Archived News -- December 2003

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December 30, 2003

On December† 30, New York Newsday†printed two letters to† the editor that are strongly critical of the new† Freedom Tower design, one going so far as to call† it "boring and phony" and furthermore† stating that "we taxpayers owned the land, we† owned the Twin Towers and we want them† back."† Another reader observes that the† Libeskind/Childs plan's† "chopped-down buildings...have the look of defeat."

NY† Newsday Letters to the Editor: "Improve Tower"

Also† on December 30, the New York Post printed yet more† letters† to the editor that are critical of the entire† current plan for rebuilding the WTC site.†† One reader and Manhattan resident agrees with† Former Mayor Giuliani's "thumbs down"† assessment and calls the current plan "small,† wimpy and pathetic."† A second reader† states that "we would be letting [terrorists]† get away with destroying part of our culture by† not restoring our great Twin Towers."

NY† Post Opinion Letters: "New Freedom Tower† Raises Memorial Issues"



December 29, 2003

On December† 29, the New York Post reported that former New† York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has given the† "thumbs down" to the new Freedom Tower† design and other WTC rebuilding plans.† When† asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer to comment on the† recently unveiled tower plan, Giuliani was quoted† as saying, "I don't like it."† He† went on to suggest that "they come up with† another design" that will more adequately† address the tragic scope of 9/11 to those who† visit the site 25, 30, or 40 years from now.

NY† Post: "Tower Design Comes Up Short," by† Brian Blomquist



December 25, 2003

On December† 25, the New York Post printed numerous letters† to the editor that denounce the "Freedom† Tower" as an unsuitable, undesirable, and† "ugly" replacement for the Twin Towers.

NY† Post Opinion Letters: "A Tower of Power or a† Weak Replacement?"



December 23, 2003

On December 23, the New York Post printed several letters† to the editor -- including one from Team Twin† Towers' spokesman, Jonathan Hakala and another from TTT member, Brett Cuvin -- that point out the shortcomings of the revised "Freedom Tower" and call for the rebuilding of the Twin Towers.

NY† Post Opinion Letters: "Can the Freedom Tower† Replace the Twin Towers?"



December 20, 2003

On December 20, the New York Times reported that the Freedom Tower's touted claim of becoming the world's tallest building upon completion may, in fact, be a dubious one at best -- given that the building would include only 62 floors of inhabitable space, with a large portion of the building being devoted to lattice work, windmills and spire.

NY† Times: "The Tallest Building in the World:† It's a Boast That Invites Argument," by David† W. Dunlap



December 19, 2003

On December 19, the revised plan for the "Freedom Tower" was unveiled to the public, after months of contentious negotiation often punctuated by fierce power struggles between designers Libeskind and Childs.

NY† Newsday: "Architects Release Revised WTC† Tower Design," by Glenn Thrush

Soon† after this unveiling, the New York Post initiated† an online forum to comment on the redesigned† "Tower" -- which was immediately flooded† with a myriad of comments calling for the† rebuilding of the Twin Towers.

NY† Post Online Forum: "What Do You Think of the† New Freedom Tower?"

Also† on December 19, the Post printed several letters† to the editor -- including one from Team Twin† Towers' own Ron Devito -- that call for a more† "suitable replacement" that will† properly restore the skyline to its former† grandeur.

NY† Post Opinion Letters: "You Call THIS† Reclaiming the Skyline?"



December 17, 2003

On December 17, the NY Times reported that the final "Freedom Tower" structure will consist of: an 1100-foot 70-story building; a 400-foot latticework spire, topped with a 500-foot antenna.

NY Times: "Deal Leads Architect to Lower His Sights, and the Trade Center Tower," by David W. Dunlap

On December 17, NY Newsday reported that a Municipal Arts Society survey of 15,000 respondents yielded no favorite memorial design among the eight finalists being discussed. The main complaint is that none of the designs really have anything to do with 9/11 specifically. Many respondents wanted a piece of the Twin Towers facade that was left standing after their collapse, as well as other tangible items. The memorial designs were regarded as too "abstract and architectural."

NY Newsday: "Survey: No Favorite Memorial Design," by Graham Rayman

On December 17, the NY Daily News reported that the jury deliberating on the eight memorial designs will pick a winner at the end of January, 2004 and that the final design may not resemble any of the eight. The winning design was originally to have been selected by the end of December.

