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.
The WTC Memorial's display of victims' names has been a source of much controversy for many victims' families. At first, the names were going to be arranged randomly, but then the WTC Memorial Foundation agreed to arrange the victims in groups: First responders would designated by company/precinct (but not by rank), while civilians would be grouped by their employers, but the employer names nor floors would be listed. Mayor Bloomberg, who chairs the WTC Memorial Foundation, has admitted that the naming strategy won't please everyone but they're still moving ahead. In response, some victims' families have banded together to protest this naming plan.
Now Spitzer says he wants to begin a "very public discussion" about the strategy, which sounds like he wants to steamroll over the Mayor's turf. Spitzer said, "It is something I think we will try to work through at the right time and the right place to get to a resolution that satisfies everybody." In other words, Spitzer wants to make everyone happy whereas Mayor Bloomberg is resigned/realistic about not everyone being happy.
