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Editorial
'NOW OR NEVER'
The planned International Freedom Center at Ground
Zero got socked from two sides yesterday.
First, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association joined city firefighters
in blasting plans for the proposed center.
Then, three key New York congressmen threatened hearings into the
appropriateness on federal funding at Ground Zero, unless the facility
submits "an acceptable plan."
Not coincidentally, tomorrow is the deadline set by Gov. Pataki
and Mayor Bloomberg for a decision on the center's fate.
Which is why IFC officials today will pitch another iteration of
their controversial undertaking to the Lower Manhattan Development
Corp., the Pataki/Bloomberg-controlled entity that will have the
final word.
This version appears to differ from the original only superficially
— and already has incurred the ire of 9/11 families opposed
to anything detracting from the horror of the attack, and the heroic
sacrifices that attended it.
The center intends to create a multimillion-dollar show-and-tell
emporium allegedly meant to celebrate "freedom" —
but with no guarantees it won't quickly degenerate into just one
more bash-America venue.
"They don't belong here," said Debra Burlingame late
yesterday; her brother, Chuck, was the pilot of the jet crashed
by terrorists into the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, the folks behind the IFC were reeling from the letter
PBA President Pat Lynch sent to the World Trade Center Foundation.
"We are deeply disturbed by the plans," Lynch wrote.
"The World Trade Center memorial is not a place for domestic
or international politics. It is not a place for art or . . . programming
which trivializes or ignores the history of the site."
"We believe that the nearly 3,000 people who perished during
the worst single attack this nation has ever seen deserve the respect
and honor of a memorial that will never denigrate America or the
American way of life," Lynch added.
Lynch said his group (which includes 50,000 active and retired
cops) was joining the Uniformed Firefighters Association (with 22,000
members) "in calling for the removal of the International Freedom
Center."
So how can Pataki and Bloomberg OK the center — opposed,
as it is, by cops, firefighters and numerous 9/11 families?
And how successful can private fund-raising be if Reps. Vito Fossella,
Peter King and John Sweeney tie up Washington's share of the necessary
cash?
The IFC — founded by the head of a group that's suing Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld personally for his role in the "abuse"
of terrorist prisoners — is meant to be an academically oriented
"educational" center.
You know what that means: Counting how many ways there are to blame
America for the world's ills, including the 9/11 attacks themselves.
"Officers regularly put themselves at risk at protests and
rallies so that public dissention can occur," Lynch said.
"Just as we do not see political rallies at Arlington National
Cemetery . . . or performing arts at Oklahoma City National Memorial
or debate at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, we should not see those
activities . . . at this sacred site." Hear, hear.
Sufficient funding for the project has long been a concern of public
officials. On Tuesday, the state Senate passed a bill to let taxpayers
donate to the project by checking off a box on their tax returns;
the Assembly passed the bill earlier.
Meanwhile, competition for funding from Hurricane Katrina has cut
further into the memorial's pot.
But now comes the threat by Fossella, King and Sweeney to shine
a spotlight on the entire "$2.7 billion in federal funding
that will be spent at the site."
"It's now or never for the IFC," Fossella said. "The
museum has until Friday to do what is right . . . We will not allow
the American people to subsidize a museum that blames [America]
for . . . 9/11."
Lower Manhattan Development Corp. Chairman John Whitehead has the
new IFC on his desk. He promised that the center will be appropriate
to the mission — "or we will find another use . . . for
that space."
He needs to start looking.
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