September 11, 2019 -- I Remember First Responders

As readers of this blog know I have been participating in Project 2,996, a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim.  Today, I am changing the rules a bit.  I will not be writing a tribute to one of the victims who died that fateful day, but rather, a tribute to the first responders who have died in the last 18 years because of injuries they suffered while at ground zero.  Please also view my previous tributes to Firefighter Thomas M. Butler, Capt. Daniel J. Brethel, Pamela Chu, Donald H. Gregory, Steven Harris Russin, Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr., Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns, as they deserve to be remembered today too. 

On 9/11, thousands of first responders rushed to the Twin Towers.  As people were running out, they were running in.  Many didn't make it out and are listed as one of the 2,996 innocent victims of that day.  However, many of these first responders worked on the pile for the weeks and months to come.  From the initial search and rescue efforts to fighting the fire that lasted for months to remove the debris and rubble from the pile, thousands of firefighters, policemen, and EMS worked days and nights in conditions that no one was prepared for.  I remember the smell of that smoke. The smell lasted for months.  It hung over lower Manhattan like a cloud.  The smell even extended across the river and into Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey.  Anyone who smelled it, who saw the smoke, knew, instinctively, that the air was not right.  Something was wrong with the air that was being breathed by all of us.

In our society, we have a social contract with first responders.  You risk your lives for us, and we are supposed to support you.  Support you with giving you the best training, the best equipment, the best information.  And if you fall in the line fo duty, we are supposed to take care of your family.  On 9/11 and the days since, we have broken that contract with our first responders.  

First, on 9/11 and the immediate days that followed, our first responders were not even provided proper equipment.  I remember news reports that many of those fighting the fire, or searching the pile, or removing debris, did not have proper respiration equipment.  They did not have proper equipment to keep them safe! While we may not have been prepared on that day, there was no excuse for that failure to last for several weeks.  

Second, the government lied to them and to all of us!  The government told us the air was safe. Christy Todd Whitman assured all of us that the air around the WTC was safe and not toxic.  That has been proven false.  I remember as the New York City Law Department was preparing to move back to our offices one block from the WTC, City and the Feds brought in experts to tell us how safe the air was to breathe.  That there was nothing to worry about and there never was.  More absolute lies.  

Third, when these brave first responders got sick because of the work they did for us and because of the first two failures of our government, it took nearly 18 years for Congress to permanently pass a victims compensation fund so that we can in some way try to fulfill our obligations to them?  Congress did it really take more than a decade of hearings,  the harsh words of a comedian, and a parade of the dying to finally bring you to your senses?  Shame on those like Rand Paul who voted to stop the passage of the Victims Compensation Fund.  Such politics should never have been allowed to enter this discussion.

Recently, a memorial to the First Responders who have dies since 9/11 has been installed at the World Trade Center Memorial.  The six granite slabs are known as the 9/11 Memorial Glade, are not inscribed with names, like the black granite that surrounds the Memorial pools because the victims that this memorial is paying tribute to is not set in stone.  It is estimated that the number of first responders who will die because due to some illness related to 9/11 exposure will exceed the number of first responders who died on that day. 

As a society, we must remember our social contract with our first responders. We cannot fail them like this and expect them to protect us when we need them.

September 11, 2018 -- I Remember Thomas M. Butler

In my continued participation in Project 2,996, a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim, today I remember Firefighter, Thomas M. Butler. Previously, I have remembered Capt. Daniel J. Brethel, Pamela Chu, Donald H. Gregory, Steven Harris Russin, Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr., Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns. Please visit my tributes to them as well today, as they deserve to be remembered too. 

Firefighter Thomas M. Butler was a member of FDNY Squad 1.  Tom's life was dedicated to service.  A 12 year veteran of the FDNY, Thomas was also a former NYPD Officer and a member of the US Navy Reserve, assigned to the Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit.  He also served as the bay constable in Smithtown‚ N.Y.  

As Tom's wife wrote in 2006, "Everyday was important to him and he lived it like it was his last."  His laid back attitude was epitomized by him constantly reminding his family and friends to "Don't sweat the small stuff!".  

Tom and Martha had three children, Kelly, 4, Shawn 6 and Patrick 8 months.  On September 9, Patrick and Martha christened Patrick.  Tom, true to his fun-loving nature, wanted a big party.  Martha protested.  Tom won out.  Tom bought a new suit just for the occasion. This turned out to be the last time many of their family and friends saw Tom.  One could hardly imagine a better, more tributing farewell to someone like Tom, than a large family party.

