The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 181

Expanding the search grid for remains appears to be likely. More remains continue to be discovered in the area where the remains were discovered in an underground utility vault.

The new search will include nearby streets, which were badly damaged by the collapsing towers and showered with debris, including the possibility of remains and/or personal belongings.

I think Bloomberg is making a mistake by saying that Ground Zero was completely searched. It was not. It was searched, but not as completely as one thinks - precisely because we're going to find more remains as areas that were used as access points during the recovery period following the attacks was not itself searched as thoroughly as one thinks or hopes.

And it says nothing of the nearby buildings, including Fiterman Hall, which were damaged by the collapsing towers. It was said that the Deutsche Bank building was cleared of remains, yet nearly 1,000 remains were discovered on the roof as they were preparing for deconstruction earlier this year.

Still more remains will be found in the future weeks, months, and even years - this much is certain.

And if you want some idea of the area in which the remains were located, check out the LMDC webcam that updates regularly. It focuses on the West side of the Ground Zero site, which is where those remains were recovered.

To orient yourself in the webcam image, from the top you have Battery Park City's World Financial Center, then West Street. The bathtub wall is next, and the PATH train route enters and leaves from the upper and lower portions of the screenshot. Then comes the access bridge followed by the PATH terminal, which is the low squat structure dominating the center right of the screen. The diagonal structure running the lower third of the screen is the rebuilt 1/9 train line (and yes, the 9 no longer exists, but old habits die hard).

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein, mount sinai, respiratory ailment, wtc cough, bloomberg.