NY Daily News: "Delay Decision on Memorial at Ground Zero," by David Saltonstall, City Bureau Chief



December 16, 2003

On December 16, the NY Times reported that "Freedom Tower" designers Libeskind and Childs reached a final deal on a building design to be released on Friday, December, 19. It will rise to 1,776 feet, featuring both Libeskind's asymmetrical spire and Child's cable, truss, and windmill farm.

NY Times: "Final Deal Reached on Trade Center Tower"



December 15, 2003

On December 15, the NY Post reported that "Freedom Tower" designers Libeskind and Childs are still working on their finalized building design, which is now expected to be released at the end of the week. It was originally scheduled for release today.

NY Post: "Feuding WTC Architects Near Compromise," by William Neuman

On December 15, Bloomberg News reported that Twin Towers leaseholder Larry Silverstein lost his motion to reverse a Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks weren't two occurrences for insurance purposes, entitling him to a payment twice the size of his policy. "With his petition denied, Silverstein will argue his case against lead insurer Swiss Reinsurance Co. and 19 other insurers in a trial scheduled to begin February 9, 2004."

Bloomberg News: "Silverstein Denied Rehearing on Trade Center Insurance Proceeds," by David M. Levitt



December 12, 2003

On December 12, the NY Post printed several letters to the editor calling for the Libeskind/Childs design to be scrapped and the Twin Towers rebuilt.

NY Post Opinion Letters: "Getting the 9/11 Memorial Right"



December 11, 2003

On December 11, the NY Post reported that "Freedom Tower" architects Childs and Libeskind are embroiled in yet another power struggle. The collaboration between the two architects has nearly broken and they're not speaking. With revisions due on December 15, the architects have not agreed to a final design. Libeskind's staffers raided Skidmore Owings and Merrills offices last Thursday to take documents and shoot photos of models and drawings.

NY Post: "Madhouse," by William Neuman

On December 11, NY Newsday reported that construction began on the 11th floor of the new 7 WTC. The 11th floor is the first rentable floor that sits atop 10 stories of Consolidated Edison substations. 7 WTC collapsed unoccupied in the evening of 9/11 due to fires that ignited some 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel stored in the building for NYC's emergency command center.

NY Newsday: "First Steel Beam Goes Up at WTC," by Christian Murray



December 9, 2003

On December 9, the NY Times reported that the revised "Freedom Tower" will differ largely from Libeskind's original design. What will not change is that the building will be 70 stories of office space and some 50 stories of spire.

"Those who have seen the design of the Freedom Tower, as Mr. Pataki calls it, describe a torqued and tapering form culminating in an unoccupied, open-air structure filled with cables, trusses, antennas and ó recalling the energy source that helped settle Lower Manhattan 350 years ago ó windmills that may generate 20 percent of the electrical power needed by the building."

NY Times: "More Revisions in Plans for New York's Tallest Tower," by David W. Dunlap

On December 9, the NY Post published several Letters to the Editor criticizing the eight memorial plans, and calling for the Twin Towers to be rebuilt.

NY Post Opinion Letters: "A Memorial Osama Would Love"



December 8, 2003

On December 8, the NY Post published an article by Nicole Gelinas outlining what is wrong with the eight memorial finalists' designs and how they fail to inspire.

"Downtown citizens want to properly remember their fallen colleagues and friends - and they don't want to work in or near a WTC that fails to honor their own generation of dead. But if the WTC memorial is to succeed at this public purpose, it must serve as an honest, unadorned, final resting place....We don't need a carefully timed emotional carwash into which we enter sad and angry about 9/11 only to emerge hopeful and reflective. We can figure that out ourselves....New Yorkers have built into the sky around their graveyards since the 17th century. An honest burial ground for our 9/11 dead won't be an obstacle to rebuilding. The only insurmountable obstacle to rational planning Downtown is a ridiculous insistence on preserving the old WTC footprints - whose sole purpose was nullified on 9/11. If footprint-driven parameters force developer Larry Silverstein to contort himself into building unsaleable real estate at the WTC site, the Ground Zero memorial will fail. It won't exist within a thriving business community. Instead, 9/11's dead will be buried at a destination for curiosity-seekers."

