Results tagged “wtcmemorialfoundation”

Plans for a World Trade Center memorial continue to crawl along, and WNBC has a story today about the personal donations that are funding the effort and the memorial itself. $300 million has been raised to build a set of reflecting pools and a museum at Ground Zero, much of that money coming from a fundraising drive over the last six months. The story includes a list of top donors, and we found it interesting that most of the individuals listed are New York-area politicians. Mayor Bloomberg donated $15 million. NJ Governor Jon Corzine donated $2 million. Governor Spitzer and his family chipped in $2 million as well. Donors in the under $100,000 category include former NY Governor Pataki and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

We image Mayor Bloomberg had some talking-to with the new governor! A few days ago, Governor Eliot Spitzer dipped his toe into the dispute about how victims' names would be arrange at the World Trade Center Memorial.

Governor Spitzer is totally diving into the World Trade Center redevelopment. One moment he's proclaiming support for Freedom Tower (after pre-gubernatorial earlier grousing that it was a "white elephant"), the next he's discussing the naming scheme for the WTC memorial.

We were happy to read in the NY Post that the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation turned down a $30,000 donation from National Collector's Mint. The WTC Memorial Foundation said, "We weren't comfortable [with the donations] because of the history," proving that even though the foundation needs donors, no one wants money from horrible companies trying to profit from the tragedy.

Politicians believe more names need to be mentioned at the World Trade Center Memorial Museum. Assemblyman Michael Gianaris of Queens and State Senator Marty Golden of Brooklyn will be introducing a bill that would ask that the names of deceased Ground Zero workers be included.

Chelsea, by Joe Holmes.

Families of some September 11 victims have started an advertising campaign to express their unhappiness over the planned naming scheme for the World Trade Center Memorial. Last December, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the names of victims would be grouped by company or association. However, civilian employees would not have their employers listed while city workers, like firefighters, would have their companies listed.

Officials announced that victims names will be arranged at the World Trade Center Memorial, instead of being placed randomly. WTC Memorial designer Michael Arad's original plan was for a random listing of victims. From his winning submission:

The names of the deceased will be arranged in no particular order around the pools. After carefully considering different arrangements, I have found that any arrangement that tries to impose meaning through physical adjacency will cause grief and anguish to people who might be excluded from that process, furthering the sense of loss that they are already suffering.

Continue reading "Names Will Be Organized on World Trade Center Memorial "

This morning, workers will take down the iron cross at Ground Zero and prepare to move it to St. Peter's Church this afternoon. There will be a small ceremony for the cross's transfer, and St. Peter's will be its home until the World Trade Center Memorial Museum is open. If you're near the site, you may see a flatbed truck bringing the cross to St. Peter's around 2PM. WABC 7 explains the cross's history: "The two cast-iron beams left in the shape of a cross after the collapse of the Twin Towers were hoisted onto a 40-foot foundation on October 4th, 2001 and quickly became one of the best-known symbols of the site."

Hooray, the Port Authority has officially agreed to build the World Trade Center Memorial. Whether to take advantage of construction efficiencies or to just do what others seem unable to do (there's some advantage to being affiliated with the state), we just hope the memorial gets built at some point. But then there is the matter of the $170 million still needed for funds.

Almost two years ago, the cornerstone at Ground Zero was placed at the World Trade Center site. But now it's been moved to Hauppague, NY! The NY Times reports that the largely symbolic slab of granite was moved in order to accomodate the new designs for the space, as there's been a new Freedom Tower design in the meantime. Developer Silverstein Properties said the cornerstone "needs to be repositioned to make sense in the new building." But don't fear: It will be on display at Innovative Stone where it was made - you need to make an appointment though. Well, at least people will be able to see it (we're trying to find the silver lining, because it's too easy to complain about anything to do with the WTC rebuilding process).

Ever since one contractor estimated it would cost $1 billion to build the World Trade Center Memorial, it's been a downhill process at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Actually, it was probably downhill from earlier than that, but the $1 billion price tag helped prompt cover stories about the memorial mess, create more teams to figure out a solution, and lead to the resignation of the WTC Memorial Foundation president. Anyway, the WTC Memorial's builder, Frank Sciame, presented new memorial designs Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki. Note that it's the builder presenting cost-cutting options - not the deisgners, though Sciame did meet with them, including original WTC Memorial designer Michael Arad, to develop ideas. Some of Sciame's options for cost-cutting include eliminating the waterfalls, displaying the victims' names aboveground, not around the pools, and removing one of two underground entrance ramps. Bloomberg and Pataki do want to keep the waterfalls, but it sounds like the the names will go aboveground - which would quiet criticism from victims' families who have wanted them aboveground all along.

- The Port Authority has a collection of gifts left for the families of Port Authority employees killed during the attacks.