The Freedom Tower

This is a uniquely American human dilemma of major proportions. As construction at Ground Zero proceeds, the city continues to find human remains at the site.
This is like continuing to pave over manhole covers in the city while rescuers report that Ed Norton of the Honey Mooners is still missing in the New York sewer system.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called an emergency meeting to discuss why human remains continue to be found at Ground Zero.
New remains were discovered at Ground Zero this week and it renewed the concerns of relatives of loved ones whose remains still have not been found or identified.
The mayor wants to meet with family members according to the AP to “see what else we should go look at and why this wasn’t discovered five years earlier.” He also said that the city was planning to scour the site again for remains, examining other manholes and areas that might have been overlooked.”
Bloomberg held an emergency meeting yesterday with top city officials to discuss the issue. The wire service said “police and forensic experts dug through a pile of rubble at the site Friday in search of more remains, an official said. The search involved additional material pulled from the manhole where the bones were found this week, and was expected to yield additional remains, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not instructed not to speak publicly about the matter.

Construction work on several ongoing projects at the site — the Sept. 11 memorial, the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower and a transit hub — continued without interruption.”

The cause of death for a retired New York City police detective will not be listed as toxic exposure  to dust inhailed by the officer during more than 450 hours of work at Ground Zero, according to press reports.
This is the most recent findings of the New York City medical examiner.
The death of 34-year-old James Zadroga has long been linked to work he performed at Ground Zero during clean up operations but the chief medical examiner in New York has refuted the finding of a New Jersey medical examiner who said Zadroga’s death last year was directly related to his exposure to the dust at Ground Zero. Zadroga died in January 2006 of respiratory failure and inflammation in his lungs.
After reviewing the autopsy report, Zadroga’s medical records and slides of the detective’s lung tissue, New York medical examiner Charles Hirsch concluded that the detective’s death was not caused by exposure to dust, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

“It is our unequivocal opinion, with certainty beyond doubt, that the foreign material in your son’s lungs did not get there as the result of inhaling dust at the World Trade Center or elsewhere,” said the letter, dated Tuesday and signed by Hirsch and medical examiner Michele Slone.

Real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield has been hired to rent out office space in the most notorious office tower in the world – the Freedom Tower.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey signed a three-year deal with Cushman & Wakefield Inc. to rent the Freedom Tower, a building the agency is alternately calling 1 World Trade Center, according to Newsday.

The tower’s foundation is under construction. The building is expected to open for occupancy in 2011. The state and federal governments have already agreed to lease about 40 percent of the 2.6 million-square foot tower.

“The agency said the Metropolitan Television Alliance is negotiating to rent two high floors in the building, and the right to broadcast from the tower’s rooftop. Cushman & Wakefield will look for other corporate tenants to rent the remaining 1.5 million square feet.

The governors of New York and New Jersey, who appoint the Port Authority board, have also expressed interest in selling off parts of the tower, which business leaders have feared would be difficult to fill because of terrorism concerns. The Port Authority is also working with a separate adviser on other financing options, including a possible sale.”

Newsday, the Long Island, New York newspaper says World Trade Center workers and their families say a $1-billion payout from the city is welcome but will not solve the need for continuing medical treatment.
Last week, trade center workers and first responders who filed federal lawsuits against New York City and others received letters from their lawyer, Marc Bern of Manhattan, asking permission to negotiate on their behalf. According to the letter, the city and contractors indicated they want to negotiate an “aggregate settlement.”

Bern won’t comment but Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that the city is talking to the lawyer for about 9,000 consolidated claims filed against the city but no deal is in place.

The city previously has attempted to convince a federal judge to dismiss the suit, though it has the benefit of a $1 billion federal fund established in case the city was found to have liability.
“We’re not making any offers,” Bloomberg said yesterday at an unrelated City Hall news conference. 

The mayor said the lawyer for the workers “wrote a letter to them saying that we’re going to talk to them. There’s no number, there’s no reason to think that we can come to a settlement, or that we can’t come to a settlement. We’re just going to talk and explore.”

In 2004, Congress appropriated $1 billion to establish the World Trade Center Captive Insurance Co. for claims arising from debris removal. Not a victims’ compensation fund, the insurance company provides the city, agencies and contractors with an insurance policy against lawsuits. However, almost none of the money has been paid out.

The city of New York is trying to settle over 9,000 claims related to becoming sick with illnesses related to the collapse of the World Trade Center, according to Injuryboard.com. Many responded to Ground Zero to help with the rescue and then clean up operation. The city is now interested in trying to come to a settlement agreement that is in the best interest of everyone involved,” the website says.

“Every time we are sued we will always take a look and see whether there is a way to come to a settlement in everybody’s interests,” Bloomberg told reporters.

“Plain and simple: We’re just going to talk and explore,” he said.

Bloomberg confirmed a report in the New York Daily News that the city and its contractors had expressed a willingness to enter negotiations.

There is a $1 Billion Federal Fund that has been set up to help the city with any liability they may have in the situation. Some believe that is not enough to help those that have been stricken with disease and illness.

A website called the World Proust Assembly says it has proof that firemen were killed because the administration of Rudy Guliani did not fix the long-standing problems with the radios used by firefighters since 1993.

