Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 21:16:24 -0500 (EST) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #336:Memorial Board Named,Silverstein Wins Second Case I'm glad to report that pro-rebuilding,anti-Libeskind letters from me and from Andrew Oliff appear to be the ONLY letters the NY Sun has printed in response to their article on the security concerns surrounding the Fraud'em Tower. Two main developments since mailing #335. First,after longer searching than they hoped for,the officials have announced a still-incomplete board of trustees for the foundation that is supposed to talk the public into contributing the money to build the officially approved memorial (you didn't think they already had a budget for it,did you?...they want YOU to finance making their mistake a reality!). They STILL don't have a chairman,who was supposed to be announced months ago...John Whitehead is filling in until the board meets and elects one (maybe it'll be whoever draws the short straw). Naturally,I advise against contributing toward building what should not be built...a proper memorial needs to be part of a site plan meeting APPROPRIATE guidelines,not the official ones. For the present time I advise a strategy of WRITING TO SELECTED TRUSTEES EXPRESSING POLITE REGRET THAT THEY HAVE JOINED OF A TOTALLY FLAWED PROCESS,and suggesting to them that they consider our arguments for discarding the official plans. Below is the NY Times article on the appointments, forwarded to me by Joe Wright,with my comments on particular trustees preceded by ==> arrows. Six of them are family members of victims of the attacks, whether in the buildings or on the airplanes.Others have differing relationships to the site and process,and some are more approachable than others in my estimation. Besides the issue of no trustees being downtown residents yet,a decided preponderance seem to have offices in Midtown rather than Downtown. Please write to any you feel you have the best chance of influencing. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Subject: NYTimes.com Article: 31 Named to Raise Funds for Memorial to Sept. 11 Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 03:35:12 +0000 \----------------------------------------------------------/ 31 Named to Raise Funds for Memorial to Sept. 11 December 2, 2004 By DAVID W. DUNLAP The task of raising half a billion dollars to build a World Trade Center memorial, a museum building and a performing arts center will fall to a foundation made up of captains of finance and real estate, cultural leaders, media heavyweights and seven relatives of those killed on 9/11. After months of searching and one awkward false start last spring when two prospective co-chairmen, Jerry I. Speyer and Sanford I. Weill, backed away from the job, Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg were able yesterday to name 31 members of the board of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. John C. Whitehead, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, will head the foundation until the board members have a chance to meet next month and select a chairman. Until yesterday afternoon, even the designated members did not know whom all their colleagues would be. Heading the list of boldface names, in one arena or another, are Robert DeNiro, who has been a presence in TriBeCa for many years; Barbara Walters of ABC; David Rockefeller, who was deeply involved in the original development of the World Trade Center; and Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company. The roster seems to reflect some geopolitical ticket-splitting, with the chairmen of giant downtown companies like American Express, American International Group and the Bank of New York balanced by Robert Wood Johnson IV, the owner of the New York Jets, who hopes to build a football stadium on the far West Side. "You probably won't find a board of any higher caliber anywhere in the city," said Mayor Bloomberg, who knows a thing or two about philanthropy. "And that's really exactly what is called for because there isn't a more noble task before us." The mission of the nonprofit foundation is to oversee and coordinate fund-raising and construction of the memorial and the cultural buildings at the trade center site. It will also own and operate the buildings. Though the foundation will not formally begin raising money until next year, Mr. Bloomberg all but made the second big pledge as he stood at the lectern in the lobby of the American Express headquarters in the World Financial Center at Battery Park City. "As the mayor of New York and also as a citizen of New York," he said, "I plan to do my part to ensure these projects reach their full potential." The first big pledge may be said to have come last week, when Governor Pataki declared in a speech that the highest priority for the remaining $816 million in unallocated federal grants controlled by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation should be "to guarantee that we have the funds necessary to build the memorial." Conceivably, then, the foundation may start its $500 million campaign with several hundred million dollars already available. Mr. Pataki had already said that four former presidents - Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford - would be honorary members. One of the working