The World Trade Center Site Today

I had some business on Wall Street in New York City today and also made it over to the New York Stock Exchange and the World Trade Center Site - as it's apparently called. While I didn't take my digital camera along, I was able to snap some images with the cell phone. They are captioned and click-able to enlarge. Be sure and view them full size to read the captions.

Here is a full picture of Federal Hall, referenced in one of the image captions. As for the NYSE, forget it, you can't get in without going through a large crowd of police and security forces - and that's after you've driven through several steel barricades. Looked pretty secure to me.

The WTC site has been in the New York news quite a bit these days because of problems with the Memorial project. It's five years later and the physical scars to New York City's infrastructure from 9/11 have only barely begun to heal. In addition to my not quite ideal photos, there also an emerging story and an image of a staircase up on MSNBC you might want to see. Quotes in italics.

WASHINGTON - Anyplace else, the scarred concrete steps would be an eyesore. At Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, they were a last chance for escape. Now they stand as the last surviving above-ground piece of the World Trade Center.

Clark is part of a group of survivors seeking to preserve the staircase, though current Ground Zero development plans do not include the stairway. Defenders of the stairs say they could live with seeing it moved in order to preserve it, as long as it isn’t placed far from its original site.

Moe said that in all the talk of rebuilding Ground Zero, most people still don’t know the staircase remains, since it is closed to the public. “It’s an enormously important artifact,” he said.

It was widely reported on April 27 that the WTC rebuilding project cleared its last hurdle. Unfortunately, the Memorial is not fairing quite as well. One dead tree editorial I read today pointed out that no high profile figure is aligned with the memorial project fundraising. That struck me as strange at a time when so many high profile people seem to be clamoring for causes that make news. Perhaps George Clooney was indisposed.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rebuilding of New York's World Trade Center was set to begin on Thursday, just one day after officials approved plans to erect the Freedom Tower and other buildings where the Twin Towers stood until September 11.

Developer Larry Silverstein said construction crews will arrive at 8:30 a.m. to start work on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, the tallest of the buildings, which will stand at a height symbolic of America's independence.

Rightly or not, New York Governor Pataki has been taking a lot of heat over some of his decisions relating to the Memorial. Also, the Memorial Board has stopped fund raising. And Pataki and New York Mayor Bloomberg have drawn a line in the sand of $500 Million after the budget apparently exploded to over a billion dollars.

NEW YORK — A new budget-busting, billion-dollar price tag for the World Trade Center memorial at Ground Zero will force design changes to bring down costs.

Work has already begun on preparing the site, but a new estimate for the memorial, museum and related infrastructure costs has sparked yet another controversy over rebuilding at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, which is charged with raising money for building and operating the memorial, says it will cost $672 million. Improvements to the infrastructure, including reinforcing the slurry wall that borders the pit at Ground Zero, add $300 million. Total tab: $972 million.

One has to wonder if some on the board aren't a little too close to the Memorial project to take an objective view. A billion dollars seems like a bit of a stretch, especially given that they have only raised $130 million so far.

NEW YORK, NY May 10, 2006 —Board members of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation are defending their decision to suspend fundraising temporarily, despite concerns from the Mayor and the Governor.

REPORTER: Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg capped the project at $500 million last week after its budget soared to almost $1 billion. Bloomberg has said the foundation should now focus on fundraising. But the board argues it can't raise more money until a final design is made within the new budget. Board member Deborah Burlingame - whose brother died in the attacks - says its only fair to the donors.

BURLIGAME: These people are saying what are you building? And we're not able to tell them.

REPORTER: The memorial was designed around two pools of water in the original

footprints of the Twin Towers, with an underground museum. But some elements may have to be moved to save money.

Also see here:

NEW YORK, NY May 10, 2006 —Governor Pataki is urging the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to continue fundraising, despite concerns over the growing costs. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: The foundation suspended its fundraising because the costs for a memorial and underground museum had escalated and board members wanted to make sure the design wouldn't change. The latest estimates put the cost at almost $1 billion, which Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki then capped at $500 million. But Pataki says that's no reason for the foundation to stop fundraising.

PATAKI: The memorial will be constructed, it will contain the essential elements.

REPORTER: Those elements include two reflecting pools in the original footprints of the Twin Towers. The foundation has raised $130 million so far. Board members say they can raise more money and hopefully still open by 2009 if donors are assured about the final design.

Update: Michele Malkin has a report on another memorial dedicated today.

The people of Prince William County gathered here yesterday to dedicate a memorial that honors the 22 county residents who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It took four years and many donors to fund and build the Liberty Memorial, which sits near the McCoart Administration Building here as a stark reminder of the tragedy of that day. The county is about 20 miles south of the Pentagon and is home to many servicemembers and civilians who work in defense facilities in the area.

.

Comments

[Stella]

Dan - thank you for the photos and accompanying explanations; I'm not readily able to visit the site, so any information and insight is always greatly appreciated.

[Sun]

Dan, thanks so much for taking us to the WTC Site. Many of us will not be going to NY in the near future, so your pictures and explanations really mean a lot. Even the pictures of the barricades! Thanks again.

[IMHERE]

Thanks for the pictures.

Lest people forget why we are looking at these pictures and the missing towers.

[beth]

I actually am wondering if I'm reading that right. They can't get 'high profile' people to help raise funds?

I'm on my way into a meeting - I'm going to re-read after. That's outrageous.

[lurking]

Thank you for the pictures! I've wondered what it is like there now.

There is a PBS show called "New York" by one of the Burns brothers. Very interesting. The last of the series went into how the towers were built and why. Funds from the Transit Authority were used and they were built there to build up that part of the city. It was a Rockefeller project. Will be interesting to see how this is rebuilt.

[Dan]

I actually am wondering if I'm reading that right. They can't get 'high profile' people to help raise funds?

Actually - Michael Goodwin in the Daily News (lol I was handed a copy of the paper on the street, a promotion I guess)anyway Goodwin made the point in a column yesterday. Dont see it on line:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/411104p-347791c.html