NY Post: "To Bury our Dead," by Nicole Gelinas



December 3, 2003

On December 3, 1010 WINS reported that NYC received $2.85 billion of the $4.55 billion in Federal aid intended for improving Lower Manhattan's subway network. The permanent PATH station will be allocated nearly $1.7 billion; the MTA will use $750 million to renovate its Fulton St. station; and $450 million will be used to add two tracks and another platform to the 1/9 South Ferry station and directly connect it to the Staten Island Ferry.

1010 WINS: "NYC Gets $2.85 Billion to Rebuild Mass Transit"

On December 3, Crains NY Business reported that Host Marriott received a $370 million insurance settlement in relation to the Marriott WTC which was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, as well as for damages to the nearby Marriott Financial Center. Part of the proceeds will be used to pay down a $65 million debt when Marriott bought the hotel. Marriott also has first preference on any hotel development at the WTC site through the year 2023.

Crain's New York Business: "Marriott Gets Downtown Insurance Payment"



December 2, 2003

On December 2, the NY Post reported that the Port Authority agreed to use $710 million in WTC insurance proceeds to to buy back Westfield America's mall rebuilding rights and to pay off Silverstein's mortgage to GMAC.

New York Post: "Silverstein Debt Cleared," by William Neuman

On December 2, the NY Post reported that a group of prominent architects urged the memorial jury to scrap the eight finalists and re-consider some of the proposals they had rejected.

New York Post: "Architects Give Memorial Plans a 'Zero'," by William Neuman

On December 2, NY Post columnist Steve Cuozzo wrote an article lambasting both the Libeskind plan and the eight memorial finalists' designs.

"The zone in which the designers were asked to 'create a memorial of any type, shape, height or concept' seems to have been sketched by a drunk...."

"WHOM do we have to thank? Once again, Gov. Pataki, whose politically motivated micromanagement of Ground Zero continues to shackle it with unsustainable, irreconcilable constraints."

"...The tightest shackle is the Libeskind master plan, which Pataki embraced less for its aesthetics than out of political expediency. "

"...The truth is that the new office buildings and shopping mall, arrayed in an L along Church and Vesey streets, will wall off the memorial from the rest of Lower Manhattan - which is why the LMDC's widely-published renderings of Libeskind's plan show it only from the west or southwest, with the memorial in the foreground. An image from the east or southeast - Downtown's heart - would show a procession of giant towers with no hint of the sunken memorial site behind them. "

"...The LMDC's official 'memorial site boundaries plan' reveals a cockamamie, 11-sided figure - into which the acute angle of 'September 11 Place' juts like an icebreaker's prow. "

"THE intrusion of this knife-edged salient, combined with Pataki's nutty rules for the Twin Tower footprints, reduces the usable space to considerably less than the memorial site's advertised 4.7 acres. So while the memorial site takes up too much of Ground Zero, its effective shrinkage and crazy-quilt parameters make it too small - depriving the designers of a grandly proportioned, rationally drawn playing field. "

"...Denied the liberating potential of elbow room and rectilinearity, the participants were made instead to focus their creative energies on Pataki's requirement to 'make visible' the tower footprints without building on them - a dictum even zanier than it sounds, because Libeskind was permitted to cantilever buildings over the footprints without quite touching them. The north-tower footprint lies mainly in their shadow, leaving designers the merry task of 'defining' an acre of land mostly hidden from view. "

"The memorial site's sunken setting (30 feet below grade) - another Libeskind brainstorm - combined with Pataki's rules, all but required the participants to think small and low."

New York Post Opinion Columnists: "The Un-Fix Was In," by Steve Cuozzo

On December 2, NY Post columnist Michael Cunningham wrote at great length on the destructiveness of making grief the centerpoint of the WTC memorial.

"Tragedy aplenty played out at the World Trade Center on 9/11, yet the event was no tragedy, but a monstrous act of evil. And the nation and the city must deny that evil its triumph - by fighting its authors and rooting out its causes, but also by answering their destruction with creation, at that very place."

"By reviving the symbol they set out to destroy, honoring the good of commerce - a good that was a central part of so many of the lives snuffed out that day."

"A MEDIOCRE memorial would be a crime. But for me, the worst thing about putting the memorial first is that it is choosing as the site's core identity - as a definition of our city, our collective self - the loss and grief."

"That is, to set down a road of destroying everything else about who they were, and who we are. "

New York Post Opinion Columnists: "When Grief Destroys," by Michael Cunningham