground Zero,” said Carole Garretson, who had ridden from Akron, Ohio, with her husband to be part of the event. As the group visited the Pennsylvania crash site, she said she was struck by the trinkets that covered the ground, and thought of the families of the victims.

She noticed one rider kneeling to dust off a stone with tears in his eyes.

“I cried twice just on the way here,” said Kim Cadle, also of Akron.

Doug Dervin, 53, of Long Island, has been to Ground Zero many times, but he still is haunted by the memories. He wears a bracelet bearing the name of New York Fire Department Deputy Chief Ed Geraghty, a childhood friend who died Sept. 11.

“We all lost some friends,” Dervin said. “We’ve come to pay tribute to them and the ones we didn’t know, and let everyone know we still remember.”

The New York Times says:
Records show Rudy Giuliani spent 29 hours at “Ground Zero” over three-month period: Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, has been criticized by some New York firefighters and police officers (some of whom also oppose his candidacy) for saying he had been to the ruins at the World Trade Center “as often, if not more” than many clean-up workers in the months after the 9/11 attacks. The Times writes today that:

“A complete record of Mr. Giuliani’s exposure to the site is not available for the chaotic six days after the attack, when he was a frequent visitor. But an exhaustively detailed account from his mayoral archive, revised after the events to account for last-minute changes on scheduled stops, does exist for the period of Sept. 17 to Dec. 16, 2001. It shows he was there for a total of 29 hours in those three months, often for short periods or to visit locations adjacent to the rubble. In that same period, many rescue and recovery workers put in daily 12-hour shifts.

“Asked to reconcile what the records show with Mr. Giuliani’s public comments about the extent of his exposure to the site, his campaign provided a written statement from Joseph J. Lhota, a former deputy mayor. ‘Hundreds of thousands of people around the country and the world saw Rudy Giuliani’s steadfast and determined leadership firsthand at a time when we needed it most,’ the statement said,” in part.

‘FEEL THE LOVE, says The Downtown Express:
“Rare is the New York City compromise in which all parties walk away happy. But the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation may have achieved just that with its new plan to preserve the core of the (World Trade Center’s) Vesey Street staircase.
The blog says preservationists were pleased because the staircase will be kept on the World Trade Center site and because the stairs themselves will remain intact as a part of the staircase stairs leading to the memorial (the hulking support structure would be dismantled). Local parents were pleased because the 175-ton artifact would no longer be stored on the site of a potential school.
But did the plan please Bill Love, one of the stairway’s biggest critics? Indeed it did. Love had called the stairway “rubble” and argued against preserving it based on cost and practicality issues. However, he wrote in an email last Thursday that based on what he had read, the new plan sounded like a positive step.
“Incorporating the stairs into the memorial below grade and dismantling the rest of the huge structure is a very reasonable solution that I believe should be acceptable to everyone,” Love wrote.

If SCPols.com is any example of how difficult the coming presidential campaign is going to be for all candidates, know this, Rudy Giuliani will have to be a man for all seasons just to survive the primaries.
“South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Calls on Giuliani To Apologize for Arrogant Remarks about 9/11 Ground Zero Workers
Washington, DC - After arrogantly declaring that he was “at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers” last week, Rudy Giuliani travels to South Carolina today not yet having apologized to the police officers, fire fighters and Ground Zero recover workers he offended. In addition to his misstatements, Giuliani has also failed to take responsibility for his failure to take the steps necessary to protect firefighters from the debilitating toxic air at Ground Zero or for his failure to provide first responders with adequate radios, which was a key recommendation made after the first time the World Trade Center was attacked, in 1993.
Giuliani’s factually inaccurate statements were immediately met with criticism from New York Ground Zero workers. Battalion Chief John McDonnell, head of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association in New York, said: “I have a real problem with that statement. I think he’s really grasping and trying to justify his previous attempts to portray himself as the hero of 9/11.” Similarly, Michael Palladino, the head of the Detectives Endowment Association, which is the NYPD detectives’ union, disputed these comments and Giuliani’s risk compared to the people who were on the ground. [Associated Press, 8/9/07]
After this flurry of criticism, Rudy Giuliani made a feeble and insufficient attempt to apologize saying, “What I was trying to say yesterday is that I empathize with them, because I feel like I have that same risk.” [Associated Press, 8/10/07] His lame excuse for an apology did nothing more than underscore the point that Mr. Giuliani only seeks to exploit their sacrifices for his own benefit.
“Rudy Giuliani should apologize to Ground Zero recovery workers today when he is campaigning in South Carolina. He also should explain why he has not done more to help the first responders who are now ill, and why he didn’t do more to ensure that they had the proper equipment in the first place,” said South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler. “South Carolinians want leaders who will stand by our first responders. These insensitive comments show that Mr. Giuliani’s campaign doesn’t stand a chance. Americans are looking for a new kind of leadership, not more of the failed strategies of the Bush Administration.”
If you want more, call Jay Parmley at 803-799-7798. Jay’s the mouthpiece for campaignsandelections.com in South Carolina. 