Kings Park Bluff Memorial, Smithtown, NY

As I write this, my family is planning a Bat Mitzvah for our daughter.  Like Tom, I will be planning a big party for her, and yes, I will be buying a new suit as well. 

I have eulogized several firefighters over the course of my participation in Project 2,996.  I think it is important to remember these brave heroes.  As everyone wanted out of those towers, these men and women ran in, with the sole purpose to protect us.  Yet, we are letting them down.  The statistics are well known.  On 9/11, 343 firefighters (including a chaplain and two paramedics) of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY); 37 police officers of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department (PAPD); 23 police officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD);8 emergency medical technicians and paramedics from private emergency medical services and 
1 Patrolman from the New York Fire Patrol all died.  Yet the FDNY and NYPD keep adding names to the list of fallen heroes.  Since 9/11, more than 150 firefighters have died of cancers caused from their time at the site.  Just his year, more than 500 NYPD and FDNY officers were diagnosed with new cancers.  This is unacceptable.  The fact that Congress took so long to pass the Zadroga Act is disgusting.  The fact that they let it lapse in 2015 is despicable.  That they reinstated it for 75 years is at least promising.  Why it is not permanent, is beyond explanation.

September 11, 2017 -- I Remember Capt. Daniel J. Brethel

In my continued participation in Project 2,996, a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim, today I remember Capt. Daniel J. Brethel.  Previously, I have remembered Pamela Chu, Donald H. Gregory, Steven Harris Russin, Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr., Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns. Please visit my tributes to them as well today, as they deserve to be remembered too. 

FDNY Captain Daniel J. Brethel, of Ladder 24, was living his dreams.  He was a firefighter.  Something he had always wanted to be growing up on East Meadow, Long Island.  His brother remembers him as a 4 year old with a red firefighter hat and playing with firetrucks on Christmas Morning,  He would listen to his emergency scanner and often beat firetrucks to the scene on his bicycle.  At age 18, Daniel joined the East Meadow Fire department as a volunteer. At age 21, he joined the FDNY and asked to be placed in the City's busiest area, the South Bronx.  It was said that he had two families:  his wife and daughters who where his life, and his FDNY family.  

Capt. Brethel was supposed to be finishing his shift on September 11.  But like the hero firefighter he was, he accompanied his ladder company to the World Trade Center that day.  It is believed that Capt. Brethel died while trying to save a fellow firefighter by pulling him under a firetruck.  They were both crushed.  That sense of sacrifice was not unusual for Capt. BREthel, who earlier in his career was severely burned on his neck and ears after taking off his helmet to save a fellow firefighter until medical personal arrived.

Usually I chose the person I eulogise randomly, from a list maintained by the Project 2,996 website.  A few times I have selected  a name that I wanted to remember, such as Steven Russin, who lived on my street, and for whom the Town of Marlboro named my street for (much like the town of East Meadow did for Capt. Brethel.  However, this time I purposely picked a firefighter to remember.  New York's Fire Department lost 349 members on 9/11  An additional 159 have died since from 9/11 cancers, including 32 members who were recently added to the Fire Department Memorial.  It is for this reason that we need to make the Zydroga Act permanent.  We need to expand it to all persons who were at, near and around Ground Zero on that day, and the following days,weeks and months.  Our firefighters sacrificed their lives, and those that survived are still sacrificing their lives without proper medical treatment.  

I have helped victims file their claims with the victims compensation fund.  However, many more have not filed, and many more do not know that they have become eligible to file for health care and health services, because the laws have changed, and more cancers and other diseases have been added.  Please, if you or someone you know was there, or around the site, please file.  There are bar associations and pro bono clinics that will help you if you can't do it yourself.  

September 11, 2016 -- I Remember Pamela Chu

In my continued participation in Project 2,996, a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim, today I remember Pamela Chu.  Previously, I have remembered Donald H. Gregory, Steven Harris Russin, Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr., Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns. Please check out these tributes as well today, as they deserve to be remembered too. 

Pamela was a 31 year old Vice President of Cantor Fitzgerald, the bond trading firm located in the World Trade Center, that lost so many people on 9/11.  Pamela was described as "beautiful, intelligent, modest, full of life, aggressive and honest."  Her friend Christiana Yu said of her "I never saw her stressed out, but she told me about customers barking, `This is what I want. Don't sell too low. Don't buy too high.' And there was a lot of trading going at one time. And she was the only female trader and only Asian in her department, and that was difficult, but she seemed so relaxed."

In the months leading up to 9/11, Pamela moved from her parents' home in Queens to a recently renovated rental apartment five minutes from her office. By doing that, she said, she could get to work by 6:30 a.m.  That is was the dedication that she showed to her job.  

