Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 19:45:30 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #224:Giuliani Goes Mega-Memorialist Again, Civic Alliance Environmental Appeal,Gelinas Clarification Once again...Saturday's rally is being put off, though I'll be there for the first hour to catch anyone who didn't get the news.(Broadway sidewalk opposite Woolworth Building,11 AM on). Nicole Gelinas asked me to clarify that she was not at Tuesday's meeting as a rally planner herself,any more than Edward Wyatt of the NY Times was one at the previous rally's planning meeting...indeed less so, since she left before the planning meeting proper, having met us over dinner. New York's former Mayor has once more been expressing his determination to see the site-clearance orders of Osama bin Laden viewed as permanently binding on all New Yorkers.At the NYCS site there is a reprint of the NY Daily News article http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/95671p-86707c.html from which I'll extract the following expression of myopia: -=-=-=-=-=- "Forty,fifty,sixty years from now,people are going to be very, very annoyed with us if we don't handle it correctly",Giuliani said on the tape that was filmed last week. -=-=-=-=-=- Unfortunately,his view of "correctly" is to do exactly what would make the people of future generations think the least of us! To demand that the memorial dominate the 16 acres is an act of surrender to the authors of mass murder that portrays us as incapable of recovery from their deeds.For the act of murder to define the site,their deaths to define the thousands of victims,is to empower and encourage future terrorists. It is by reclaiming the site for the purposes for which the victims lived and died,building structures that emphatically reaffirm what the killers sought to destroy,that we become people future generations not personally affected by the attacks will be proud of.NOT revealing ourselves as terrorized and hypersensitive. This afternoon we got the following AP story: ======================================== Giuliani in Videotaped Appeal to Congress for Larger 9/11 Memorial By Devlin Barrett Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 26, 2003 WASHINGTON (AP) - Rudolph Giuliani appealed to members of Congress to place history above office space in a videotape supporting a larger memorial at the World Trade Center site. The Coalition of 9-11 Families created the tape to promote the preservation of the towers' footprints for a future memorial in any redevelopment. The video opens with a forward by the former New York City mayor talking about the historic significance of the site, followed by statements from several relatives of those killed on Sept. 11, and one relative of a man killed in the 1993 terrorist bombing at the site. The video is interspersed with footage of the smoldering ruins and the recovery effort that followed the attacks. "I think the reason why many of the designs have failed so far is that they have the concepts in reverse order," Giuliani says on the tape. "The major dominating concept is replacing office space or some other purpose like that, and the memorial is an afterthought." The current redevelopment plan includes approximately 4.5 acres for a memorial out of the total 6 acres at the site. The group is pushing for a swath of land double that size, about 9 acres, to encompass the footprints of the twin towers and the areas where most of the human remains were found. Anthony Gardner, who lost his brother in the attacks, said members of the coalition visited Washington this week to distribute copies of the tape in hopes of mustering support at the federal level. Gardner said they have given copies of the video to roughly half the U.S. Senate, and dozens of members of Congress. The group is worried their interests are not being addressed by the state and local officials overseeing the rebuilding process. "We fear that America's memorial is being compromised, and future generations will suffer," said Gardner. "This site should be treated like comparable sites in history, like Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, and Shanksville." Gardner said they may seek federal legislation dictating a larger memorial site. ======================================== USA-based readers are urged to write their representatives and urge them to do exactly the opposite of what Giuliani and Gardner want...it is by the height of the office buildings that future generations will judge our response to terror!! Meanwhile,the following has been received from the Civic Alliance...it's gone to their whole email list, mainly not pro-rebuilders,so we MUST get our voices heard in the environmental review process. Traffic down Greenwich Street is environmentally harmful. Spreading office space into many buildings is environmentally harmful. Deliberately encouraging Downtown population growth is environmentally harmful. Flimsy glass structures at the upper levels will kill birds (a past hearing commenter was dedicated to this). Very tall towers are the solution and Libeskind's deathpit the problem! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 26 Jun 2003 19:42:43 -0000 From: Listening to the City Subject: Civic Alliance Email Alert: Environmental Review Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York: Email Alert A number of important events will be occurring in the coming months that will shape the future of the World Trade Center site and have impacts on the entire City of New York. Last summer through Listening to the City, Imagine New York and other public dialogues, the people of New York set the framework for a more just, open, and inclusive redevelopment process. This summer, as the pace of rebuilding efforts accelerates, we must ensure these principles are upheld and that the public vision is realized. The rebuilding process recently kicked into high gear with the initiation of a joint federal and state environmental review process for the World Trade Center site. The environmental review process provides significant opportunities for public input, including the scope of the analysis of alternative actions. Please find below a more detailed description of the upcoming environmental review processes and information regarding public participation. As other opportunities for public input arise, the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York will keep you informed through a series of emails. We also encourage you to visit the Civic Alliance website, http://www.civic-alliance.org, for more information on the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan and the accomplishments of the public and civic community thus far. ***************************************************************** Opportunities to Participate: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan Last week, the LMDC released the draft scope (http://www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev/default.asp) for the World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan. This document outlines the proposed actions under consideration for the World Trade Center site, including the plans for both structures and programming, as well as alternative actions that will also be analyzed in the environmental review process. The scope also identifies the range and extent of environmental considerations that must be analyzed and evaluated as part of the impact statement, setting the stage for any possible mitigation of traffic, open space, air quality, preservation, and other impacts. For further information on the topics to be covered in the environmental review, see LMDC Board Begins Environmental Review for Ground Zero. http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/lmdc_begins_environmental_review_23595.asp. The scoping document is available on the LMDC website (http://www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev/default.asp.) For more information on the state environmental review process, see SEQR handbook at (http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lgss/seqr.htm.) Information on the federal environmental review process can be found on the EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/index.html.) The public is invited to provide comments on the scoping document at the public scoping meeting: Public Scoping Meeting, World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan July 23, 2003, 2:00-5:00pm or 6:00-9:00pm TriBeCa Performing Arts Center at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Written comments should be submitted before Monday, August 4, 2003 to the LMDC via mail or electronic comment form. Addresses are as follows. Via Mail: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Attention: Comments WTC Memorial and Redevelopment Plan/DGEIS One Liberty Plaza New York, New York 10006 Via Online Form: Available on the LMDC website, (http://www.renewnyc.com) under the "Planning, Design & Development" section. Route 9A Project In other news, The New York State Department of Transportation recently released design studies for the Route 9A/West Street project. Project plans, design images, and public participation information are available on the Route 9A website (http://www.route9a.com/index.html.) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Rodney Rawlings of Canada has offered a musical composition dedicated to rebuilding goals,at http://www3.sympatico.ca/rr.rawlings/misc.sound/ (there is a rebuilding-specific link there). He is concerned about bandwidth charges,so if you like it download it,don't keep listening over and over from his site.(I am not audio- equipped from my normal computer). 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.