members will be Brian Mulroney, a former prime minister of Canada, whose presence symbolizes the international importance of the memorial, said Kevin M. Rampe, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and a foundation board member. Mr. Speyer, the chairman and chief executive of Tishman Speyer Properties, whose portfolio includes Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building, agreed to serve on the board that he would not lead. "I wanted to be helpful but, frankly, it was a matter of time," he said yesterday. Two jurors in the memorial design competition, Paula Grant Berry and Vartan Gregorian, will have the chance to solicit money for the project whose fate they helped decide. No downtown resident is on the board now, but one will be named in coming weeks as the board reaches full strength, Mr. Rampe said. Asked about the appropriateness of including Mr. Johnson of the Jets at a time when the team has so much business with the government, Mr. Rampe said he was a leading philanthropist. "Quite frankly," Mr. Rampe said, "it would have an omission not to have him on the board." The members announced yesterday are: Paula Grant Berry. Member of the memorial jury, vice chairwoman of the International Freedom Center. Wife of David S. Berry, who died in the south tower. Sir John Bond. Chairman of HSBC Holdings. ==>One of the world's largest banking companies, headquartered in London and dominant in Hong Kong. He probably doesn't see the USA except on business trips.Office address:HSBC Holdings PLC 8 Canada Square London E14 5HQ Seems a reasonable candidate to be made aware that there are many people who would prefer that the official plans NOT be realized. ==>HSBC's USA headquarters are in Buffalo, not in Manhattan! Debra A. Burlingame. Founder of 9/11 Families for America. Sister of Charles Burlingame, captain of American Airlines Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon. Russell L. Carson. Co-founding partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private investment firm. ==>company (http://www.welshcarson.com/ site) is based in Midtown,not Downtown.Ex-Dartmouth,Columbia MBA, headed Citicorp Venture Capital. Kenneth I. Chenault. Chairman and chief executive of American Express. ==>headquartered right across West Street from the site. He and Parsons (below) are probably the two most powerful black executives in the country. Robert DeNiro. ==>Well known in show business,no idea how in touch with public opinion on planning he is! Michael D. Eisner. Chief executive of the Walt Disney Company. ==>headquartered in California! Maurice R. Greenberg. Chairman and chief executive of the American International Group. ==>headquartered Downtown,at the historic 70 Pine Street that became Downtown's tallest building again when the Twin Towers were destroyed (and the executive dining room that was once its observation deck became Downtown's highest restaurant...on about the same floor as the proposed "Freedom Tower" restaurant). Vartan Gregorian. President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. ==>chaired the official jury that selected Libeskind! Unlikely that he'd take kindly to appeals to discard it. He used to head Brown University and then the New York Public Library. Agnes Gund. President emerita of the Museum of Modern Art. ==>Well-known (but not New York based) philanthropic family. I don't know much about her personally. William B. Harrison Jr. Chairman and chief executive of J. P. Morgan Chase & Company. ==>Though the Morgan and Chase towers are on Liberty and Wall Streets,this former Chemical Bank executive runs the company from the (shorter) old Manufacturers Hanover building in Midtown (270 Park Avenue). Lee Ielpi. Director. Vice president of the September 11th Families Association, which is organizing the Tribute Visitors Center at ground zero. Father of Jonathan Lee Ielpi, a firefighter who died at the trade center. ==>Well-known megamemorialist. Monica Iken. Founder of September's Mission, a foundation that supports the development of a memorial park at ground zero, and the wife of Michael Iken, who died in the south tower. ==>Well-known megamemorialist,broke with Coalition when it attacked Pataki. Robert Wood Johnson IV. Owner of the New York Jets. ==>Ally of course of Mayor's plan to redevelop the West Side with a new Jets stadium and with office towers that would compete with the ones needed at the WTC site. Thomas S. Johnson. Retired chairman and chief executive of GreenPoint Financial Corporation. Father of Scott Johnson, who died in the south tower. ==>Left Chemical's presidency to take Manufacturers Hanover's, then left,later taking Greenpoint job,when Chemical acquired Manufacturers Hanover just when Johnson expected to be CEO. Harrison replaced him as heir apparent to the Chemical CEO. Anthoula Katsimatides. Assistant vice president for family relations at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Sister of John Katsimatides, who died in the north tower. Henry R. Kravis. Founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, an investment firm. ==>Very high profile operator over the years. Ira M. Millstein. Senior partner at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges. ==>Law firm is at 767 Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Website is weil.com. Brian Mulroney. Former