9/11, Gov. Pataki, Bullshit
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Last night P & T did a show about the World Trade Center, not specifically the events of 9/11, but rather the rebuilding effort at what has come to be called Ground Zero. The show was spectacular so I thought I would tell you a little bit about it.
The show basically covered how Governor Pataki is heading up the project to rebuild at Ground Zero, and how the project has been handled with total incompetence. It started with Pataki forming the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC); an organization funded with federal tax dollars and charged with rebuilding, and creating a memorial at the site. The LMDC held a public competition to select an idea for what would be built on the site, so that way the public would have their say in what would go up at the site. Insiders say the competition was basically rigged and the LMDC chose their favorite idea.
The LMDC brought in an architect named Daniel Libeskind to create the new building. Libeskind came up with the Freedom Tower, a 1,776 ft tall building with a glass atrium on top, and an also with an antenna that would take the buildings height to over 2,000ft. The 1,776-ft being homage to the year America declared its independence, By now, everyone has seen the Freedom Tower design. A couple years ago commercials for commemorative coins featuring the Freedom Tower were shown throughout the country, and many posters, pictures and t-shirts were also sold featuring the design. So Ground Zero would become the site of the Freedom Tower, end of story, right? Well no, not at all.
When builders looked at Libeskind’s design, they realized that it had one critical design flaw. THE BUILDING WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BUILD. That’s right, the Freedom Tower design was not possible. How could this happen? Easily, because the LMDC brought in Libeskind for his contemporary style, but never took into consideration that he never designed a building larger than 3 stories. So rather than drop Libeskind, they had him collaborate with David Childs, who was the architect for Larry Silverstein, who is the man who is the leaseholder for the World Trade Center site. Childs and Libeskind got together and compromised on a final design that was a combination of both men’s ideas. The completed design was approved by the LMDC and Governor Pataki, and they even held a groundbreaking ceremony where Pataki stated, “Today, we build the Freedom Tower.”
But the groundbreaking ceremony would be the only work done to the site, because the NYPD stepped in basically told the LMDC that the location of the Freedom Tower would rest over top of a tunnel, and should a terrorist wish to drive into the tunnel with a truck bomb, their would be no more Freedom Tower. Childs and Libeskind failed to take that into consideration.
The other major portion of the rebuilding effort revolved around the 9/11 memorial that would be built on the site. The LMDC has had several different designs for memorials, but none of them seem to be any good. One was a “Museum of Freedom,” which was never really explained to anyone. Another was a Cultural Center that was designed to encourage dialogue about the attacks, and would allow artists to display their work about 9/11. However, that idea was scrapped when the LMDC realized that such a pavilion would very easily turn into a political protest spot, which would be fine, if it weren’t that for 2,800 families, that is a gravesite.
So now, the current plan for the 9/11 memorial is to have two reflecting pools in the footprints of the building, surrounded by trees. Also, the Cultural Center is still part of the design. And finally the memorial for the victims will be located, UNDERGROUND. They are actually putting the victim’s memorial UNDERGROUND. Can you believe that? Not only that, but they are leaving important artifacts about that day, out of the memorial altogether. Like the missing person’s fliers. If you remember the people who were searching for loved ones and posted fliers with pictures of them; all of those fliers were saved. But there is no plan for them ever to be seen by the public again. P & T camera crews actually got access to the room at the LMDC’s headquarters that house all of those fliers and it is a very powerful thing to see. Also, the pieces of the shredded structure beams that were still standing, another iconic 9/11 image, will not be used in the memorial.
And if those things aren’t disgraceful enough, the LMDC has one more idea for the memorial. Now this was not in the P & T special, this is actually took place in the begining of April. A man named Michael Arad designed what was to be the centerpiece of the memorial, called the “Contemplation Room.” The room was an open -air space and contained a tomb that housed the remains of unidentified victims that died on September 11. The LMDC has chosen to move the “Contemplation Room” out of the memorial and into the Memorial Museum where the public will have to pay to see it.
