2010 Bulletins | January through June

6/26/10 — Reality Check… A great deal of time and energy has gone into preparing the submission to the Attorney General of New York, because we will probably never have a better opportunity to put the toxic situation at Ground Zero into perspective. What really stands out is just how foul the status quo is. We read the same news reports as everyone else and can appreciate how delusional it looks to casual observers that there is anybody who still thinks they can stop what is happening at the World Trade Center. But they don’t know just how dishonest the current project is or realize what they could actually have instead.

That is why we have taken such care in making the case to the Attorney General. The World Trade Center is being built on layers of lies and manipulation — and this is the last place where elected officials should be allowed to get away with that. If our belief in the right of Americans to play a decisive role in their own affairs is delusional, then it really doesn’t matter what gets built. If we’ve reached that low point as a nation, we’re probably too far gone to recover. But we don’t think so.

There is a lot of civic pride and sense of duty in people. They will insist on doing the right thing at Ground Zero, when they learn the sordid facts. There are a lot of good people working on the new World Trade Center, or who have been awarded contracts to be a part of it, who have no idea how unsound and defective the foundation is. And there are a lot of good people in the media who are trying to make the best of a bad situation, because they don’t know there is a far more feasible and satisfying alternative. That is why we have tried so hard to get a spotlight trained on the big picture.

If only they realized that we can still choose to build the Twin Towers — fabulous towers that could be raised for the money that is currently available, years ahead of a project that will be incomplete for a decade or more — most of them would want nothing to do with the current effort. We plan to use the material to Andrew Cuomo to wake others up to what we stand to lose. If we can attract civic-minded backers to look into financing our pending ad campaign, the outlook would change overnight — because the fundamentals are all in our favor.

In the course of mining the site for nuggets of infomation, we took the opportunity to improve the presentation. While doing that, we were reminded of how often we have had to adjust our plans to the constantly shifting realities on the ground. We do our best to inform supporters who check the site frequently, knowing how it is hard to have confidence in the absense of information. But we are dedicated, we are armed, and we have to fight this as we see fit. Opposition to rebuilding the Twin Towers is increasingly formidable and well-financed. The only trouble for officials is that at some point they are going to have to defend their record and they can’t possibly justify what they have done. Then we’ll see who is delusional. Until then, supporters can count on us to stay engaged and focused. Our game plan will change as need be, but we won’t back down or walk away — because we honestly believe that the sight of new Twin Towers shining in the night is critical to our country’s integrity and success.

It is time for these two towers that were such powerful symbols of peace and cooperation to regain their rightful place in the world — because there is indeed a direct connection between new Twin Towers and a better world. We all knew as we watched the Towers crumble that the world had changed forever. The future World Trade Center is either going to be a monument to people who lost control of their country or who took control of their destiny.

6/15/10 — Still Out of Touch… Three years ago today, Alicia Colon published one of her punchy columns in the New York Sun entitled “A Bigger, Better Ground Zero.” It included an excerpt
from A Message to Our Leaders, an essay by the TTA’s Richard Hughes. We are linking to the column and the essay, which resonate even more powerfully today. Even though we have our first African-American President, has anything changed since this piece was written three years ago? Elitists are still ignoring the people and damaging the country. We realize that the smirkers will find the contention that “we cannot fight to make America better if there is no America to make better in the first place,” over the top. But it recalls Thomas Jefferson’s warning that “to lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means.”
Jefferson faced his share of smirkers. And, as we observe in the “Death to America?” Memorial Day piece, Churchill was surrounded in pre-World War II Britain by supercilious smirkers — until
the harsh truth of what they had allowed to develop wiped the smirks off their faces.

6/13/10 — Common Cause… The latest comment on our petition really captures what so many people think and feel about the future World Trade Center: I went to NYC before 9/11 but I don’t think I’ll ever go again if the Towers aren’t rebuilt. It’s Paris without the Eiffel Tower: not Paris. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if what they were building instead wasn’t horrible, but… it is and will just ruin the skyline. I’d rather them leave it a gaping hole thanbuild the “Freedom Tower.” — Kelly Lewis | All Other Americans

