[Update: It turns out the memorial wasn't vandalized! See below] Sigh. Someone vandalized the 9/11 Memorial, Postcards, on Staten Island. Five of the plaques—which feature profiles of the victims as well as their names— were damaged, but Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro said that new ones will be ready in time for the ninth anniversary ceremonies. He told the Staten Island Advance, “It’s surprising and shocking to me. You have the feeling that this is hallowed ground and people would respect it."
Molinaro added, "It’s very disappointing. It’s just malicious damage done by out-of-control youths. A grown-up wouldn’t do something like this." The Advance says the plaques were completely torn off, leaving "unsightly gaps" in the memorial.
This is the third act of vandalism on the memorial, which opened in 2004; most recently, a homeless woman broke two of the plaques. The memorial is located on the St. George Esplanade, near the SI Ferry Terminal and Richmond County Bank Ballpark, and was designed by Masayuki Sono. It's called Postcards because the two wing-like sculptures represent large postcards to loved ones; the sculptures look out onto the harbor at the the World Trade Center site. Here are some photographs of the memorial (before the vandalism).
UPDATE: It turns out that grown-ups were behind the missing plaques at Postcards: The Advance reports, "Borough Hall apologized to 9/11 families today, saying that the five missing panels on the “Postcards” World Trade Center memorial were not the result of new vandalism, but were removed for repairs by the city." (Two of the plaques were the ones damaged last year by the homeless woman.) Molinaro said, "I jumped the gun. We all thought it was vandalism... Nobody took any anger out on them."