The Cantor Fitzgerald remembrance page says of Pamela:

Pamela enjoyed traveling and cooking. Every year for Thanksgiving, Pamela made the turkey and all the trimmings for the entire family. She was a really good cook. Her aunt and uncle did not particularly like turkey, but once they tried the exceptional turkey Pamela made, their minds changed forever. It will never be the same without Pamela celebrating the holidays.

Pamela was born in Korea, and with her parents she moved to the United States when she was 2. After graduating from the University of Buffalo, she started working for Cantor Fitzgerald as a temporary clerk, working her way up to Vice President.

Pamela was the personification of the American Dream.  Come to this country, work hard and succeed.  Pamela was survived by her parents, her brother, sister, and many friends.  Her

September 11, 2015 -- I Remember Donald H. Gregory

This is the tenth year that I have participated in Project 2996, a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim. Previously, I have remembered Steven Harris Russin, Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr., Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns. Please check out these tributes as well today, as they deserve to be remembered too.  Also, please check out Lawhawk's post, where he continues to do an amazing job of detailing the progress of the WTC Site and the politics surrounding the site!

As I look back on these tributes, I remember why this project was started.  To eulogize the 2,996 victims of 9/11.  However, as we have been learning since that day, the list of victims has grown.  Some 20,000+ people, first responders and people living and working in the area, are sick with various diseases, including respiratory illness, and cancer.  Just recently,  Marcy Borders, who was captured in a haunting photo, covered in toxic 9/11 dust, died of stomach cancer.  These people, dying all too often from toxins they encountered on 9/11 and in the immediate aftermath.  It is for this reason that all Americans, must put aside politics, and pressure our politicians expand the Zadroga Act, to include more help for these people.  To expand the list of covered illnesses to include cancers, lymphoma, leukemia, etc., as well as PTSD, and physical injuries. Moreover, Congress needs to take steps to make funding for this act permanent, and not subject to political whims!

Today, I remember Donald H. Gregory.  as always, I select my tributes randomly from Project 2,996's website.  What struck me when I was going through the site is that even today, 10 years later, we still have names that were not selected by bloggers in the past.  So I selected Donald, from the list of names with no eulogy listed.  I hope that my words can capture the person.

Donald was a survivor.  He survived the 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center, walking 104 floors down in the World Trade Center on the day that terrorists declared that New York City buildings and innocent people were not off limits.  While the 1993 attack did not leave an indelible mark on the ones sworn to protect us, it did on Donald, who had dreams thereafter that he was trapped in the building as it was collapsing.  Unfortunately, those nightmares became reality.

On September 11, 2001, Donald wasn't supposed to be in his office, where he, like so many others, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald.  He had survived triple bypass bond surgery, which had kept him out of the office for several months.  He had survived circulatory issues related to diabetes, and had been out for several weeks.  But, the dedicated professional, wanted to return to work, and had come back only late in the week before the attack.  .

Donald is survived by his wife Maureen, who he made a point of kissing every day.  Maureen remembered Donald as a man of "quiet faith".  "He had a generosity of spirit that extended to all in our family. Most importantly, he taught to believe in yourself."  Donald also has three children, Amanda, then 20, Sara, then 19, James, then 14, who inherited his father's love for sports,

September 11, 2014 -- I Remember Steven Harris Russin

For several years now I have participated in Project 2996,    a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim. Previously, I have remembered Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr., Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns. Please check out these tributes as well today, as they deserve to be remembered too.  Today, I remember Steven Harris Russin.

Steven was born in Marlboro, New Jersey, the town in which I live.  Two years ago, the town ceremonially renamed several streets after victims of 9/11.  My street was renamed Steven Russin Way.  Since the renaming, I wondered who Steven Russin was.  I was going to do last year's tribute to him, but decided that I needed to eulogize a victim from another location, other than the World Trade Center.

Steven Russin was a child at heart.  That is how several online articles and eulogies about Steven start out.  Steven was born and raised in Marlboro, NJ, attended Marlboro High School, where he carried on a successful baseball card trading business, and later, Ithaca College, in upstate New York.  Like many of the victims on that faithful day, he worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, as a government securities trader.

However, work was not what defined his life.  Steven's life was his son Alec and the unborn twin girls he never met, Ariella and Olivia, who were born four days after 9/11.  Ariella even wrote a letter to Steven, which was published in
“The Legacy Letters: Messages of Life and Hope from 9/11 Family Members,” which she reads in the video below (the proceeds of sale of this book go to the Tuesday's Children organization.)