The picture above is from the “One Million Strong for new Twin Towers” Facebook page, which
was conceived by a fiercely dedicated young man, Steven Eiselen, to energize and focus the latent
disgust Americans feel with what is being done to the World Trade Center.
Early today he sent out a broadcast to all his subscribers to express his frustration that the same
people who are outraged over the “Cordoba House” mosque aren’t outraged over the despicable
way the Trade Center has been handled. We sent him the following commentary — slightly revised
— which he distributed to all of those who had received the original message:
“You have been a devoted and visionary supporter of rebuilding the Twin Towers since you were in
your early teens. In fact, the great majority of those who contact the Twin Towers Alliance with
ideas and encouragement happen to be young men — because their idealism hasn’t been worn
down. “But you are doing the cause of rebuilding the Twin Towers a disservice when you equate the
strength of the current opposition to the mosque with the lack of a public demand to rebuild the
Twin Towers. It is a matter of apples and oranges.
“The problem is not one of ‘apathy’ as much as ‘atrophy.’
“People think they can successfully oppose the building of the mosque, but they do not think there
is anything they can do about the development of the World Trade Center – because they have
been subject to years of disinformation. It’s only human nature that when we think we can’t do
something, we don’t even try – and when we don’t try we get weaker and weaker. That doesn’t
mean we don’t care.
“The blogosphere was in its toddler stage in 2001-2002, so all the media had to do was suppress
the truth that the public was strongly in support of new Twin Towers — and not bother to report
that Silverstein’s 7/24/01 contract required him to rebuild not just some towers, but THE Towers, if
they were ever ‘damaged or destroyed.’
“All the media had to do was call the Port Authority the site’s ‘owner’ instead of explaining that it is
merely the public’s agent spending the public’s money – and then give credance to the red herring
that most 9/11 families opposed rebuilding the Twin Towers.
“And all they had to do was not notice when Pataki wrote the real World Trade Center out of the
program for his ‘Innovative Design Study’ and then pretend that the result was legitimate when he
threw his own ‘competition’ by anointing the Libeskind plan instead of the actual twin-towered
winner. “If that basic information had been included in just one of the numerous 9/11 ‘documentaries’ it
would have discredited the whole process and the Twin Towers would be shining now. There had to
be collusion — that continues to this day. There is no reputable way that professional journalists
could have all independently gotten it so wrong…
“The people have been subject to disinformation and misinformation, from the beginning. The
media have served as willing, and in many cases unwitting, propagandists. The people, including
the bloggers, are being played.
“We got an email the other day from a college student in Louisiana who supports the current
project, but in the course of emails back and forth it became obvious that he was building upon a
host of false assumptions that were easily set straight — but that is the media’s job.
“People are angry about the mosque and healthcare and dishonest politicians, but the greatest
threat by far to our democracy is an irresponsible press. The way to tie all of these and other
national concerns together for people across the political spectrum is to help them to
realize that our troubles are all rooted in the same nasty muck – a fundamentally
corrupt media. ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ — media mendacity is trashing our country.
“Insisting that officials fix their mess at Ground Zero by rebuilding the Towers would put the rogues
in the media — and elsewhere — on notice that the American people are not the fools they think
we are. Politicians and journalists are either public servants or public enemies — there’s
nothing in between. Officials have immunity from prosecution, but journalists do not.
“There are some very fine voices in journalism, but they are at the mercy of editors and publishers
who have an agenda – and that agenda is not in support of what is best in America. That is why,
when the Towers are returned to their rightful place, they will be a monument to the health of our
nation and our readiness to tackle all of our other challenges.
“We don’t expect the current Attorney General to go after the media in an election year, but we
hope his successor will, because a corrupt media can do even more damage than corrupt banks
and brokers. This is not a First Amendment issue – it is a homeland security issue in the truest
sense of the term.
“The way information on rebuilding the World Trade Center was suppressed in the press is clearly
corrupt. It would be a very easy case for a prosecutor to make before a grand jury. But we can’t
wait for that. We believe that we have a case today that Attorney General Cuomo will find
compelling. We hope to get it to him this week and will then post it on the TTA home page.
“Thank you, Steven, for shining such a steady, white-hot light on what has been called “the hole in
the skyline and the hole in our hearts.”

6/6/10 — Dead From the Neck Up… The Twin Towers Alliance has one position on everything:
Ask questions and demand answers. That is all it would have taken to avoid the breakdown at
Ground Zero and that is all it will take to avoid a breakdown of the dangerous times we are living
in today. We added a D-Day intro to sum up our Memorial Day piece:
“The world today is eerily reminiscent of England in the 1930s, when those ‘in the
know’ sneered at Winston Churchill’s warnings and indulged in the most perverse
wishful thinking. The refusal of those in control of the governments and the media on
both sides of the Atlantic to face reality resulted in the deaths of 60 million people, as
surely as if they had pulled the triggers, dropped the bombs, or built the
concentration camps. Twenty thousand 9/11s. How much worse will be said of the
mis-leaders of today, with such a terrible example to avoid?”
The author of the Declaration of Independence said that “The will of the people is the only
legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first
object.” How could our duty be any clearer? Those editors and journalists who are letting officials
get away with skirting the questions they don’t like, while giving credence to their propaganda, are
a disgrace to the profession that is so vital to our freedom. Tarring and feathering would be too
good for them. As we ask in “Death to America?“…
“When powerful individuals can defeat sound challenges to their pet policies by
deflecting questions and manipulating the media — when citizens can’t get straight
answers to straight questions — then democracy is wasting away and may soon be
too weak to stand. WHAT THEN?”
Jefferson also warned that “To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law,
would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with
us; thus absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means,” because he knew it could happen!
Too many of us fail to realize what is at stake. We not only could lose our country, we eventually
will, if we let divide and conquer tactics keep us from integrating the vital information that comes
from different perspectives. That is the genius of e pluribus unum.
Differences of opinion are not a matter of morality. It is impossible to stand in different places and
share the same view. We are becoming increasingly intolerant of what others see, instead of using
it to strengthen our union. We cannot afford to be self-indulgently self-righteous.

5/21/10 — The “Brand X” World Trade Center… A column in The New York Observer
online reported on the possible Conde Nast move to One World Trade Center and how unhappy the
Conde Nast employees are. So it seemed like a good opportunity to post a comment making the
distinction between how people would respond to the real World Trade Center, as opposed to a
“Brand X” knock-off:
“What is so surprising about finding out that people are resisting walking into the
windowless lobby of a building, that happens to be shaped like a giant tombstone,
that had to be clad in twenty stories of concrete because it was designed by an
architect who had never designed a skyscraper before, let alone an entire complex –
so it is positioned at the most vulnerable part of the site? Why is it a surprise that
workers would say that the ‘place is a cemetery’ and say ‘it’s creepy’ when they will
be working beside the most morbid memorial ever conceived, whose thundering
waterfalls will mimic the roar of the crumbling towers and people will have to shout to
be heard over the ‘white noise’?
“If they instead were being asked to move to 21st-century Twin Towers, that would
be the most celebrated towers on the planet, and could start the day walking into
sundrenched cathedral lobbies that would be alive with a sense of triumph and
renewal, and could travel up instead of down at lunchtime to relax in the 40-story
fresh-air atriums ringed with restaurants and shops – with ultra-prime residences
above – they wouldn’t feel like it was ‘haunted.’ They would feel the excitement of
being in the most fabulous buildings in the city, possibly the world, especially if the
Twin Towers were built beside a tasteful rather than a garish memorial, with the
sounds of orchestral bells chiming the hours instead of water rushing down giant
drains.
“The Twin Towers Alliance is representing the position of most of the American
people. If only the media had acted as watchdogs instead of propagandists we
wouldn’t have to fight this bizarre battle. Where can anyone point to our position
being aired and discredited? The Trade Center is being built on false assumptions and
deception, instead of reason. Why is there a confusion of roles at the WTC site, which
always has been and always will be public property? The Port Authority is our agent,
Mr. Silverstein is our tenant, and the Mayor and Governors are our servants.
“It would be a mistake to think that the discontent in this country is limited to the Tea
Party movement. There is an across-the-board disgust and alarm at government that
doesn’t listen. Period. And nothing is more emblematic of the imperial arrogance of
power than the strange WTC project. If our government has degenerated to the point
where a handful of wealthy politicians and their tools in the media can shape America
against the will of the American people, we’ve got problems that are far more lethal
to our future than foreign enemies.”