NEW YORK, Aug. 14 — The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation today announced that it will now be called the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center — in order to reflect more fully the Memorial and Museum’s commemoration of the September 11, 2001 attacks as a national tragedy that changed the course of history. The Memorial & Museum will honor those killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York City, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, as well as those killed in the World Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993, and will continue to emphasize the site-specific nature of building a tribute at the World Trade Center.
As part of a national outreach effort, the Memorial & Museum will bring a September 11 tribute exhibition to American towns and cities to raise awareness of and funds for the construction of the national tribute at Ground Zero. The public will be invited to sign steel beams to be used in the construction of the Memorial & Museum. The exhibition is expected to begin in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 10, 2007.
“What happened on September 11th wasn’t just an attack on New York — it was an attack on our nation and our way of life. The events of that day impacted all Americans and we need to remember that when we tell the story,” said New York City Mayor and National September 11 Memorial & Museum Chairman Michael R. Bloomberg. “It’s so important to make sure that our efforts are national in scope and that we bring the story to those who can’t come to New York. Only then will we truly realize our goal of making this a national memorial and museum. Those we lost deserve nothing less.”
“We are building a national symbol that, like the Statue of Liberty, tells us something about who we are as Americans. The re-naming of this project to the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center reflects this national scope,” Memorial & Museum President and CEO Joe Daniels said. “Every day, we continue to build momentum for this campaign, helping to ensure that the events of September 11th are told to future generations. We look forward to bringing this exhibition to cities around the country.”
The Memorial & Museum has raised $300 million towards its private fundraising goal of $350 million. This figure includes funds to support capital and planning costs, as well as an initial endowment to support operations once the Memorial & Museum open.

The Disaster News Network says “The New York State Department of Health is in the process of collecting information on all deaths to responders or volunteers who worked at the World Trade Center disaster site, pile, and surrounding areas, including the barges and landfills, between September 11, 2001 and June 30, 2002. Information is being collected on all deaths that occurred on or after September 12, 2001, regardless of how or why these deaths occurred.

A department spokeman says “We are seeking information on every WTC responder, including Firefighters, Police, EMS, Contractors, Demolition and Reconstruction workers, Volunteers, Media, and members of the Legislature. We are specifically interested in obtaining the following information: the worker’s name, date of birth, and date of death, including the cause of death. The information we collect will be used to improve the medical community’s understanding of these deaths. This may lead to improvements in the medical treatment of WTC responders who may be experiencing illnesses as a result of WTC exposure.

While we cannot go back and erase the stain left by the WTC disaster, we can look to the future and work towards developing an understanding of the possible impact of this and similar disasters on the health of workers and volunteers.”

How You Can Help
If you have any information on a death to a responder or volunteer, please contact us by email at WTCFatalityhealth@health.state.ny.us. Information can also be sent to the following address:

WTC Responder Fatality Investigations Program
NYS Department of Health
Flanigan Square, Rm. 230
547 River St.
Troy, NY 12180

You may also call 1-866-807-2130 or 518-402-7900 (for outside NYS).

The Savanna Business Journal says the new steel for world trade center memorial has arrived in Georgia after a 4,800 mile trek.
About 638 tons of jumbo steel I-beams to be used in the construction of the Memorial and Museum arrived at the Port of Savannah, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation announced today.
The steel was milled at Arcelor Mittal in Luxembourg and  loaded onto the Marielle Bolten and traveled to the United States. It arrived in Philadelphia first then traveled on to Ocean Terminal in Savannah. Memorial Foundation President and CEO Joseph Daniels, along with Owen Steel President David Zalesne, were at the Port of Savannah as the steel was transferred to waiting trucks.
“The arrival of the Memorial steel is another step forward in our effort to build a permanent national tribute to the innocent victims of the attacks,” New York City Mayor and WTC Memorial Foundation Chairman Michael R. Bloomberg said. “The steel symbolizes our resilience and resolve to rebuild the World Trade Center. The Memorial will be the heart of the rebuilt site, offering reflection on the past and hope for the future. Later this year, we expect the steel will begin to rise from the site.”

