by Lionel Bascom — July 5th, 2008 — 1 comment
Michael Goodwin says New York is usually one tough town, but it’s hard to imagine a softer civic touch than the one that greeted the admission last week that Ground Zero is a mess, the New York Daily News writer says. “When, after nearly seven years of false starts and promises, officials finally admitted that everything is hopelessly behind schedule and over budget, New Yorkers’ general reaction was to applaud the honesty and turn the channel.Don’t get me wrong, I like honesty from my government as much as the next sucker. But we shouldn’t confuse the seven-year-itch for confession with a solution for what ails Ground Zero. And therein lies the real outrage of the downtown disaster - officials still don’t have a real plan to fix it.
Even worse, they don’t seem to know what’s wrong. Or maybe they can’t bring themselves to be quite that honest.
If they did, they’d have to confess to original sin. They’d have to admit they’ve forgotten the fundamental meaning of 9/11 and that the memorial to those who died in the worst attack ever carried out on American soil should have been the first thing built.
Rudy Giuliani perfectly described the right approach in his farewell address as mayor. With the fires still smoldering, Giuliani, speaking from nearby St. Paul’s Chapel on Dec. 27, 2001, called Ground Zero ‘holy” and “hallowed” and declared, “we shouldn’t think about this site right behind us as a site for economic development.’ “
9:37 PM in Uncategorized, The Construction, World Trade Center, Ground Zero, Related Stories, Freedom Tower News, Neighbourhood, Politics
Amen to that, Rudy! We are at an interesting moment in the history of humankind. On one hand, we have more information and resources available almost instantaneously than ever before. On the other hand, we seem to have more difficulty communicating with one another than ever before.
Perhaps, the slow progress in constructing the memorial to the 3,000 victims who lost their lives on 9/11 is for a reason. In this worthwhile endeavor, those involved must decelerate in order for the creative process to come to fruition. By taking time to concentrate, collaborate and configure, they can design the appropriate memorial that the world will understand and respect.
Most importantly, those who are still alive and must deal with the pain of remembrance of their dearly departed on a daily basis need some distance from the original horror. Now, they will have that. This memorial, as stated by so many, is on sacred ground. We alll must have the patience to see this project through to the end and just savor the peace it will impart.
Jeanne · July 5th, 2008 at 11:40 pm