5/17/10 — Excuses, Excuses… The Twin Towers stood for many things, but above all, they
were dazzling proof that where there’s a will there’s a way. As a city and a nation we have never
needed that core resolve more than we do right now, which is what makes Ground Zero the perfect
place to begin an American renaissance.
The insanity at the WTC site is just a glaring symptom of the culture of excuses that is undermining
our country. From economic meltdown to environmental havoc, all our problems are fostered by
letting greedy, arrogant people off the hook.
Our jails are full of people whose lives have been radically changed by their bad choices, while
those who ruin an economy or spoil an eco-system owe no debt to society – they may even collect
lavish taxpayer-paid bonuses – so why wouldn’t they “re-offend”?
The Port Authority’s PR Department is in overdrive, trying to convince the public that overcoming
the complexities at the site has been a herculean feat. But the problems they are solving are the
ones they created. They are like people who start fires and then get the credit for putting them
out. All the difficulties are the result of dispossessing the people of their property, instead of
pursuing the natural, popular, respectful, and cost-effective course.
Christopher Ward wasn’t the first one who used our nation’s tragedy to make a name for himself –
George Pataki gets that title – but he’s the first one we should hold accountable, because his
arrogance and deceit have resulted in the greatest damage.
It may look like the World Trade Center is past the point of no return, but that’s ridiculous. We
believe that the independent cost/benefit analysis we have been calling for will reveal that the
transition would be less expensive than officials want us to believe.
BUT, whatever it would cost, the choice is ours, not theirs. It is obscene to tell the American people
that the banks and the car manufacturers had to be bailed out for the good of the country – no
expense was spared – but when it comes to country’s spirit and image, it’s not worth the price.
The only proper course now regarding this most public of public properties is to determine “what
will it cost to give the people what they want?” Then the people can advise their leaders on how
they want them to proceed.
There is clearly a post-partisan disgust with out-of-control, unresponsive government sweeping this
country. It’s time to put elected officials in their place. As Theodore Roosevelt said, the only thing
worse than hardness of heart is weakness of head.

4/16/10 — We Repeat… We can’t say this often enough: If officials would address the “Twin
Towers II” option and give clear reasons why they think it is in the public’s best interest to continue
with a far more costly, far less popular development that will take years longer to complete, we
could get on with our lives.
Instead, we spend every spare moment trying to convince public officials to give straight answers
to straight questions before it really is too late. They obviously think they are going to get away
with it — we don’t think they will. They obviously think the American people are easily fooled and
easily distracted. We disagree.
We won’t give up and we won’t move on because we believe ths is an existential fight for our
country. The WTC rebuilding process was hijacked as surely as those four planes were.
Murderous maniacs who thought they knew better than everyone else felt free to destroy
thousands of precious lives and two magnificent towers on September 11th. Now, scornful,
dishonest officials, who think they know better than everyone else, feel free to rob the country of
the recovery we deserve. They are also killing something precious.
When citizens accept the unacceptable and cede power to rogue officials who mislead us, we are
putting a national heritage that was so hard won in jeopardy.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves.. — Abraham Lincoln
The American people cannot afford to lose the battle for Ground Zero. We are sure that once they
find out what is going on, they will be as determined as we are to make this right.
We intend to keep on sounding an alarm until people wake up, stand up, and speak up.
It is still not too late to do the right thing.

4/15/10 — The Squeeze Is On…Adam Perston, a long-time supporter from Australia, sent us
the following cartoon the other day. It couldn’t be more perfect:
We have been putting all our attention on revising and refining the “It’s Not Too Late” booklet,
because there is so much in the news right now that needs to be addressed. It has a new
introduction on the “Real Cost of the World Trade Center” and is almost ready to be mailed out.
But first we have to take all the booklets back to the printer to have the binding opened, so we can
insert the new pages, and then get them bound again.
We will send updates to those who already received booklets, including the Attorney General, the
Port Authority, and the Governors. But most of them will be going out for the first time. It is worth
all the effort, because the case against what they are doing has become extremely forceful and
credible. We plan to post some cover letters, but there are many others that we want to handle
confidentially. So, even though we won’t have a lot to say or post over the next few weeks, what is
going on now is definitely the culmination of years of work.
Once these booklets are distributed and all the follow up is done, we can get back to finalizing and
printing the “Let It Begin Here” booklet that will go to Washington with the hundreds of comments
and the “Lost Causes” videos.
PLEASE NOTE: We receive more mail than we can respond to. If you write and don’t hear back,
please understand that we do read everything, but are not able to respond — especially now.

3/30/10 — It Stinks… A 9/11 Family Member left a much-appreciated comment today that
thanked the TTA for the “incredibly hard work.” A later, even more impassioned, comment
overwrote the first one. Both made us wish we could do more about one of the great injustices that
followed 9/11 and did not have to be. But at least we can go on the record here.
There may be differences of opinion on what we owe the victims — whose only offense was in
being Americans or doing buisness with Americans — and what we owe their families, but it is safe
to say that no one outside of City Hall thinks that those precious remains should be sitting on top of
household garbage. And it is safe to say that no one would accept it if the remains of a family
member were treated with such depraved indifference.
It is not a situation that has no remedy. It is unconscionable and inexcusable. The City closed the
Fresh Kills landfill and no further dumping is going on, but that cannot remove the stain on our
entire society as long as garbage and 9/11 remains occupy the same spot. It dishonors us all. And
it is another one of these completely correctable situations that we leave in the hands of careless
officials.
Diane Horning, who lost her 26-year-old son Matthew, heads WTC Families for Proper Burial
released a statement that included the following:
“We are still fighting to have the material (hills 1 & 9 at Fresh Kills) removed and put
in a place which does not have household trash. There is even a place at Fresh Kills
that could accommodate this effort, but the City has refused. Apparently the garbage
dump is good enough. The City emptied (though not thoroughly) the WTC site and
searched for remains (though not completely) during a 10 month period from
2001-2002. The endeavor came in under time (scheduled to take 2 years) and under
budget ( FEMA appropriated $125 million…the City spent $67 million and then used
the remaining money to pay straight-time salaries). It is this material, sitting on top
of household trash without separation, that we want removed.”
If we can’t rebuild the Towers, and we can’t give victims a decent resting place, what makes us
think we can do anything that really matters?