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Like Steven, I too am a child at heart.  I also would have been front and center in that water gun fight shown in the video.  From all accounts, Steven, like most of the victims I have written about, appears to be someone I truly wish I could have met.  I would have loved to have talked to him about his kids and share stories of my own children.  To discuss how we both balance demanding work lives with the desire to spend as much time with our children. While I have not met Steven, I am sure that several people I know have, and I hope they feel free to comment on his life here.

Steven's family and friends have set up the The Steven Russin Children Assistance Program Fund, who's mission is to enrich the lives of children of families with financial limitations.  In addition, this child at heart has a playground named after him.  What a fitting tribute!

The WTC in November

1WTC as seen from Greenwich Street at Dey Street inside Ground Zero. The building in the foreground is the National 9/11 Museum.

1WTC reflecting in 4WTC.

Looking across West Street towards the 9/11 Memorial, the Vehicle Security Center, and where the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church may eventually be built.

Looking across West Street and seeing 4WTC on the left and the stump of 3WTC rising in the middle. The foreground buildings are ventilation and utility facilities for the WTC complex.

Looking north towards 1WTC and the completed base. The 9/11 memorial grove can be seen in the mid-ground.

Taking the escalator to or from Brookfield Place (former WFC) gives you a great view of the steel structure that shows that form doesn't have to follow function without being artful.

Looking across the Hudson River at Lower Manhattan from Hoboken.

 

 

September 11, 2013 -- I Remember Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr.

Since its inception, I have participated in Project 2,996, a tribute to the 2,996 innocent victims of 9/11, where bloggers eulogize each victim. Previously, I have remembered Mary Lenz Wieman, Mark Francis Broderick, Capt. Patrick J, Brown, Hagay Shefi, Alison Marie Wildman, Daniel Thomas Afflitto, and Donna Bernaerts-Kearns. Please check out these tributes as well today, as they deserve to be remembered too.  Today, I remember Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr.  It struck me that all of my previous tributes have been for victims at the World Trade Center.  For that reason, I decided I needed to remember a hero from attack on the Pentagon.

"If there were a definition of Army values in the dictionary, Jerry D. Dickerson’s picture would sit right next to it, said a longtime friend and fellow military man, Lt. Col. Glenn W. Harp. 

'For him, it was selfless service,' Harp said. 'He cared more for others than he did for himself.'"  If that isn't the perfect statement to summarize a hero I don't know what is. 

Lt. Col. "D.D." Dickerson was born in  was born in Mississippi, studied economics at Mississippi State, and received a Master’s degree in Engineering from Texas A&M University.

He joined the ROTC, served in the National Guard and joined the Army in 1983.  On 9/11 he was working at the Pentagon on operations research and systems analysis. “He was a key player in molding and shaping the future of the United States Army,” Harp said.

His mother once wrote "[a]s many things as D.D. liked, I don't know what he liked more than just sitting down and eating and talking with people."  And truly who can't relate to this?

Lt. Col. Dickerson had a wife, Page, and two children, Will, then 11 and Beth, then 15.  My prayers go out to them, a wife who has to live without her husband, and children who had to grow up without a father.  May they grow up and instill the sense of selflessness, and dedication to honor and Country that their father held so dear.

As I was driving to work today, I heard the victims names being read on the radio. When I heard Daniel Thomas Afflitto's name I started to tear up.  By the time they got to Donna Bernaerts-Kearns I was almost ready to pull over.  Remembering the victims of 9/11 is something we all need to do.  I fear that as we move forward, as the towers are rebuilt, as new generations are born who didn't live through that day, that we will forget.  If some have their way, 9/11, as well as the Holocaust, would be removed from our text books.  This cannot happen!  We need to remember what happened that day.  That America was attacked, not for what we did, but because we are.  Because what we believe, that all people are equal.  That all religions and beliefs are tolerated.  As one of the family members reading names at the 9/11 tribute at the World Trade Center just said, 'it is time to make 9/11 a national holiday.  Kids today know when the new IPhone is coming out and when the Justin Beiber concert is, but they don't know about 9/11.'  To forget is to lose!  Lets not lose!

12 Years Later: Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2001. New Yorkers were heading to the polls to vote on the next mayor of the city. It was a morning full of promise and baseball fans were excited about the Yankees' chances of making the playoffs, the Mets thinking about the future, and the start of the new football season. In other words, it was a day not much different than those September days we've been experiencing in the New York City metro area this year.

