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An Action Plan to Rescue the World Trade Center
Who could possibly be proud of what is pictured above? The latest euphemism in use at the Can’t-Do World Trade Center is to refer to the stumps as “retail pavilions.” Nice try, but from across the river and around the world, there will still be a big hole in the skyline ten and twelve and fifteen years after 9/11. Silverstein and Co. may be able to dig deep enough in the public’s pocket to put up another one of his vanity towers in another five or ten years, but an official projection last year predicted that construction at the site would not be completely finished before 2039. The Twin Towers Alliance has prepared a full-fledged “stumpitechture” ad campaign. All we need to find are a few civic leaders who have not only the money, but also the vision and guts to fund the campaign that will put this poster and others like it onto the sides of buses, inside subway cars and stations, onto billboards and into the radio spots that will get people asking the questions and demandng the answers that could still save our World Trade Center. What apologists for the current scheme miss is that this is not a matter of sentimentality. It’s not about the past, but the future — and what kind of country this is. Nothing could give Americans a bigger boost than restoring our treasured skyline. But what is ultimately at stake is the structural integrity of our foundation. In addition to the enormous cost to the citizens of New York and New Jersey, the people of the United States have invested more than $20 billion dollars into Ground Zero — as well as a priceless piece of our hearts — and the cost is rising… We cannot afford a World Trade Center built on lies and distortions; the price is much too high. While the horror of 9/11 was spawned in a Middle East cesspool, the ongoing victimization of the American people at the WTC site has been carried out by our own government, with the implicit support of the media. If we just shrug and move on it will degrade the character of our country. If those we put in office to serve our best interests can ignore us, deceive us, and rob us over something that is so sacred to our country, then where will it stop? It won’t, until we stop it. The Twin Towers and the lives within them were destroyed by something that was beyond our control, but what rises at Ground Zero is rightfully our call. And demanding a World Trade Center that is a credit to our people is our duty. Credit is due: We came across the term “stumpitechture” on the ny.curbed.com blog. We don’t know if they coined it or not, but it certainly does sum up the current “plan.” |
