Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 21:48:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #223:Libeskind Blasted Again,Rally OFF! Among the pages we link to at http://www.put.com/wtc/ the http://www.gothamgazette.com/rebuilding_nyc/news/ is worth keeping an eye on. The articles saying that the population Downtown is growing rapidly may produce another angle for us to pursue at the upcoming July 23rd environmental hearings....more people can mean more problems,and development designed to deliberately encourage population growth is something that can be seen as having negative environmental impact! (It's been growing well on its own,and does not need artificial help from the social engineers of the Civic Alliance etc). Also,the Newsday story confirms that written commentaries will be taken on the environmental impact statement at the One Liberty Street address. Family-group activists have been off to Washington lately to plead for a nine-acre national park to be made out of the western section of the WTC site...including both Libeskind's pit and his tower site.They are also fighting to stop the bus garage from being at the site (apparently still not dead despite Pataki's pledge to them...the activists absurdly want the WTC's bus terminal uptown on 15th Street). The judge overseeing Silverstein's insurance case has resigned over new laws preventing discretion in sentencing (and seeing opportunities to make more income as a lawyer)...this could possibly cause more delays. http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/1627.htm features letters reacting to the recent Nicole Gelinas column. Generally pro-rebuilding,I note that our own Gary Taustine and Alex Butziger took different angles on the situation.(I share Alex's skepticism of Silverstein's devotion to tall towers). http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/1746.htm is the latest Post editorial blasting both the Libeskind plan and the family activists' obsession with ensuring the emptiness decreed by the murderers.However,we regret the Post's opposition to "restarting the entire Lower Manhattan reconstruction project design",which is exactly what needs to happen! http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/1797.htm tells of the West Street hearings.Certainly the money can be used in better ways than burying the street the neighbors don't want buried! A Save West Street member has managed to get the most pro-rebuilding letter in a while published in today's NY Times: ============================== Wall at Ground Zero To the Editor: Re "A Wall Once Unseen, Now Revered" (news article, June 23): I disagree with your characterization of the memorialization of the World Trade Center bathtub wall as an act of reverence. By turning the wall into a museum piece, Daniel Libeskind's design for ground zero robs the wall of its ability to perform the very function for which it was built: providing a stable foundation for uniquely giant office towers. Moreover, by refusing to rebuild on the footprints of the twin towers, Mr. Libeskind's design actually weakens the ability of the bathtub wall to hold back the river. A truly dignified memorial would focus on the human victims of 9/11 and would be surrounded by a revitalized downtown, not a hole in the ground. RICHARD JOFFE New York, June 23, 2003 ============================== Against this backdrop,I met with three WTCRM members,veteran rally speaker Jonathan Hakala,and Nicole Gelinas at Gary Taustine's last night to plan for our rally Saturday June 28th.Plans and issues were discussed,but I regret that today most people involved with the rally planning(there and not) came to a conclusion that we should cancel the rally...just as the weather forecasts were improving to indicate we would finally have a good day to demonstrate. Among other reasons,a hoped-for speaker who our chances of getting to speak are probably helped by not identifying him publicly in advance has not replied yet to his invitation. A permit is now being applied for for July 26th,three days after the environmental hearing on the Libeskind scheme.This means we'll be using presence at the hearing to galvanize rally attendance rather than the reverse. I know that we have put more advance planning into this rally than either of the others,and I regret the inconvenience caused to any. I WILL BE THERE SATURDAY AT THE APPOINTED PLACE AND TIME NONETHELESS, unless the weather does turn out bad...I realize that many to whom the word to attend may have been passed may be unable to learn of the cancellation in time.I'll have a petition clipboard but there will be none of the rally trimmings...speeches,literature table, sound system,signs,or the like.The opportunity to meet pro-rebuilders who want to show up may be useful in itself. And it may help us plan for future events like the hearing and rally next month. See you on the 111th floor on 9-11-11! -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.