The announcement that six detainees in Guantanamo would be charged and tried for the September 11, 2001 attacks was welcomed by a number of parties, including the families of people who died on September 11. However, some would like to see a trial in New York and not in Gitmo. more ›

Just two weeks away, the sixth anniversary of September 11 continues to be a source of controversy. Before, it was families upset over the city and state's decision to hold the ceremony at a nearby park and not at Ground Zero (a compromise was later brokered to let families visit "the Pit"). Now, it's over Rudy Giuliani's role reading the names of victims. more ›

After weeks of anger and public recrimination, the Mayor and families of September 11 victims have come to a compromise about this year's anniversary ceremony. Families will now be able to enter the "pit," which is where the basement of the World Trade Center once stood. more ›

After over 200 hundred bone fragments have been found in recent searches for remains at the World Trade Center site, Mayor Bloomberg is expanding the search considerably. Here's the Mayor's press release about a report from the Despartment of Design and Construction:

Although the report finds that the vast majority of the site had been thoroughly searched and is free of human remains, it recommends the continued excavations on the haul road where remains have been recovered (the haul road runs parallel to West Street, from Vesey to Liberty Streets, along the western edge of the World Trade Center site); the exploratory excavation of the 140 Liberty Street parcel, the former site of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church; the searching of selected subterranean structures in neighboring streets, such as Con Edison, Verizon, and DEP manholes (at the Mayor's request, these searches will exceed the report's recommendations because all the material from these locations will be removed and sifted by OCME); and the development of protocols for future construction on the site which would include having the City's Medical Examiner on site to observe all future construction in areas that have not been excavated since 9/11. This work will continue to be coordinated with the Port Authority and no construction delays are anticipated as a result. more ›

The Daily News' Ben Smith looks at a possible stumbling block for Rudy Giuliani's presidential hopes. And it would be a big one. With September 11 fire responders falling ill and memos about the Giuliani administration opening downtown earlier, in spite of EPA warnings, becoming a bigger and bigger story this year, some who hope for "Giuliani 2008" are concerned that Rudy could be vulnerable, the way John Kerry was when the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth emerged in the last presidential election. Smith writes:

Many of the workers who spent time near Ground Zero, including at least one of his top aides, have come down with respiratory and other illnesses doctors link to the air quality following the attacks. Giuliani and former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman have traded blame over the fact that more workers didn't wear respirators. But it was Giuliani's old rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who helped organize research into the health impact of the towers' collapse. more ›

Yesterday, the Fire Department released 1,613 phone calls made to fire and EMS dispatchers, and the calls are just heartbreaking. The Mayor explained why the calls had been withheld by the city - they were only released upon a lawsuit - saying, "The real issue here is to protect the families...[was it] really is worth putting the families through reliving the grief that I think none of the rest of us would possibly imagine." At any rate, he apologized for the delay in the tapes' release, which he blamed on a Fire Department manager (way to pass the buck). But the victims' families are listening to the tapes in hopes that lessons can be learned. The NY Times notes what the Sally Regenhard, mother of Christian Regenhard, a firefighter who was killed at the South Tower, said:

“It took five years to hear a scintilla of confirmed information,” Mrs. Regenhard said, adding that many public officials had demanded fast explanations for Con Edison’s performance during the recent blackout in Queens, but that few had broached the question of the emergency response on Sept. 11.