Michael Bloomberg has distinguished himself again.
Bloomberg last week met with representatives of families of 9/11 victims, upset when they were told by the city that memorial services for their relatives could not be held at Ground Zero. In the years since 9/11, Ground Zero has become a very busy construction site.

But last week, Bloomberg agreed to their proposal to descend briefly into the seven-story pit of what had been the basement of Ground Zero on September 11 to pay their respects to their fallen relatives.
Ground Zero is hallowed ground for these but they were told memorial services for their relatives would be moved to a nearby, small park in lower Manhattan because of the heavy construction. They sternly objected.
The city had announced last month that the sixth anniversary ceremony could not be held at the 16-acre trade center site, as it had been each year since the 2001 attacks.

But Bloomberg met with representatives for the families and said later that the families’ proposal for “a very limited and controlled level of access” to the pit had been deemed safe by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the lower Manhattan site.

“We will work with the Port Authority to allow family members to safely descend the ramp” into the pit, he said in a statement.

Family members arrived at the meeting armed with charts and a map outlining their proposal, said Sally Regenhard, relative of a victim whose remains were never recovered. The Associated Press said the mayor agreed after the meeting to allow family members to descend all the way to the level of bedrock.

“They’ll just have a moment to toss their flowers on the sacred ground,” said Regenhard, who declared herself “very, very happy” with the agreement.

Rudy Giuliani is backing away from the statements regarding 9/11 that apparently made him into a self-made hero.
The Village Voice says Rudi has recanted one lie and has four more big ones to go.
After the World Trade Center attacks, Rudy claimed he spent more time at Ground Zero than the 9/11 and recovery workers.
On the Mike Gallagher radio show, Rudy now says he could have phrased what really happened after 9/11 a little better.
“I think I could have said it better,” he told nationally syndicated radio host Mike Gallagher, the Associated Press reported on Friday. “You know, what I was saying was, ‘I’m there with you.’”

The Voice says this is what got Rudy in to trouble on the campaign trail in Cincinnati in the first place:

“This is not a mayor or a governor or a president who’s sitting in an ivory tower,” he said. “I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. … I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I’m one of them.
“But what about the rest of the falsehoods and hyperbole that comprise the foundation of Giuliani’s candidacy? The Voice’s Wayne Barrett took a look at those claims this week in article that The New Republic says “absolutely devastates Rudy Giuliani’s claims about fighting terrorism.”

The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait goes on to say “I’m shocked this article has not received more attention. Using deep reporting, it simply takes Giuliani’s claims apart piece by piece. If the facts in this article were absorbed by the public, or even campaign journalists, Giuliani’s presidential campaign would be over.”

One early sign that financial markets may be returning to normal after some bad turnarounds are the rising steel beams of the new Goldman Sachs’s world headquarters at Ground Zero, the New York Sun reports.
The financial giant is building a 42 story tower at the World Trade Center and the rapid progress at the siite may be a sign that Ground Zero could trigger the growth of a financial epicenter to the area, abandoned for nearly six years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. So far, there is a skeleton for 12 stories above ground and the steel keeps rising.
By choosing a space just outside of ground zero, Goldman Sachs was able to steer clear of much public scrutiny,” the Sun said. Developers were able “to zip past the frustrating tangle of bureaucracy that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and developer Larry Silverstein were forced to contend with.
In contrast, Goldman Sachs was able to design the skyscraper, receive approval, and hold a groundbreaking before the Port Authority had even finalized an agreement with Silverstein and the city for the Freedom Tower and Towers 2, 3, and 4 at ground zero.
If its construction continues on schedule, the newspaper said, the building will open at least two years before the completion of the Freedom Tower and three years before all four towers on the site are scheduled to open.

As the primary symbol for the rebuilding of ground zero, the Freedom Tower has been subject to far more public attention.