3/28/10 — Zero Progress… “The Port Authority, Larry Silverstein, Mayor Bloomberg and Govs.
David Paterson and Chris Christie think we’re stupid — or do they actually believe the richly
seasoned baloney they recycled and repackaged yesterday?” That is how Steve Cuozzo’s
scathing reaction in the New York Post to this week’s WTC “breakthrough” began. Or in the
word’s of Curbed NY’s savvy review, “the stumpitechture is back!”
Meanwhile, on Friday Michael Bloomberg exceeded his usual level of snide cynicism, trying to give
the controversy a bogus historical perspective. The New York Post reported on March 27th:
All the squabbling over the torturous reconstruction of the World Trade Center site will
be forgotten by future generations once the project is completed, Mayor Bloomberg
predicted yesterday.
“Nobody remembers those big projects that we’ve come to love and make our future
what it is, and have a future for our kids, nobody remembers whether they were on
time or late,” the mayor said on his weekly WOR radio show.
“Nobody remembers whether there was a lot of yelling or screaming to get them
done or not, over budget or under budget.”
The mayor’s comments came a day after the city, state and Port Authority reached
the “framework” of a deal that would allow developer Larry Silverstein to proceed
with construction of two office towers on the site.
Bloomberg pointed to Central Park, one of the city’s most prized jewels, as an
example.
“I’m sure some of the papers had these exposés [about the park’s construction in the
19th century],” he said.
Sorry, Mayor Bloomberg, but that is absurd. We’d be lying if we did not admit that he and his
partners in this giant rip-off may get away with defrauding the public and future generations of the
World Trade Center we deserve. But we are not lying when we say that somehow we don’t think
they will, because they can’t defend their actions — all they can do is pretend that what they are
trying to do is honorable and makes sense. But they’ll never sell that to history.
As for “exposés,” one does not have to go back to the 19th Century to find early opposition to icons
now woven into the fabric of the city — the WTC is the most famous example of that. But the
swindle going on at the World Trade Center is not a mere controversy. And it certainly is not a
question of architectural fashion.
It is a raw power struggle between the American people and those who think they have the right to
rule over us, rather than govern under us. What is happening downtown is a rank abuse of power
and a criminal misappropriation of billions of dollars that WOULD NOT have been squandered, if
people had been given all the facts. It is only possible because officials think they are above the
law. Whether or not they actually are is what is being established.
As the head of a communications conglomerate, the mayor is evidently fine with telling the public
only what he wants them to know… And he thinks he is fit to be President of the world’s
premier democracy? It’s one thing to monitor our smoke, fat, sugar, and salt intake, but hands
off the truth. Unfiltered, untainted information is the oxygen in the bloodstream of our democracy.
This country as we know it cannot survive without it.
The Mayor’s choice of words was telling. Does he really think there were “exposés” in the papers
over the creation of Central Park? Is he serious? Does he think we’re so easily fooled? It’s true that
no one knows or cares whether past projects were on time or late, over or under budget, but to
talk about the future World Trade Center as nothing more than another municipal development just
goes to show how little he understands the nature of the challenge — or what it is that officials owe
the people whose money is making it all possible.
Al Qaeda attacked symbols because symbols matter. To compare the site of the destruction of
2,751 lives and the iconic goalpost at the tip of the island with a city park betrays a colossal lack of
imagination. There was never any good reason why the reconstruction of the Trade Center had to
be “torturous.” If the public’s will had been honored, it would have taken a few short years. The
people knew what they wanted and we had the money to do it. We still do.
That is why we are fighting so hard right now. Officials have wasted billions, but as we’ve seen in
the last eighteen months, it wouldn’t be the first time. How to best fix it is not their rightful decision
to make, without consulting the public. We saw at this very site how the disaster was cleared four
times faster than expected. We saw what happens when hearts and souls are engaged in
something that matters to them. So spare us the cooked-up estimates of what it would cost to
clean up the mess they’ve made of our World Trade Center.
Paying for politicians’ honest and dishonest mistakes is our problem — paying to cover them up is
not. Until the cost/benefit analysis that we have called for is done, there is no way they can
pretend that it makes more sense to throw good money after bad than to build spectacular Twin
Towers — even if, at this point, the best they can do is cap off the depressing Freedom Tower. It’s
the public’s money and the public’s decision to make.
Letting the politicians and bureaucrats who created the problem in the first place, and whose first
loyalty is to themselves, decide this issue instead would be an historic miscarriage of justice and
we’re not going to let that happen without putting all those who are collaborating on notice. There’s
no getting around the fact that the lion’s share of the expense has been spent since we sat with Mr.
Ward and they aren’t pretending anymore that the current project was the choice of the people.
Now the only rationale is — it’s too late. No, it is not.
There is no reason to settle for anything less than a World Trade Center that will best heal our land
and revitalize our spirit. The only way to determine if we are going in that direction is to put it
before the public. To allow the very officials who have made such a botch of the project shut
everyone out and control what we may and may not know, to allow them to ignore honest
questions and spread their distorted version of what is possible, is wildly offensive.
The time has come for a reckoning, before any more damage is done. Mayor Bloomberg and all
those who are invested in keeping the facts out of the public’s eye may think they have a lock on
the future of Ground Zero, but as long as their success depends on avoiding inquiry, skirting the
facts, and ignoring the public they were elected to serve, they are cancelling their own legitimacy.
Nothing good can come from that.

