Gothamist: WTC Memorial: $1 Billion; Bickering Over It: Priceless

Mike

Sat, 06 May 2006 07:16:32 -0500

$500 Million is about $200,000 per casualty. Are they kidding?

Brightliner

Fri, 05 May 2006 16:27:18 -0500

javster, Well, there's always the Giza Necropolis, better known as the pyramids. Adjusted for 4500 years of inflation, I bet those things would be outrageously expensive.

JoeyCee

Fri, 05 May 2006 16:05:02 -0500

Haha...I'll build them amemorial for 1/2 a billion...what a joke...someone will get rich off this and me (a tax payer) will end up footing the bill...I mean c'mon seriously...a memeorial should cost 20k or so...bulid a 150 story building and put a sign on it thats says on this site blah blah blah...

Bob

Fri, 05 May 2006 16:00:52 -0500

the memorial looks pretty awesome. Just build the fucking thing already.

Kojak

Fri, 05 May 2006 15:52:04 -0500

I think its way too big to begin with and not just overpriced. Compare this to the memorial at Pearl Harbor and tell me this isn’t overkill. It can have just as much of an impact on people as a smaller one. They should take an example from the design of the Vietnam Memorial. Simple, yet powerful

javster

Fri, 05 May 2006 15:40:29 -0500

On the upside, it can known as the "most expensive memorial ever in the United States!" Is there a memorial that actually cost more somewhere in the world? How depressing...

edEx

Fri, 05 May 2006 14:45:35 -0500

Grant, you forgt to provide a quintessential example: Boston's "Big Dig".

Grant Barrett

Fri, 05 May 2006 13:58:03 -0500

The contractor's rule I've always gone by is: the final project costs twice as much as the estimate and takes three times as long.

Larry

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:42:45 -0500

DO NOT give the WTC Families any more money! They've already blackmailed us for millions. $1 billion plus many million$ to maintain this thing in perpetuity? I can't believe anyone wants this thing. Seriously, are those freaking holes meant to still be there in the year 2100 or whatever? It's beyond absurd.

bullhit

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:38:51 -0500

So, they should get a free college education on top of the million they just got? Get over it, WTC people! Get a life Breed show cats, whatever you kooks do with too much time on your hands. Stop pasting that 8 x 10 photo on your chest, we see it clear enough already, don't make it bigger.

mickster

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:28:21 -0500

Here's an idea: Take the $1 Billion, give every WTC surviving child a college scholarship fund; give any surviving spouse the opportunity to earn a college degree or graduate degree; then give the remainder to each town that lost someone in the WTC as a scholarship in memory of each victim. The annuity that would drive such scholarships would allow that name to be memorialized in perpetuity. What more fitting tribute than keeping their names and memories alive for generations to come, all whilst ensuring an education for all WTC survivors and others in need?

build anything

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:25:45 -0500

The problem isn't leadership. It's the legal system that allows one person to dominate (think NIMBY). If we had a strong leader driving this memorial that person would merely replace Pataki as a lightning rod. Apparently "It takes a village" only applies to paying taxes. Being civil and making compromises is too much to ask.

simon

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:25:38 -0500

I totally agree with #11... the families are making things far more complicated than they should be. People deal with losing loved ones everyday... I never understood why they deserved millions in compensation and why they were ever given such power (well that one I can answer, politics). Lets get on with this, just build already. And even 500M is too much for a set of fountains and a wall of names... there are far better ways to spend our tax dollars and this is def not one of them. They should get this down to 50M.

Ace

Fri, 05 May 2006 12:10:45 -0500

"This has become completely about politics and power." -and money of course.

Toby

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:57:46 -0500

The big hole in the ground is more poignant than the underground parking garage, I mean memorial, they want to build. The whole thing is a boondoggle that will be poorly done. That will be George Elmer's legacy.

realist

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:52:09 -0500

Nathan: Pataki is an easy target but he is hardly the cause of the problem with the memorial. The problem is the families, their insatiable lust for control and overblown grieving. Get over it.

Nathan

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:46:01 -0500

The Port Authority and Governor Pataki have done everything in their power to derail the building of the Memorial. This has become completely about politics and power. The pricetag for the Memorial is actually reasonable compared to the $2 billion price tag for the new PATH station at the WTC site. Pataki's leadership has been as laughable as his Presidential ambitions.

Dave

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:36:44 -0500

I like the site as it stands now and secretly enjoy watching tourists wander helplessly, looking at an empty hole, trying to figure out what happened. Like I did on 9/11.

ABC Girl

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:28:12 -0500

New York: Just re-build the freakin' WTC at a reasonable cost please. Stop the pettiness, stop the fighting, quit overpricing and just RE-BUILD a safe building for us to return to. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK????

Stanks

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:07:40 -0500

September 11th has turned into McTember 11th. It's a total marketing tool used to sell stupid bumper stickers and promote war mongering. This business about $1 billion for a memorial is absolutely ridiculous, as is $500 million. Yes, a terrible thing happened but let's be realistic. If there is $500 million to play with, spend $50 million on the memorial and the rest on public schools.

timbnyc

Fri, 05 May 2006 11:05:48 -0500

Why can't their 'memorial' be, say, feeding starving people or providing vaccinations in a country that can't afford it?

T.R.

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:49:46 -0500

I love Gothamist, but you guys seriously need to do something about the typos.

boggo

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:48:35 -0500

This is seriously absurd. It's just (or should be) a couple of water fountains. $1 billion is enough to pay every one of the 3000 victims over $330,000 each. Maybe we really should just turn the whole site into one big greenspace park, with some modest indentations where the "footprints" are. Oklahoma City got it right, and only cost $29 million. This whole fiasco reveals the utter failure of American civic leadership. Nice job, terrorists.

edEx

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:47:49 -0500

"the terrorists" won. foreigners love it when americans bicker over things like this, that is why they hate us. we are (as a people) babies.

d

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:43:17 -0500

If we can't build a fitting memorial with the $130 million already raised (plus the state government contributions) then we can't build a fitting memorial.

Aivlys

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:37:34 -0500

It's Cinco de Mayo. Are you drunk already? You've got some misspelled words and repeated 'the' in the first sentence.