prime minister of Canada. ==>Once again reaching outside the country to find someone who'd advocate perpetuating this open wound in New York! Richard D. Parsons. Chairman and chief executive of Time Warner. ==>New twin-towered headquarters at Columbus Circle.Former bank executive (Dime). Peter G. Peterson. Chairman and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, an investment firm. ==>former Secretary of Commerce of the U.S.A. Offices are in Midtown at 345 Park Avenue. Kevin M. Rampe. President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. ==>Will we ever be rid of this meddlesome lawyer and Pataki hatchet man?...he will give us no comfort. Thomas A. Renyi. Chairman and chief executive of the Bank of New York Company. ==>This bank IS headquartered right near the WTC, at One Wall Street. David Rockefeller. ==>He never answered appeals from us, sad if he is resigned to the official plans but appeals would not go amiss.Built the old Chase Manhattan headquarters downtown. Tom Rogér. One of the founders of Families of September 11. Father of Jean Rogér, flight attendant on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the north tower. E. John Rosenwald Jr. Vice chairman of Bear, Stearns & Company. ==>Another financial company that has left the Financial District for Midtown (383 Madison Avenue,fairly tall and new). Jerry I. Speyer. Chairman and chief executive of Tishman Speyer Properties. ==>Not sure if this is the Tishman company that has the construction contract with Silverstein,or another Tishman company.They are related. Anne M. Tatlock. Chairman and chief executive of Fiduciary Trust. ==>Graduate of Vassar and NYU,her company was bought by Franklin Resources (Franklin Templeton) shortly after she became its head.Fiduciary is based in Midtown (600 Fifth Avenue) while the parent is based in San Mateo,California. Barbara Walters. ABC News correspondent. ==>Where does she live? John C. Whitehead. Chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. ==>An old familiar face to those following this process! John E. Zuccotti. Co-chairman of Brookfield Properties Corporation, which owns the World Financial Center. ==>Brookfield also owns One Liberty Plaza, and naturally the less competition a new WTC is for Brookfield the better off they are.Brookfield Security at both WTC and One Liberty has obstructed pro-rebuilding outreach. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/02/nyregion/02memorial.html?ex=1103304104&ei=1&en =bfe25eb351119fd9 Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company ---------- End forwarded message ---------- If you want talking points to write,look over past emails at http://www.put.com/wtc/archive.html and comments at http://www.put.com/wtc/comments.html (the police concerns about buildings close to the street are currently topical...they may try to say nothing but the memorial is their department,but do stress that it is part of a bad overall site plan that needs to be redone...obviously no point in writing to those who actively chose that site plan). Second,today the jury in the second insurance trial found in FAVOR of Silverstein,unlike the first trial (both in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York). (Thanks to Cecil Shepherd for sending me the breaking-news headline and to Jonathan Hakala for forwarding the full story on that. This means he may get up to $4,600,000,000 in insurance proceeds, pending appeals and settlements that would have to be worked out before any checks are actually signed.Not enough to rebuild properly but more resources with which to carry out his aim to rebuild IMproperly than he would have had if he had lost...unless he winds up losing on appeal. Of course,he is trying to put up the usual false front of unstoppable momentum,announcing that structural steel will be delivered in the spring (never mind that they don't have a deal yet on who pays for the underground construction that will take a year to build). Pataki is appearing in commercials whitewashing the rebuilding plan and culminating in a skewed artists' rendering of the fully-built Libescheme...he wouldn't dare show it side by side with a proper rebuilding plan at the same scale and angle, of course! Joy Goldberg is looking to arrange a meeting with Governor Codey of New Jersey on behalf of pro-rebuilders.Those interested in appealing to him either as part of this or separately should let me know;there needs to be some strategy behind meetings if they can be arranged. The Coalition to Save West Street has written to seek support for their efforts to stop a suddenly-invented effort to extend the proposed tunnel northward,that was not part of any of the options submitted for public comment but is suggested,at additional expense,to overcome some objections from Goldman Sachs.The officials concerned are trying to make out that they don't need to take new comments on a new option,which is ridiculous. I have rejiggered the links at http://www.put.com/wtc/ to cover both websites for the Gardner plan. In other news,WTC PATH ridership is 50% above projections: http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/34864.htm The one thing we must NOT do is accept the people who make way-overshot projections as the wise judges of what ought to be built! 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.