The Coalition for 9/11 Families has responded to the latest move by the LMDC with this statement:
“ Members of the Coalition of 9/11 Families strenuously object to having the unidentified remains of the 9/11 victims and their tomb treated as a museum exhibit. We further object to the LMDC denying the public — who will pay for this Memorial through both their tax dollars and contributions — the right to descend to bedrock to stand on the historic site and pay their respects as the Memorial intended. While we appreciate the need to raise money for the Memorial and Memorial Museum, the unidentified remains of our loved ones are not for sale.”
Governor Pataki and the LMDC are failing at a massive level with the rebuilding effort at Ground Zero. Lower Manhattan business continue to suffer, 1,000,000 square ft of office space is still missing, and 9/11 families still have no memorial for the site where their loved ones died. The LMDC which is headed by one of Pataki’s largest campaign contributors, who has no experience in architecture, is proving to be a politically motivated organization who doesn’t seem to care about what goes up at that site. But 9/11 families do care and they are standing up to the LMDC. The Coalition for 9/11 Families has started a website called “Take Back the Memorial” (http://www.takebackthememorial.org). The site offers information on the plans as well as a petition against the current plans for the memorial. I encourage all of you to visit the site, and read for yourselves, everything that is going on there.
At the end of the P & T Show, they talk about what they would do if they were in charge of rebuilding, and they said that they believe they should simply rebuild the Towers, and build a memorial. What better way to stand up to terrorism then to simply rebuild what was once there. I agree, but I think it should go a little further. Keith Olbermann once suggested on his show that they rebuild the towers, only that they build them 2,752 inches shorter, one inch for each life that was lost. I think they should rebuild the towers, only 2,752 inches taller, as a way to show the world that no matter how much we are knocked back, we will come back better, and stronger than before.
Please take the time to check out the Take Back the Memorial website.
http://www.takebackthememorial.org/index.php
Last night P & T did a show about the World Trade Center, not specifically the events of 9/11, but rather the rebuilding effort at what has come to be called Ground Zero. The show was spectacular so I thought I would tell you a little bit about it.
The show basically covered how Governor Pataki is heading up the project to rebuild at Ground Zero, and how the project has been handled with total incompetence. It started with Pataki forming the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC); an organization funded with federal tax dollars and charged with rebuilding, and creating a memorial at the site. The LMDC held a public competition to select an idea for what would be built on the site, so that way the public would have their say in what would go up at the site. Insiders say the competition was basically rigged and the LMDC chose their favorite idea.
The LMDC brought in an architect named Daniel Libeskind to create the new building. Libeskind came up with the Freedom Tower, a 1,776 ft tall building with a glass atrium on top, and an also with an antenna that would take the buildings height to over 2,000ft. The 1,776-ft being homage to the year America declared its independence, By now, everyone has seen the Freedom Tower design. A couple years ago commercials for commemorative coins featuring the Freedom Tower were shown throughout the country, and many posters, pictures and t-shirts were also sold featuring the design. So Ground Zero would become the site of the Freedom Tower, end of story, right? Well no, not at all.
When builders looked at Libeskind’s design, they realized that it had one critical design flaw. THE BUILDING WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BUILD. That’s right, the Freedom Tower design was not possible. How could this happen? Easily, because the LMDC brought in Libeskind for his contemporary style, but never took into consideration that he never designed a building larger than 3 stories. So rather than drop Libeskind, they had him collaborate with David Childs, who was the architect for Larry Silverstein, who is the man who is the leaseholder for the World Trade Center site. Childs and Libeskind got together and compromised on a final design that was a combination of both men’s ideas. The completed design was approved by the LMDC and Governor Pataki, and they even held a groundbreaking ceremony where Pataki stated, “Today, we build the Freedom Tower.”
