While I'm not sure which maximum-security federal prison will
be stuck with Zacarias Moussaoui for the rest of his life, it
looks like we in New York are getting stuck with the awful
Freedom Tower. We haven't had much of an opportunity to express
our opposition to this sorry design that will alter our skyline.
Now there's a Web site -www.twintowersalliance.com- that allows
iconoclastic Gothamites a chance to vent.
I was the first journalist to sign the list of those demanding
that the towers be rebuilt, at a time when there were only about
100 signatures on file. With very little fanfare, that number has
rapidly grown into the thousands, and I hope more New Yorkers
will join us and let the powers that be know how we feel.
Next Tuesday, at the Borough of Manhattan Community College on
Chambers Street, there will be an open meeting of the World Trade
Center Memorial Foundation between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Its
president, Gretchen Dykstra, is scheduled to update plans for the
World Trade Center memorial and museum. She will answer questions
from the public. Here's one I hope someone will ask: Where are my
Twin Towers?
I don't recall anyone asking what the public wants, so once again
the majority is subject to the tyranny of the minority. Fellow
New Yorkers, take a good look at the proposed Freedom Tower. It
looks like a giant hypodermic needle. Is that how we show the
world how we recover from a catastrophic attack? Shouldn't our
response have been something bigger, greater, and positively
invulnerable instead of something delicate and shiny?
Those who have joined with me in signing the petition at
www.twintowersalliance.com include many former workers at the
trade center. They express no fear in returning to work in the
rebuilt towers, yet city and state officials have expressed
doubts about finding tenants for the buildings. A recent Wall
Street Journal article by Alex Frangos speculated on the
possibility that the Port Authority may become a "government
citadel, housing federal law-enforcement groups among other
government agencies - possibly enhancing its profile as a
terrorist target."
I worked in the World Trade Center for a few years and I also
visited the state offices in one of the buildings. The fact that
government offices were located at the trade center was not the
reason it was attacked. Rather, it represented the center of
trade and commerce of the Western world. As an international
center of capitalism it became a target - not as a government
office building, such as the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City in 1995. The remains of that building were
demolished after the bombing and a memorial was built on that
site. It consists of 168 chairs commemorating the victims of the
blasts attributed to Timothy McVeigh.
Let's see now: We speedily executed McVeigh, who was responsible
for 168 deaths, but we'll house and feed the only person to face
justice for the September 11, 2001, attacks for the rest of his
life. When I first heard the jury's verdict condemning Moussaoui
to life in prison, I was sorely disappointed. I felt that this
unrepentant Al Qaeda terrorist should be dispatched as soon as
possible.
The more I think about it - and depending on the terms of his
sentence -perhaps it wasn't such a bad decision. I'd like to see
him spend each day in solitary confinement in a cell allowing him
only reading material from all the other religions in the world.
Alas, the ACLU would probably complain about such cruel and
unusual treatment.
For a very brief period last year, I hoped that Donald Trump
would continue fighting for the rebuilt towers. There was even a
mock setup of the new proposed twin towers in the lobby of Trump
Tower on Fifth Avenue, but the politicians apparently got to him.
Rebuilding the towers is not sentiment but common sense. The
foundation of the huge towers is already in place, which means
that the towers could be rebuilt faster than any new complex.
Rebuilding would restore office space, jobs, and tourist revenue.
Rebuilding the towers also would have a huge economic impact on
the city.
If we don't, we'll be bowing to terrorism. I invite all New
Yorkers to sign up at www.twintowersalliance.com if you agree
with its statement: "We submit that there is only one way to
truly heal the skyline of Manhattan and the heart of America:
Rebuild the Towers. Doing anything less would leave a permanent
scar on the face of New York and diminish a legendary city."
So far, the will of the people hasn't amounted to much in this
city - but there's always a first time.