3/23/10 — It’s Not Too Late… The official copies of the letters we sent out to officials last week
are going out today by Certified Mail. We took an extra day to put it all in booklet form, which will
also go to the individuals copied in on the documents, and to prominent individuals that we think
will take notice. We think that the Introduction and the Pros and Cons come as close as we can
to the heart of what makes this struggle matter so much.
The impact of the booklet is just a preview of how effective the full-blown presentation will be when
it is finalized and sent to Washington. There is a Native American saying that fits both the book and
the long, tough, fight for the Twin Towers: You can’t push the river…

3/17/10 — Happy Fourth Birthday, Twin Towers Alliance… There was a very simple reason
for choosing March 17th to launch the Twin Towers Alliance: Legend has it that St. Patrick chased
all the snakes from Ireland — so there could not be a more perfect patron for an organization that
is dedicated to clearing Ground Hero of the twisted priorities and false promises that have created
such an unholy mess.
The reason we started the TTA, almost five years after 9/11, was because everyone we knew said
that everyone they knew couldn’t understand why the Twin Towers weren’t being built, as most of
us wanted. So we thought that if we created a vessel for supporters to leave a comment with their
signature, we could start to change officials’ minds and hearts. That was naive. We learned that
what most of us want is irrelevant to those we have entrusted with our country, and nowhere is
that more apparent than in that colossal broken promise in Lower Manhattan. Far from wanting to
know what we think, they have done their best to make our cause look farfetched. While
researching the Freedom of Information Act appeal we are preparing for the Port Authority, we
Googled the term “Twin Towers” today to help illustrate our “standing” as representatives of the
“public” so many officials claim to listen to, but never quite hear. We found that out of 2,890,000
search results, the TTA was at the top of the list. The results are dynamic and shift from day to
day, but those were impressive results.
That position represents at least 15,000 hours of work. It is a great honor to be part of this labor of
love. The situation is now certainly reaching a climax. The TTA letter to the Attorney General is
just the beginning of making the case for how badly officials have failed us. The appeal of the Port
Authority’s decision to keep us from seeing the “Master Development Agreement,” which is the
basis for the current arbitration, along with a final submission to the Arbitration Panel, are still
being formulated and have to be completed before we can properly finalize “Let It Begin Here,” our
report on the current status and future options for the World Trade Center. It has been a long time
coming, because the situation is so dynamic and keeps evolving, but we’re really close and it will
be worth the wait.
We found the new Winston Churchill quote at the top of the home page in a very perceptive op-ed
in the New York Observer by a student of antropology at Yale. It’s title, “Twin Towers,” refers to
the comparison it makes between the Burj Khalifa and the “Freedom Tower.” Her conclusion was
that, because we shape our buildings and then they shape us, “it is time to open up the dialogue
again, and this time, maybe my generation should be included.”
If officials can’t read the writing on the wall, if they are so married to their pet failures that they
would rather do the wrong thing than admit a mistake, in this of all places, then they are snakes
whether they will admit it or not. If they cannot be trusted with sixteen acres, then they are unfit
for office. Thank you to our supporters for believing that citizens can and must “fight City Hall”
when officials put their own prerogatives before the public good.

3/16/10 — Making it Better… Two thousand names were suggested for the fabulous restaurant
at the top of the world before the winner that was based on the Bacharach/David song The
Windows of the World was chosen. Click on the image at the bottom of the To The Rescue page
to hear the beautiful Dionne Warwick version of the song. It should let you hear the whole song
through once or twice – but at some point will restrict it to a 30 second play. It is well worth
hearing all the way through, so buy it from whatever music service you may use. It is incredibly
moving to look back on how perfectly the words captured the Towers’ twin muses. They were, at
the same time, glorious temples to the worldly can-do spirit and, from the very beginning, soaring
shrines dedicated to a better world. In the shadow of 9/11, the song is particular poignant and
wistful. But when the Towers are shining again, we will be well on our way to making our world
better — much better.

3/14/10 — Walking the Talk… This is by far the most promising time for our cause since the
struggle began. We expect to post a number of significant updates on the “Latest Developments”
page in the coming days. We ask our supporters to hold off on the phone calls at this extremely
challenging time. As always, we welcome your emails, but will not be able to respond for the
immediate future.
We will be sending out a broadcast this week asking everyone who thinks of themselves as a
supporter of rebuilding the Twin Towers to contribute to the battle by donating whatever they can
manage — many for the first time. There is so much going on and it is an opportunity to be part of
something great. We have rarely asked, which makes the current appeal all the more credible. We
need YOUR help now and are offering a choice of three full-size TTA posters on our Cafe Press
site for a $100 donation. Those who have not been to that site before will find some terrific
bumper stickers and other items designed by our talented and devoted graphics guru, Fard
Muhammad. Or, to make any size donation wiphout a purchase, click on the “Whose Country Is
It?” banner above.
Two opinions that appeared this week in North Jersey’s The Record show how clearly the battle
lines are drawn between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties…
The first one noted that:
“The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is not a bank. It is not a commercial
real estate corporation. Its core mission is transportation. And if it could, the smartest
thing it should transport would be developer Larry Silverstein away from the former
World Trade Center site.”
The second one pointed out:
“The problem here is that Silverstein doesn’t own the land at Ground Zero. He’s a
renter who agreed to a long-term lease with the Port Authority to rent the Trade
Center’s twin towers. That Silverstein signed this rental agreement only days before
hijacked commercial jetliners smashed into those towers and knocked them down
makes him something of a tragic figure.
“But Silverstein, who turns 79 in May, has managed to turn his victimhood into a
cause for bullying. And now he has actually managed to place himself in the position
of demanding to control what is actually built on land where he merely rented a
building. Preposterous notion.
“Think of a homeowner renting to a tenant – and then being told that the tenant
wants to control how to rebuild after the home is gutted by fire. That’s how ridiculous
Silverstein’s position has become. How did he manage to stay in charge of such an
important landscape?”
But the Port Authority is not the white knight here. They can hardly claim to be the voice of fiscal
reason while they are prepared to sink $4 billion and counting into a transit “hub” that served its
purpose efficiently and effectively when it was just a lowly PATH station underneath the Twin
Towers.
They are all self-serving, scoundrels with delusions of grandeur and no sense of shame. It is
becoming more apparent all the time that the inmates are running the asylum and yet, respectable
and thoughtful people are giving them and their pitiful plan credence, while acting as if the idea of
rebuilding the Twin Towers is far-fetched. Those who are content to let this scene of so much
sacrifice, and a landmark in every sense of the word, that was once the epitome of confidence and
idealism, become the scene of ever more diminished expectations have a lot to answer for.
Meanwhile, it was no surprise that the Senators who could actually have brought all the madness to
a quick end by calling for a cost/benefit analysis, reauthorized the Liberty Zone program without
the rider we urged them to attach. What possible excuse can there be for failing to make such a
straightforward call? There is only one: They have no sense of responsibility to the people who pay
their salaries, and benefits, and pensions — and they have a distorted sense of responsibility
instead to those who sold us all out at Ground Zero.
We will accomplish our goal without their help, but they lost a golden opportunity to distinguish
themselves by putting the country first at Ground Hero.

