Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 19:57:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #104:Hearing TOMORROW... I expect this to be my last email to the list before tomorrow's hearing,#105 will likely be Friday giving a look back at it. The New York Post had six pro-rebuilding letters critical of Giuliani,including at least three from members of this email list,and two that were anti-rebuilding,including this one from leading mega-memorialist loudmouth Jack Lynch: "Every time I see a column,a letter,or a Post editorial about rebuilding the towers,I wonder if the person who voiced the opinion, penned the letter,or wrote the editorial lost a loved on on 9/11. I wonder where they get the unmitigated gall to decide what should be constructed on holy ground consecrated by the blood of my son and the 2,818 other people who died there." Akin,as I have said,to soldiers fleeing a battlefield because comrades die there. This has to be counteracted by those who DID lose relatives that day...please...any such people reading this(peterpanlawyer, l00singstreak,etc),a letter from you could be worth its weight in gold at this point!(And your presence at the hearing very much appreciated). Lynch's arrogance is what we're up against...we can NOT let his attitude cripple the future of Manhattan! The Post is accepting letters for this final Saturday before the anniversary for both the what-should-be-built (rebuild@nypost.com) and what-will-you-do (anniversary@nypost.com) special addresses. I will send mine today! Lynch's soapbox is the 9/11 Widows' and Victims' Families Association, whose officers are like him the survivors of firefighters(he is a retired firefighter himself).I note that this group,one of the footprint-demanding "Coalition of 9/11 Families",collects donations through Hospital Audiences Inc. of 548 Broadway,as does September's Mission. Some people have reported directly contacting Monica Iken(who apparently often is reached through the September's Mission toll-free phone number)... while it may be tempting to give her a hard time at her expense,think carefully.Would talking to her make her at all likely to abandon her goals,or just increase her sense of being righteous and persecuted? We don't want to increase our adversaries' determination to fight us. Former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik(now a consultant with Giuliani Partners) had an Associated Press story about him yesterday where he said he was "adamantly opposed" to rebuilding on the footprints; I wouldn't expect him to go against his boss. The Comptroller of the City of New York has released a report declaring the economic damage caused by the September 11th attacks to add up to a whopping $95,000,000,000!...specifically stemming from the losses of office space and jobs in Lower Manhattan and the taxes deriving therefrom,which can't be recovered if Mr. Lynch,above,gets his cherished megamemorial to show off how his son's efforts to defy bin Laden were futile. Alex Butziger has established that Port Authority Chief Engineer Frank Lombardi's email address is flombard@panynj.gov if people want to write to him...Alex recommends one-liners expressing desire to work on the 110th floor of new Towers but I think this is of limited utility.Lombardi is publicly of the "I would rebuild the Twin Towers if I could but we can't" school...and also was the man who enunciated the timorous,reactive "we will build office space in stages,in response to market demand" position that made all the six Phase I site plan options so uninspiring and crowded. If you write to him...try to make a polite,and fairly brief, argument against his position,don't just say you disagree. That doesn't convince,though it can be evidence against the "fear factor". Tomorrow's public hearing (or "public meeting",they are calling it this time) on the Phase I site plans climaxes the series of public events responding to the six dead-on-arrival Memorial This-and-Thats that began with the Javits Center LTTC four days after they were released.BE THERE IF AT ALL POSSIBLE! It takes place at the Schimmel Center for the Arts Auditorium at Pace University,on Spruce Street.This is just south of the Brooklyn Bridge approaches near City Hall...from the City Hall subway station exit outside City Hall Park you can virtually see down Spruce.Just get across Park Row,and go down to the far corner to the entrance door that will be used...pass the one that you won't be allowed to use.The line will at times snake up the block...I plan to be there well in advance of the scheduled 6 PM start. Joe Wright should have "YES I'd Work on the 110th Floor!" stickers printed up that pro-rebuilders can wear at the event...someone prepared to wait a while for a seat should "work the line" looking for our people to hand them out.TTT-logo shirts,Taustine or Picton Rebuild shirts,or pins would be a giveaway that the person deserves a sticker,otherwise the person going along the line should just wear a sticker and hold a sheet of them visibly,seeing who asks for one. If a megamemorialist outraged that persons-who'd-work-there are being declared not to be mythical bogeys grabs and rips the sheet,it should make the ripper look bad...and the sticker person should step back and take out another sheet. If you can be the "sticker person",contact me ASAP! When the doors are open you'll go inside the corner door and double back to a metal detector station (we're all potential terrorists, apparently,whether or not we support Al-Qaida's vision of the WTC site), and once through that a right turn takes you to where you fill out registration forms and can turn right again to enter the main auditorium. There is also a balcony level above that will presumably have people directed to it once the lower level is full. We want to have speakers in all six sections of the auditorium between which they alternate calling on people.Left,center,and right of the lower level get two turns each,left,center,and right of the balcony get one turn,then they repeat.I expect that Carolyn Lukensmeyer of AmericaSpeaks,who did this at the May hearing and presided over the LTTC at Javits,will again be the "facilitator" who calls on people. I have heard that the night's proceedings will be divided into two halves,the first about the memorial and the second about everything else.I would not count on being allowed to speak to both issues though of course we have views on all issues.Some pro-rebuilders should speak during the memorial phase,but most of us will want to concentrate on the Towers during the second phase...we just want to head off an apparently-unanimous megamemorial-love-fest. Don't be afraid to applaud or cheer speakers you agree with... this was what set us apart from the anti speakers in May,the crowd was with us and not with them.When people say stuff you don't agree with,grumble...but make expressions of disagreement too brief to justify being told to shut up from the stage. Speeches will be limited to three minutes at most...in May they were three minutes for most of the hearing and then cut to two.You will get a comment card when you get there to write your remarks on in case you're never called on to speak(most people won't be)...write your desired speech on it,if you haven't got a prepared text with you...then (if you DO have a text,do this at home beforehand!) go through your words with an eye on your watch while something that doesn't interest you is going on,so you can see if it takes too long.Speak with an interesting lead-in,a strong argument,and a compelling finish.Use positive words for things the anti-rebuilders are negative about. There is a lobby outside the main doors,though with seats first come first served,one should claim seats in the auditorium before going out to network with people.Meetings can also take place during intermission and right after the proceedings.Some of the NYSTC people may be planning an after-hearing party,but that's presumably invitational. There are literature tables in the lobby,we can leave some leaflets there if not gather signatures. But the important thing about the lobby is PRESS INTERVIEWS...be visible, be available!...your first opportunity to get pro-Tower words out there may be while you're still on line outside,but the press will be there throughout the event!The other side will certainly be taking advantage and we must not let ourselves be outdone. I wish we had our rally date set,but at a minimum we can tell reporters we have plans for such,and get ourselves among those to be contacted next week for thoughts on the anniversary...we have to get the pro-rebuilding movement in the public eye! All of you out there in the world who can't GET to the hearing, if you haven't yet done so,SEND PRO-TALL-TOWERS SITE PLAN COMMENTS to the addresses given in the Timetable at http://www.put.com/wtc/ ! See http://www.put.com/wtc/archive.html for all but the most recent past list emails. See you on the 111th floor on 9-11-11! -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.