While everyone was focused on the day ahead, another group of people were thinking about the mission that would forever alter the skyline of NYC and alter history. Al Qaeda's terrorists were already on board four jets bound for New York and Washington DC and had already overpowered the crews.

I was on a NJ Transit train with my dad when I first noticed something wrong at the WTC out of the corner of my eye; it was smoke coming from the upper reaches of the tower.

It was just around 8:45.

The world changed, and I didn't quite realize it.

People watching the morning news didn't know it either at first. But they would soon be glued to broadcasts that showed the horrors of the worst terror attacks ever perpetrated.

The damage done on that morning was nearly impossible to comprehend. In the mere blink of the eye, nearly 3,000 people were condemned to death and the World Trade Center would soon be reduced to a pile of rubble that would burn for weeks on end. Reports would come in that a third plane had struck and damaged the Pentagon.  But the death rattle of the Twin Towers would continue for just under two hours and victims trapped above the fires had to make the choice to stay and choke on the heat and smoke or jump to a certain death. All too many make that decision to jump. Firefighters on the ground also succumbed before the towers fell - falling debris hitting firefighters and fleeing people alike.

Victim Number One would be there to comfort those who fell. Rev. Mychal Judge of the FDNY was comforting fallen firefighters and office workers alike when he was struck and killed by debris. So many people inside the Department and around the City thought so highly of him that he was honored as the first victim of the attacks - so that he could comfort and aid all those many others who were murdered on that day - to guide them to Heaven.

All too many would unfortunately follow him - and not by their own choice.

Here are remembrances of a few of those killed on 9/11, as written by my friend legalbgl for Project 2,996 (and updated to reflect his additional memorializations for 2011 through 2013):

Lt. Col. Jerry Don Dickerson Jr. (2013).
Mary Lenz Wieman (2012).
Mark Francis Broderick (2011).
Captain Patrick J. Brown (2010).
Hagay Shefi (2009).
Alison Marie Wildman (2008).
Daniel Thomas Afflito (2007).

Coming full circle, on May 1, 2011, the United States finally caught up with Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. In a daring raid on a compound near Pakistan's military academy, US special forces killed bin Laden and captured a treasure trove of intel.  That's small consolation for the thousands of families and friends who still grieve the senseless murder of their loved ones in New York, Washington DC at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The profound loss is a heavy burden on all those who were there and on those who lost loved ones. While television crews jockeyed for spots overlooking the Ground Zero site, the death of bin Laden would not bring solace to those who lost loved ones, nor would it bring their loved ones back.

Local commemorations are already underway and will continue through the week throughout the region. And there are those in the area who are still suffering from the medical effects of exposure to the air at Ground Zero.

The federal government created the James Zadroga health and compensation fund because of the ongoing health concerns of those who carried out relief and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. More people are seeking assistance via the program, including those emergency responders who came from across the country to spell the FDNY and NYPD and PAPD in the grim task of recovering the remains of those murdered.

Emergency personnel were at Ground Zero around the clock for weeks on end before officials would claim that the site had officially been cleared of remains. Many of them, plus those living near Ground Zero would later become ill from the effects of breathing in all the dust and debris that was pulverized by the collapsing towers, and it is one of the sadder chapters from 9/11 that we are still burying victims of the attacks to this day, including James Zadroga.

People who risked their lives to save others and to help families who lost loved ones find remains of the victims are themselves victims of the attacks. The Zadroga Act isn't perfect by any means and it has come too late for some, but it's a start to compensate and aid families of responders who are suffering from all manner of ailments  attributed to Ground Zero exposure.

The death toll, which was once feared to be more than we could bear - in the tens of thousands, would eventually drop to around 2,742 at the World Trade Center. However, that count continues rising as more emergency personnel working at Ground Zero succumb to ailments attributed to exposures at Ground Zero. The head of the PBA says that the total number of cops who have died from medical ailments related to the 9/11 attacks is greater than the number who died during the attacks themselves. More than 1,100 people have cancers attributed to exposure at Ground Zero. Over 65,000 are registered with the WTC Registry. Some of their names will eventually be added to the roll of those killed in the attacks.

Construction at the site now dominates discussion, though there are unsettling discoveries made from time to time. Workers at the site of the proposed Park 51 / Cordoba House Islamic Center found part of the landing gear of one of the planes wedged between the building and an adjacent one.

The past 10 years have been a near constant reminder of the profound sense of absence. 1WTC (aka the Freedom Tower) has finally recaptured part of the skyline. 1WTC is still under construction but the antenna and external structures are complete. The base and interior work continues.

Construction of the Transit Hub is also underway, and Santiago Calatrava's design now peeks out above ground as well.