3/3/10 — Here Comes the Sun… The Port Authority refused our Freedom of Information
request to see the 2006 “Master Development Agreement,” which is the basis for the current
project. They said it “would impair present or future negotiations.” That’s for sure!
It is easy to imagine the look on Mike Wallace’s face, if he were still on “60 Minutes,” pointing out
to Christopher Ward that if letting the public in on the terms of an agreement that is sucking up
billions of public dollars with very little to show for it could “impair” negotiations, then it’s a very
good bet those negotiations are not promoting the public’s best interests. Maybe the Attorney
General will finally recognize that the public is getting bashed at the WTC.
Meanwhile, we came within a couple of days of having the booklet ready for the printer, but had to
change tracks again because of all the intensive follow-up on the 2/21 segment of “60 Minutes” and
our Senate initiative. The Twin Towers Alliance will turn four-years-old on the 17th of March and
that is our new target date for the mailing to Washington. The good news is that, with every delay,
our case on paper becomes stronger.
2/20/10 — Grabbing Power… We are in the final stages of getting our book to the printer this
week. It has been a great lesson in the benefits of patiently letting things develop, instead of trying
to force the issue. Aside from the comments and some of the images, the contents are completely
different than they would have been even a month or two ago. The way the various aspects of the
current situation are coming together is quite amazing…
Larry Silverstein will go on “60 Minutes” tomorrow and make some version of the current plan
seem inevitable, but we think that the only thing inevitable about it is that it will fail. How soon is
what is still unclear — but it’s getting close. Now that Mr. Silverstein has decided to
postpone/cancel one of the towers — the one that everyone liked the best, how can they pretend
that they are building a “center,” when the skyline will now just be some motley towers with a gap
in the middle. This is just one more step towards destroying the World Trade Center. With the
address of two or three towers on “Greenwich Street” and no symmetry at all to the overall plan,
how does it qualify as a center? Where did the center go?
The papers are full of Mayor Bloomberg’s irresponsible assault in the Port Authority for resisting
calls to plow more public money into the Silverstein Towers, but as long as the PA plans to build a
ridiculously grandiose $4 billion transit “hub”/shrine to the Port Authority, they can hardly claim the
mantle of defender of the public purse. Our book is going to tie it all up with a big bow and send it
to the WTC arbitrators, the media and the Congress — we’ll post it online as well — and if they
then fail to acknowledge the real issues, we won’t need a thermometer to tell us this country is
cooked. But we expect that even those who would rather keep ignoring the substance of our
concerns are going to have to address them.
What apologists for the current agenda fail to understand is that while we loved the pre-9/11 New
York, there is no way we would sink years of our lives into trying to rebuild just buildings. If a poll
were to establish that the American people prefer the official plan to new Twin Towers, all of us,
Ken Gardner included, would be satisfied and not feel that we had wasted our efforts. But knowing
that this is the ultimate power grab is what we find impossible to accept. Tomorrow, we will post
and tweet the statement we sent to “60 Minutes.”

2/3/10 — The World Trade Center Phoenix… Ken Gardner has been updating the “Twin
Towers II” website and it looks sensational. He is working the original name back in to the official
identity. “World Trade Center Phoenix” is imprinted on all the original Belton-Gardner plans going
back to 2003. “Twin Towers II” is the popular name of the project, perhaps first used in print by
New York Times architecture crtic Herbert Muschamp in 2004.
The new site is still being finalezed, and there are enhancements to the Towers’ design that are not
reflected in some of the images, but it is convincing proof that the rightful heir to “Twin Towers I” is
“Twin Towers II.”

2/2/10 — The Foundation of a Dream… The goal of the Twin Towers Alliance has always been
twofold: To see the Twin Towers back where they belong and to show how instrumental the role of
citizen is in the destiny of our nation. We, therefore, formed The Twin Towers Alliance Foundation,
a Delaware Not-For-Profit Corporation, at the end of January 2010, to advance those twin
missions.
People United To Rebuild The Twin Towers, Incorporated, our New York State non-profit, is being
retired. It was an important step in the right direction, but a foundation is, by definition, something
to build upon and, through our Delaware Non-Profit, we are well-prepared to promote the practice
of muscular, engaged, citizenship.

