Twenty Questions

“The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.” — Oliver W. Holmes, Jr.

The facts are quite clear. The project that was forced on the public has failed. Now officials are planning on sinking more public funds into further degrading the site. They have confused activity with progress. They cannot defend what they have done or what they want to do.

We frequently hear people say that they don’t know anyone who doesn’t agree with rebuilding the Twin Towers. That is statistically significant. Of course there are people who see it differently, but they are not in the majority and they are not representing a position that makes sense. If they were, they would defend their ideas, but since they cannot, they resort to muzzling the rest of us and pretending that they are acting responsibly. They are not.

It is time for the media to challenge those who are making up their minds about the right course for the World Trade Center without reference to the facts. Here are some obvious questions that are begging for an answer. We will add others:

1- Do you realize that most people have always thought that we should rebuild the Twin Towers?

2- Have you looked at Twin Towers II, a highly regarded plan that actually claims it is still possible to build new, better-than-ever Twin Towers and to top them off by the tenth anniversary of 9/11?

3- If you haven’t, why not?

4- Can you think of any reason why the public and the media should not be closely monitoring the negotiations over the future of Ground Zero, since all sides are factoring billions of public dollars into their proposals? To whose advantage is it to lock-out the public?

5- Can you identify something about the official plan that makes it better than the popular and reasonable alternative presented by Twin Towers II?

6- Did you know that Gov. Pataki , who had claimed that the official Master Plan was the result of a democratic process, recently admitted on national TV that he and Mayor Bloomberg thought that the THINK design – the one that led in the opinion polls and even with the LMDC – the one that came closest to resembling Twin Towers — was “just terrible”?

7- Do you know that the economy of building one uniform tower twice is far more efficient than a number of dissimilar structures with scores of unique floorplates?

8- Do you think that the symbolism of what we build is important?

9- Do you think that an obelisk, a form that is commonplace in cemeteries around the world is appropriate for the World Trade Center?

10- Do you know that the transit hub is not a hub, but a PATH station that serves under 100,000 commuters a day? Do you think that the $3-$5 billion price tag is appropriate?

11- Do you realize that would pay for one and practically both Twin Towers?

12- Do you know that many 9/11 family members don’t think the current 9/11 memorial is appropriate and were instrumental in the Twin Towers II memorial?

13- Do you realize that “Reflecting Absence” will cost over a billion dollars to build and another billion dollar endowment to produce the $50 million-plus in annual operating costs?