But the groundbreaking ceremony would be the only work done to the site, because the NYPD stepped in basically told the LMDC that the location of the Freedom Tower would rest over top of a tunnel, and should a terrorist wish to drive into the tunnel with a truck bomb, their would be no more Freedom Tower. Childs and Libeskind failed to take that into consideration.
The other major portion of the rebuilding effort revolved around the 9/11 memorial that would be built on the site. The LMDC has had several different designs for memorials, but none of them seem to be any good. One was a “Museum of Freedom,” which was never really explained to anyone. Another was a Cultural Center that was designed to encourage dialogue about the attacks, and would allow artists to display their work about 9/11. However, that idea was scrapped when the LMDC realized that such a pavilion would very easily turn into a political protest spot, which would be fine, if it weren’t that for 2,800 families, that is a gravesite.
So now, the current plan for the 9/11 memorial is to have two reflecting pools in the footprints of the building, surrounded by trees. Also, the Cultural Center is still part of the design. And finally the memorial for the victims will be located, UNDERGROUND. They are actually putting the victim’s memorial UNDERGROUND. Can you believe that? Not only that, but they are leaving important artifacts about that day, out of the memorial altogether. Like the missing person’s fliers. If you remember the people who were searching for loved ones and posted fliers with pictures of them; all of those fliers were saved. But there is no plan for them ever to be seen by the public again. P & T camera crews actually got access to the room at the LMDC’s headquarters that house all of those fliers and it is a very powerful thing to see. Also, the pieces of the shredded structure beams that were still standing, another iconic 9/11 image, will not be used in the memorial.
And if those things aren’t disgraceful enough, the LMDC has one more idea for the memorial. Now this was not in the P & T special, this is actually took place in the begining of April. A man named Michael Arad designed what was to be the centerpiece of the memorial, called the “Contemplation Room.” The room was an open -air space and contained a tomb that housed the remains of unidentified victims that died on September 11. The LMDC has chosen to move the “Contemplation Room” out of the memorial and into the Memorial Museum where the public will have to pay to see it.
The Coalition for 9/11 Families has responded to the latest move by the LMDC with this statement:
“ Members of the Coalition of 9/11 Families strenuously object to having the unidentified remains of the 9/11 victims and their tomb treated as a museum exhibit. We further object to the LMDC denying the public — who will pay for this Memorial through both their tax dollars and contributions — the right to descend to bedrock to stand on the historic site and pay their respects as the Memorial intended. While we appreciate the need to raise money for the Memorial and Memorial Museum, the unidentified remains of our loved ones are not for sale.”
Governor Pataki and the LMDC are failing at a massive level with the rebuilding effort at Ground Zero. Lower Manhattan business continue to suffer, 1,000,000 square ft of office space is still missing, and 9/11 families still have no memorial for the site where their loved ones died. The LMDC which is headed by one of Pataki’s largest campaign contributors, who has no experience in architecture, is proving to be a politically motivated organization who doesn’t seem to care about what goes up at that site. But 9/11 families do care and they are standing up to the LMDC. The Coalition for 9/11 Families has started a website called “Take Back the Memorial” (http://www.takebackthememorial.org). The site offers information on the plans as well as a petition against the current plans for the memorial. I encourage all of you to visit the site, and read for yourselves, everything that is going on there.
At the end of the P & T Show, they talk about what they would do if they were in charge of rebuilding, and they said that they believe they should simply rebuild the Towers, and build a memorial. What better way to stand up to terrorism then to simply rebuild what was once there. I agree, but I think it should go a little further. Keith Olbermann once suggested on his show that they rebuild the towers, only that they build them 2,752 inches shorter, one inch for each life that was lost. I think they should rebuild the towers, only 2,752 inches taller, as a way to show the world that no matter how much we are knocked back, we will come back better, and stronger than before.
Please take the time to check out the Take Back the Memorial website.
http://www.takebackthememorial.org/index.php
posted by Nick at 12:20 PM
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