1/27/10 — The Force IS With Us… News that arbitrators ruled against Silverstein
Properties is the best possible outcome for those who still hope to see new Twin Towers rise.
Now, if the two sides really want to take the arbitrators’ instructions seriously — to work out a new
plan to finish the WTC project quickly — then the plan that costs half as much and could be built
twice as quickly would probably be the best bet. Since it is a rare bureaucrat who can think outside
the box, it seems unlikely that the Port Authority will step off its conveyor belt. But if Mr.
Silverstein is as savvy a businessman as they say, how can he fail to see the chance to change the
dynamic at the WTC and become a world-class hero overnight?
The fastest way for him to regain his 10,000,000 square feet of space is to build the Twin Towers.
It could be done for the money that is already budgeted because of the economy of construction,
before building costs escalate further due to the delays. They would feature all the architectural
bells and whistles that the Freedom Tower can offer and then some.
They would attract high-value tenants, instead of being stuffed with government offices, as is
currently planned. And the Silverstein buildings, which are an eyesore at Ground Zero, would be an
attractive addition elsewhere in the city. If he is his own man, he can’t fail to recognize the
opportunity. If he is under Bloomberg’s thumb, then that’s another story.
Those who seriously think that we are stuck with a consolation prize at the World Trade Center
need to remember that New York is in the middle of tearing down its second stadium in two years,
just because the teams wanted better ballparks. Well, the people want a better World Trade
Center, so if it means tearing down what never should have been built, whose fault is that? If we
wanted to cap off what’s there we could do that too, but there is nothing special about a concrete
bunker that needs a veneer of glass to hide the reality that it is cold and blank.
People who are making believe we are too far gone to change course are engaging in wishful
thinking. One would think we were advocating moving Mt. Rushmore. Correcting a bad mistake
before it gets worse is something we never seem to do anymore, but this is the perfect place to
start. It would only involve taking down the above ground work. There is nothing below ground
that would interfere with building the Twin Towers. We have that assurance from not only Ken
Gardner, but also from unimpeachable experts in the field. The same applies to all the work that
has gone into the 9/11 Museum, which is independent of the morbid memorial.
Those who think it’s all over at Ground Zero can be forgiven for their lack of faith in the rightness of
this cause, and their lack of vision to see beyond the obvious. They aren’t taking into consideration
how quickly things can change. We expect things will change, because there is no logic to what is
being built, except the logic of money and power, which only goes so far. It’s like those
experiments in science class where a drop of the right additive into the beaker suddenly cleaned up
a murky mess.
At best, if the Port Authority and Silverstein come to an agreement on how to build the four
towers, it will include massive amounts of public financing. If not, we will have a Trade Center with
stumps instead of towers. Either one would be a travesty under the circumstances. It would be the
height of irresponsibility for the Senators to miss the present opportunity to tie the reauthorization
of the Liberty Bonds to a long overdue cost/benefit analysis.
When the current, incoherent plan is compared to a project that is not only ready to go, but would
save time and money, respect the will of the people, and remove the terrorists bragging rights for
having changed our skyline, it will just be a matter of time before common sense finally kicks in.
Then, people will come from around the world to applaud.

1/27/10 — On Second Thought… Our recent decision to substitute Ground Hero for Ground
Zero was a little too sweeping. It sends an important message, but there are times when it would
be viewed as contrived and counter-productive. So we will definitely use it whenever we think it
will help to raise conciousness — but not when we think it undercuts our objective.

1/17/10 — And the Band Played On… The “Restoration Alternative” was the manipulative
name officials gave to the option of rebuilding the Twin Towers — no doubt trying to suggest that
new Twin Towers would just be the old Twin Towers. — in other words, like just rebuilding the old
Yankee Stadium all over again. Of course, the true Restoration Alternative would restore the
skyline, not 40-year-old buildings.
Even though they made sure that no real Twin Towers made it into their “competition”, when it
boiled down to two semi-finalists, the public chose “neither,” but the twin-towered THINK design
received a higher percentage of popular approval than the Libeskind design and also was the Lower
Manhattan Development Corporation’s choice.
But, as Gov. Pataki explained last year on national TV, he and Mayor Bloomberg thought it was
“just terrible.” So the real winner (according to the accepted usage of the word) was the closest
any of the “innovative designs” came to twin towers and, just as the elements of the Libeskind
design went through significant redesigns, the THINK plan redesigns might have brought us much
closer to reclaiming what we lost. But, so what? The “democratic process” got trashed and
Libeskind it was. And the press played along — and is still playing. There is plenty of shame to go
around.

1/16/10 — A World-Class Blunder… The Science Network announcement that Steven
Spielberg “will join forces with the network, DreamWorks Television and KPI Productions to create
the definitive documentary series about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site in New York
City,” was spectacularly good news.
There is no way to “create the definitive documentary” and leave out the sordid history that
spawned the current project. Nicole Gelinas wrote in “World Trade Sellouts” in 2004 in the New
York Post, “Osama bin Laden gave the order to destroy the World Trade Center — but Gov. Pataki
& Co. are paying for the funeral.” In other words, they were accessories-after-the-fact of outright
grand larceny. Two 110-story landmarks were stolen and then, when they could have returned the
stolen property to its rightful owners, officials buried it instead.
They “listened to the City” and when they didn’t like what they heard, they started lying and never
stopped. So seven wasted years later we are in a position where Larry Silverstein, the man who
signed a contract in July, 2001, agreeing to rebuild the Twin Towers if they were ever destroyed, is
poised to sue the Port Authority for $2.5 billion for fraud. After reimbursing himself and his backers
for their initial investment, and using the insurance proceeds to pay the ground rent and finance his
architects, Mr. Silverstein is enjoying a free ride.
Collecting an entire year’s worth of rent in penalties from the Port Authority seems to have given
him a taste for easy money. Mr. Silverstein forgets whose money it is that the Port Authority is
holding — whose pocket he is in fact picking. But then, the Port Authority forgets whose money it is
too, or they wouldn’t be wasting it on a $4 billion dollar transit “hub”.
The iconic DreamWorks logo of a boy with a fishing pole in his hands and a leg dangling off the
edge of the moon is the absolute antithesis of the corrupt, arrogant process that produced the
current project. The struggle for the Twin Towers is the ultimate David and Goliath match up.
Those who imagine they can tell the story, while leaving out the truly inspiring part, are deluded.
Just because they move in the same circles and attend the same parties, it is insulting to a man of
Mr. Spielberg’s stature to assume he could be used to present a “definitive” history that is anything
but. We can think of some other big name producers/directors who could be used as propagandists,
but Mr. Spielberg is most certainly not one of them.
It is common to hear people from all walks of life say they don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to
rebuild the Twin Towers. We are often asked how a “no-brainer” like rebuilding the Twin Towers
could have been so mishandled. Watching any documentary on the World Trade Center provides a
big part of the answer, because there is not a word about the popular support for rebuilding the
Twin Towers that has been evident from Day One. We don’t think Steven Spielberg would ever be
part of something so downright creepy.
There is still one person with more power than Mr. Bloomberg — any citizen who stands on
principle with the full backing of the US Constitution to defend it. In fact, isn’t that Mr. Spielberg’s
kind of story?