The WTC Transit Hub from Greenwich Street at Vesey

Looking down Greenwich St at the WTC Transit Hub and 3 and 4 WTC

4WTC exterior finished; the building needs interior work, but is in its final form.

2 and 3 WTC are only being built as a stub capable of being completed to their originally designed heights. Unless Larry Silverstein receives commitments to lease space, they will remain as stub buildings that provide retail commercial space for the foreseeable future. 4WTC will be opened to business in November. It's likely that work will restart later this year on 3WTC as there have been rumblings of a deal in the works for leases of significant amounts of space in the tower with GroupM. The 1WTC Observatory will take longer to open,  but Conde Nast will be moving into its offices in 1WTC in 2014 and retail spaces in 3 and 4 WTC will be opening in the coming year courtesy of Silverstein and Westfield Properties.

Fiterman Hall

Meanwhile, Fiterman Hall has now been opened for a full year as students from the Borough of Manhattan Community College have been able to use the facility for classes.

While the National 9/11 Memorial opened in time for the 10th anniversary, the National 9/11 Museum at the World Trade Center had been delayed due to an ongoing battle over who is responsible for certain costs. The museum foundation and the Port Authority had fought over hundreds of millions in costs, and the resulting delay meant that the earliest it would open is early 2014.

The delays were made worse as a result of the damage done by Hurricane Sandy. That included flooding of the museum facilities that are under the podium containing the memorial. It turns out that the battle over costs between the memorial foundation and the Port Authority was a blessing in disguise. It meant that facilities weren't finished out and artifacts weren't in place when lower Manhattan was flooded by Sandy. It also means that the facilities will have to address protecting the artifacts from future storms.

Then, there's the cost to operate the museum when it eventually opens in conjunction with the memorial. The WTC Memorial Foundation estimates it will cost $60 million a year to operate the memorial and museum, which is far out of line from other memorials operated by the National Park Service. It makes tremendous sense and it is logical for the 9/11 museum and memorial to be operated by the NPS instead of the private foundation because of cost containment and the ability to manage the myriad details that come along with such a sensitive site and one of national and international importance.

Millions of people have already paid their respects and visited the 9/11 memorial, and the site has fast become a touchstone for those visiting the city. Tourists from around the country and the world flock to the area to see the new construction and to visit the memorial.

One of the stumbling blocks continues to be whether the museum will charge a fee for entry. I've long argued against any kind of entry fee as well as stripping the memorial foundation of the authority to run the facility and instead put the NPS in charge. The NPS does a tremendous job managing sites around the nation, and the memorial and museum should come under the NPS umbrella. However, without Congressional action, the situation will remain in flux and we should expect to see entry fees imposed on those visiting the site (we already see the foundation making "mandatory" suggested donations for access to the memorial). I wouldn't be surprised if the entry fee runs $20 or more. As more than 4 million visit annually, that would mean $80 million in revenues towards operations.

The Port Authority, which owns the entire site, had been building the infrastructure necessary for other components of the site, including the Vehicle Security Center, the PATH transit hub, and the museum. All three are seriously over budget and are years behind schedule. The PATH Transit hub was among the worst offenders. It was supposed to have been completed in 2009 for $2.2 billion, and yet the earliest it may be finished is 2016 at a cost of more than $4 billion.

When one looks at the recently enacted toll and fare hikes, the cost overrun for PATH turns out to be nearly the entire amount of revenue expected to be raised from the hikes. That's inexcusable; the overruns on the transit hub sap the Port Authority's ability to handle other critical infrastructure projects around the region, and commuters to Lower Manhattan and businesses that want to consider Lower Manhattan have to take into account that the World Trade Center area is still one vast construction site.

When one realizes that the Port Authority gave up the trademark rights to the World Trade Center and WTC to a foundation started by a former employee of the agency for $10, you can begin to understand how poorly the authority had handled its assets over the years. A new report by the Bergen Record found that the Port Authority has no record of this deal being done, which makes this whole situation even more bizarre. After all, it's a former head of the agency involved - Guy Tozzoli.  It's why I don't think the agency has managed its assets well, nor handled the rebuilding in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

The Port Authority said Monday that it had no record of its governing board approving a 1986 deal that handed over ownership of the World Trade Center name for $10. And the agency’s top executive at the time said he didn’t recall it ever coming across his desk.

That added to the mystery surrounding how the Port Authority came to sell the vaunted name of its Manhattan landmark to a group run by a retiring agency executive who made millions in the years that followed.