A New York Firefighter’s union investigative report calls attention to four key questions about Rudy’s handling of the broken radios from firemen’s families and experts:

Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?

When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city block other companies besides Motorola from bidding on the contract?

Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
Why were these new radios never tested?

These questions should and must be investigated. New York City councilman Eric Gioia has the power to begin an investigation. If we can garner enough attention and signers, we have a major opportunity to help launch an investigation.

Giuliani’s failure to provide FDNY with adequate radios must be investigated

We, The Undersigned, demand an investigation into the Giuliani administration’s failure between 1994 and 2001 to equip firefighters with the radio equipment they needed to perform their duties on 9/11 with the highest likelihood of their own survival. We ask for an investigation to find answers to the following, unresolved questions:

Why was nothing done to improve FDNY radio performance for seven years after a clear need was demonstrated in the 1993 World Trade Center attack?

When new radios were finally ordered, why did the city block other companies besides Motorola from bidding on the contract?

Once Motorola was given the contract, why did its cost jump from $1.4 million to $14 million?
Why were these new radios never tested?

Former President Jimmy Carter will not be allowed to go to Ground Zero either, according to www.Scrappleface.com The former president requested permission to visit World Trade Center during an upcoming visit to Columbia University. The New York City Police Department turned down the former president, saying the department could not guarantee his safety.
Carter has said that the U.S. tortures terror detainees and called Vice President Dick Cheney a “disaster.“ The former president also has said the Bush administration’s international relations efforts are “the worst in history.” The police department says these statements had no bearing on their decision.
An NYPD spokesman said, “We’re treating Jimmy Carter like we’d treat any other public figure who has denigrated our country and its leaders, and otherwise brought aid and comfort to our enemies. If we allowed his visit, we’d owe an apology to [Iranian President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Carter had requested the Ground Zero tour during his upcoming visit to Columbia University, when he’s slated to deliver the 2008 Ahmadinejad Lectures on Faith and Diplomacy.

A German company has won the $150 million contract to install the Freedom Tower elevators and escalators.
The ThyssenKrupp Elevator company, a steel and engineering company in Frankfurt will install 71 elevators and nine escalators in the building.
According to press reports, the contract calls for says the 64 gearless, six “machine-room-less elevators,” one geared elevator and nine escalators. The fastest elevators in the building will reach speeds of up to up to 1,800 feet per minute.

A gondolier from Minnesota had an unusual ride himself in New York City last week. John Kerschbaum’s usual rides involve romantic strolls down the St. Croix River in his hometown of Stillwater, Minn.  But kerschbaum recently spent six days rowing on the Hudson River as part of a 150-mile trek down as a tribute to the New York Fire Department and the victims of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
He was joined on the venture other gondoliers from Texas, California and Venice, Italy.

“It was exhilarating coming to Ground Zero and talking to the locals there,” Kerschbaum said, talking to reporters. “It’s still not forgotten. It’s so huge what people went through - it’s really hard to comprehend what they had to go through that day.”

When the crew reached the George Washington Bridge in New York on Oct. 6, they were met by a FDNY patrol boat, the John D. McKean. The “incredible” vessel filled the thick fog with a grand water display, Kerschbaum said.

“It was an honor to be a part of it,” he said. “It’s hard to put it into words and what it meant.”

The welcome would only be the beginning for the gondoliers - they stayed in a New York firehouse just two miles from where the World Trade Centers once stood.

At the firehouse, firefighters told stories about the events of 9/11, talking about how the tragedy tore through those near the area.

Kerschbaum recalled a painting at the firehouse on West 37th Street in Manhattan that showed a firefighter in front of his truck, the burning trade centers behind him. The painting is a replica of an actual photograph from the firehouse as the firefighter left to help other first responders. He never returned.

“You end up with such a greater appreciation for these guys and the heroes that they are,” Kerschbaum said.

After spending time with the local fire department, the gondoliers were honored in New York’s Columbus Day Parade, an event Kerschbaum never thought be would be a part of. The gondola was shown in tow as a float.

Canadians generally never get the credit they deserve down here south of their most southern border for having a clue. Of course, they do have many clues but here is a notable exception of that really strong voice getting its due down here in the south for a change.
The Canadian Consulting Engineer reports … the Engineer News Record editor is fired up about the “disgraceful” legacy that construction publications generally play but an issue last month of Engineering News Record was an exception.
“Marking the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the ENR editor came out with a scathing review of the Bush administration’s presence in Iraq, calling it a “self-made morass.”
The editorial continues:
“Even the rebuilding efforts at the World Trade Center site are rife with politics, grandstanding emotional paralysis and junk science relating to building codes and design. Ground Zero continues to claim lives, the latest being two firefighters who died August 18 while fighting a blaze atop the skeleton remains of the 41-story Deutsche Bank building. It’s hard to believe the wrecked building is even still standing.
“More disgraceful is the way the nation is treating heroes who are sickening and dying because of exposure to a potpourri of airborne toxins that the Environmental Protection Agency said was safe. These heroes are the military, first responders, rescuers, police, firefighters and construction workers who worked at Ground Zero rescuing victims, recovering remains and clearing Lower Manhattan. Hundreds are ill and scores have died. America should be embracing these people, not treating them as freeloaders and fakers.”
See www.enr.com