1/16/10 — The Smell Test… It certainly is curious that men like Mr. Bloomberg and Mr.
Silverstein, who know that terrorist targets in Israel are always quickly rehabilitated back to their
pre-target state — as the best relief for the victims and the best demoralizer for the victimizers —
would work to deprive their country of the same relief. Why the double standard? Why are they
going along with towers and a memorial that do just the opposite, making the physical proof of the
attacks permanent and giving our enemies the most gigantic terrorist trophy the world has ever
seen? ? It doesn’t compute — it boggles the mind.
Why would officials be so hostile to the natural desire of their own countrymen to apply that same
simple standard, knowing what an effective deterrent it is in Israel against the very same
enemy? Especially when the possibility of restoring the skyline to its world-famous profile is so
much more popular, economical, buildable, and ultimately rewarding for all concerned? Why would
they seek to marginalize and defame those who object? Whose side are they on, anyway?
Instead of making the footprints a trophy, the “Twin Towers II” memorial — in conjunction with the
World Memorial, both of which have much more support than the official “Reflecting Absence”
among 9/11 Families — does not build on the footprints, but neither does it glorify them and make
them the focus of the remembrance.
Preserving and fixating on the footprints is an obscene gesture of recognition of the attackers
“success’ that the Israelis would find outrageous and offensive. Again: Why the double standard?
Because George Pataki’s ill-advised pledge not to build on the footprints following the attacks
perverted the whole memorial and the site. Bin Laden and his culture of death are the ultimate in
morbid.That is no way to remember the beautiful, sparkling people who loved life and were so
loved. But it’s not too late…

1/13/10 — Ground Hero… A ”Google Alert” recently drew our attention to a thread on
hannity.com that mentioned the Twin Towers Alliance. We have avoided taking part in online
political discussions because this is such a bipartisan issue, but did get involved with this one when
someone commented that the WTC is a gravesite and should have nothing more than a memorial.
It’s not a long thread, for those who want to read it. It was the inspiration for deciding to use
Ground Hero instead of Ground Zero, as we explain in “Duty Calls”.

1/12/10 — For the Record… We got our first video on the Facebook page, by dedicated
supporter Travis Dixon. The platform is simple and works well. In addition to uploading existing
videos, it is possible to make a video on the spot using a webcam. Please announce your name and
give background info on who you are and where you live. And then just tell the President what you
want him to know about rebuilding the Twin Towers.
Travis also posted an equation on the site that puts the so-called progress in perspective: 8 years,
5 floors — 2 months, 0 floors(deconstruction) — 2 years, 2 towers… When people ask us if we
seriously think they are going to tear down what they have started we tell them “of course we do.”
It’s done all the time with much more established properties. Why would anyone consider tearing
down Yankee Stadium or Shea, why do whole hotels in Las Vegas disappear? Because they do not
make economic sense. And if there ever was a project that lives up to that criteria, the bogus
World Trade Center is it. After all the willful, reckless, and dishonest mistakes our country is trying
to recover from, this is one mistake we do not have to make. It will be far more costly in
every way to continue with a clear loser than to just face facts and get building the World Trade
Center everyone wants to see.

1/11/10 — A Good Bet… The Worldwide Coalition to Rebuild the Twin Towers now has a
Facebook page. The purpose of the new site and the new page is to literally give supporters of
rebuilding the Twin Towers not just a voice, but also a face. As soon as we have finalized the
process for uploading videos we will ask everyone to actively invite their networks to get involved.
This all comes at an ideal moment as our request to the Senate Finance Committee to attach a
rider to the reauthorization of the Liberty Zone program is waiting for Congress to reconvene at
the end of the month. As soon as the healthcare legislation is resolved, Senators will turn their
attention to H.R. 4213, which includes the Liberty Zone reauthorization.
The proceeds of the Silverstein Liberty Bonds are being held in escrow. We think there is a good
chance that some Senator is going to recognize that the request for a cost-benefit analysis is,
without question, reasonable and that to proceed without it would be, without question,
irresponsible — since, it is safe to say, the current project would flunk with flying colors. We hope
to include some individuals’ videos with the collection of website comments we have been waiting
to send to Washington. We held back on the comments and DVD we planned to send in December
because, with the healthcare debate sucking up all the oxygen, it would have been a big waste. We
think that our coordinated petition to redress the abuse of power that has so deformed the World
Trade Center will be a real challenge to the current dysfunctional plan and that our dark horse has
a real chance to win this race. We know what we’re up against, but still think we can beat the odds.
And sooner or later, we believe we will.

1/10/10 — The Hole in Our Hearts… One of the most devoted advocates of rebuilding the real
World Trade Center, Robert Martin a/k/a Bobby Shred, whose dynamic webpage is a great
tribute to the fabulous Twin Towers recently passed on of a chronic heart ailment. It is easy to
see from his site how he could have worn out his heart at only 51 years old, because he was so
intensely alive. Thank you, Bobby Shred, for sharing your passion. As you say on your site, the
Freedom Tower “is not the appropriate structure to fill in the hole in the ground, the hole in the
sky, or the hole in our hearts.” Rest in Peace, Bobby Shred.

1/1/10 — The Surest Way to a Better World… We will be adding information to the site
throughout the weekend, but for today, we want to link to a new initiative that will become clearer
in the near future: The Worldwide Coalition to Rebuild the Twin Towers