The Christie administration, which jointly steers the agency with New York’s governor, slammed the deal on Monday, in response to a story in The Record a day earlier.

“You can be sure that would never happen under this administration,” Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said. “I’d venture to say that if something like that was done today, it would probably draw the attention of the United States Attorney’s Office.”

The Port Authority essentially handed over one of its most valuable assets to a former executive who has made a ton of coin over the deal, and has even cost the agency money to continue using the name. Had the agency retained the rights to the name and licensed the name to other entities as the WTCA has done, the Port Authority would have had millions of dollars of revenue that it could have used to fund ongoing operations and projects.

Meanwhile, nearby transit projects are slowly inching towards completion, including the Fulton Transit Center a block east of Ground Zero. That project, run by the MTA, is similarly over budget and late. However, it's far closer to completion than the PATH hub. When finished, the Fulton Center would link with the PATH transit hub by the Dey Street connector, and ultimately those working at the World Financial Center would be able to access Fulton Center without having to travel outside. It's likely to be opened in time for when 4WTC is opened for business later this year.

The skyline will never be the same. Neither will our hearts, which are heavy with the loss and supreme sacrifices made on 9/11 by the rescue personnel who bravely rushed up the towers even as people were racing to get out of the towers or gasping as people were forced to jump to their deaths to avoid being burned alive in the fires that racked the towers.

We remember.

Tribute in Light

Looking up at 1WTC and 7WTC.

More photos of Ground Zero and the rebuilding at the World Trade Center, as taken from 4WTC, which is scheduled to open next year.

The WTC as seen from Hoboken.

For my prior year recollections and postings, see September 11, 2012, 10 Years Later,  September 11, 2010, September 11, 2009,  September 11, 2008, September 11, 2007, September 11, 2006, and September 11, 2005.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 169

Yesterday's commemoration of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks also coincided with news reports about a deal struck to resume construction on the National 9/11 Museum, which had been in limbo since the Port Authority and Memorial Foundation fought over who was responsible for construction costs.

The Port Authority claimed that the Foundation owed it $300 million, but ended up settling for $17 million instead. The Port Authority will also supposedly figure out a way to find another $150 million in cost savings, but who knows how that will happen when the Port Authority has seen its construction costs soar towards double their initial estimates for work done at the site. Why did the Port Authority hold up construction for a year if it was willing to settle for $17 million (which is a drop in the bucket in its multibillion dollar budget). The NY Post editorial page has similar questions. That's a billion dollar question as the agency continues to show itself as incapable of controlling costs or making prudent business decisions to manage the site reconstruction.

Everything at the site has cost far more than originally anticipated and taken far longer to complete than hoped.

Work on the Vehicle Security Center has been progressing, and new details have emerged about its street-level design and the incorporation of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Fritz Koenig's The Sphere sculpture figure prominently on the site that is immediately to the south of the 9/11 Memorial below Liberty Street.

Now, the steel latticework of the VSC’s truck ramp is clearly visible from nearby towers. In addition to being the entrance and exit for deliveries, the center of the doughnut-shaped ramp will also support the 60 by 60 foot church sanctuary. Steve Plate, the Port’s director of construction, said work on the park will begin this time next year. AECOM is designing an open space that will swell approximately 30 feet above the Liberty Street entrance to the VSC, creating a man-made hill on the south side of the World Trade Center site. State of the art security, engineered by Liberty Security Partners, will allow all vehicles to be x-rayed on their way in.

The church sanctuary will rise another 56 feet above Liberty Street, a full 78 feet above the sidewalk. Church architect Nicholas P. Koutsomitis said that the Port stipulated that the church not rise above the September 11 Memorial Museum’s roof plane. An additional emergency exit will drop Cedar Street below grade and into the VSC complex.

Fritz Koenig’s Sphere for Plaza Fountain, which sustained substantial damage on 9/11 and now sits in Battery Park, appears destined for the VSC site as well. It appears prominently in the renderings, and Koutsomitis confirmed that the sculpture will be included in the new park.

The Sphere has been a particularly contentious issue. It was recovered from Ground Zero after the attacks, damaged but mostly intact and it became a symbol from the attacks. It was temporarily placed in Battery Park City, but that site is now being developed so an alternative site was proposed within the WTC Memorial. The Port Authority and Memorial Foundation balked by claiming that the site couldn't support the bulk of the statute, but it now appears that the Sphere will figure prominently in the garden area between West Street and the church that will be constructed atop the VSC.

I'm heartened to see that the Sphere will be placed in a location of significance considering its iconic status and relevance to the WTC site.

Meanwhile, at least a portion of the VSC site may be sold to the Port Authority by the LMDCC and the Port Authority will turn over ownership of the memorial and museum to the memorial foundation.

New Jersey Goes After 9/11 Scammers Who Fooled Everyone, Including Gov. Christie

I've got to go back through my catalog of photos taken in and around Ground Zero, because I recall seeing these guys out there on a semi-regular basis. They have a very distinctive 9/11 themed pickup truck, and onlookers would frequently pose with the drivers near the WTC Memorial Preview Center on Vesey as well as on Dey Street and other locations surrounding Ground Zero.

They managed to fool lots of folks, including Governor Chris Christie, who posed with one of the pair of scammers, Anthony Niemczyk. Niemcyzk claimed that he was a Vietnam veteran and was a member of the Navy SEALs. None of that was true.

He was a scammer, as was his cohort Thomas J. Scalgioneo:

State officials have asked that a judge impound the truck and order Mark Anthony Niemczyk and Thomas J. Scalgione to stop scamming the public with their unregistered charity.

One cause the defendants the duo claimed to support, the Cain Foundation, doesn't even exist, New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said.

Rosemary Cain, whose firefighter son died on 9-11, said she was never contacted by the pair and has no connection to them.

Chiesa called the case "an affront to everyone who remembers the fallen and to the family members who continue to endure pain from the lives that were lost among the first responders at the World Trade Center. It is beyond comprehension that anyone would try to profit themselves under the guise of collecting donations to help the surviving family members of the fallen emergency responders."
Niemczyk, r., with Pastor Terry Jones in "The National 9/11 Memorial Truck"


Both men "used a national tragedy to dupe the public," the attorney general said. "Rather than aiding the families of first responders who perished, [they] are causing additional emotion distress through their alleged avarice and greed."

State authorities "are the ones trying to run a scam," Scalgione countered, after being contacted by the Asbury Park Press this afternoon. “We are prepared to fight to clear our names. We are running a legitimate group."

The National 9/11 Memorial Truck, as it is called, bears the names of the more than 400 first responders who died when the Twin Towers collapsed.

The duo made money off the 9/11 attacks and benefited from a bogus charity that wasn't registered. Both have a long criminal record to boot:

Niemczyk apparently lied about being a graduate of the Naval Academy and having done three Vietnam tours as a Navy SEAL. He also pleaded guilty to welfare fraud in 1989. Scalgione, who said he handled PR for the truck's appearance, has criminal convictions, "including theft, forgery, fraudulent use of credit cards and possession of an emergency communications receiver during the commission of a crime," according to the NJ AG's office.

Expect additional charges to be forthcoming for both.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 164

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be visiting the World Trade Center site this afternoon to view progress at the site as part of a trip to New York City that includes two fundraisers for the 2012 campaign.

The trip will disrupt the commutes of tens of thousands of people who use the PATH station at the WTC (myself included), but the President needs to do more than just view the progress all while meeting with steel workers and the governors of New York and New Jersey along with Port Authority officials and Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He needs to get the Port Authority to quit its inane demands on the WTC Memorial Foundation and push ahead with completing its work on the museum and PATH Transit Hub, both of which are years behind schedule. The Museum opening keeps getting pushed back with each passing day and the earliest it may open is towards the 3rd quarter of 2013. It was supposed to be open this September.

Ferreting out who wants what has been harder than cracking the National Security Agency. Eventually, we sifted the misinformation to discover that the PA, which controls the Ground Zero site and is building the museum for the foundation, is behaving very, very badly.

Samson and Foye must, first, get through their heads that they are cutting a deal with a nonprofit foundation set up to construct proper 9/11 remembrances and not with, say, the developer of a retail mall.

Banished from the talks must be thought of asking the foundation for a percentage of revenues from museum admissions or gift shop sales. The concept is so preposterous as to defy belief that anyone could have raised it seriously — instead of as a throwaway bargaining tactic. Get rid of it.

Also to be dropped is any idea that the Port Authority will muscle out the foundation to take greater command of the memorial and museum. The PA must keep hands off.

It is a political agency that has no business presiding over sensitive issues such as how aspects of the 9/11 story will be told. Just as bad, the authority would succumb to the temptation to open the property to speechifying by elected officials.

The Port Authority, which operates at the behest of Governors Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), has been fighting with the memorial foundation, which is headed by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, over costs and the work has groaned to a standstill for months.

While 1WTC (Freedom Tower) and 4WTC continue rising skywards, and the Fiterman Hall project nears completion, the Port Authority's work on the transit hub, vehicle security center, and the museum are crawling along as costs pile up.