Posted on 05/17/2005 6:41:55 AM PDT by redapples
In the days following the announcement that the ill-fated Freedom Tower was being scrapped due to security reasons, advocates for a taller and stronger twin towers suddenly began to see faint streams of light in a dark, three-and-a-half year old tunnel to nowhere. Believing that perhaps the fickle finger of fate had at last emerged to leave its print upon Ground Zero, notables such as the great New York Post columnist Nicole Gelinas, National Review’s Deroy Murdock (both of whom have long supported the rebuilding of the towers), and the maker of apprentices himself, Donald Trump, were among many who came forward to call for the reconstruction of the fallen towers.
Surely, with this new window open, someone somewhere from within the tangled inner circle of the Ground Zero debacle could surface as a voice for the swelling masses in favor of a bigger and better towers. Right?
Not quite. Whatever hope there was flickered, and seems to have vanished. That awful “Freedom Tower” is still going up, say the powers that be. It’s simply in need of a little revamping.
Long live the Coward Tower.
At the center of all of this is the increasingly unpopular Governor of New York, George Pataki. Of course, he’s not the only one to blame for the ineptitude that has come to characterize the redevelopment of the site, but as the man at the top, it ultimately falls on him. Ultimately for him, the saga of Ground Zero has guaranteed two things. First, it has assured him no higher than a second-place finish in any race he chooses to run in. Secondly, it secures the pole position in the Governor’s race for anyone brave enough to openly back the rebuilding of the twin towers.
To be clear, Pataki’s troubles are not exclusively the result of refusing to consider the reconstruction of the fallen towers. It is the four years of embarrassing dormancy at Ground Zero that has inexorably wounded him. Indeed, even if a new plan for the uninspiring and troubled Freedom Tower were completed and approved tomorrow, the damage is done. That gigantic pit in lower Manhattan reminds us that a yawning ineffectiveness governs. And even though conventional wisdom has it that a forth term in Albany is most likely not on Pataki’s wish list, it doesn’t matter now. If it’s the White House that is on his radar, it’ll have to be as a dinner guest.
Yet, a new plan for Ground Zero that includes the restoration of the twin towers may be the salve his political wounds need.
Pataki knows he’s in political hot water. Yet, he apparently doesn’t appreciate the enviable position he finds himself in. With an open endorsement of a new twin towers, his credibility and image would undergo an almost instantaneous makeover. Sure, he’s certain to weather some harsh criticism at first for backing out of the Freedom Tower deal after four years of inaction, but he’d handle it. He’s a big boy. Whatever damage he would have to sustain as a result of it would be short lived compared to what he’s taking on now.
In fact, a strategy that included a rebuilding of the twin towers and a vigorous run for a forth term as the same kind of conservative that got him elected the first time may allow him to recover from his political freefall quicker than people think. He’s got to show guts. By nixing the Freedom Tower, ousting Daniel Leibskind, and supporting the construction of a new twin towers, he’ll do more for the City of New York - and ultimately America – than anyone could imagine. To many, he’d be seen as a hero. He’d be thrust onto the national stage as the man who epitomized the spirit and resiliency of New York by raising the towers again. If he threw himself body and soul behind such a project, a forth term as Governor would then be very much within reach. Only then, with a bolder taller twin towers reaching for the heavens, would he be seen as a viable candidate for the White House.
The entire situation, if he chooses to seize upon it, is tailor-made for him. Of course, there’s no reason to believe that any of this will ever happen. That’s why, as things stand now, George Pataki is finished, and the people of New York continue to be ignored in favor of unpopular, eclectic artists.
In a perfect world, the redevelopment of Ground Zero wouldn’t be politicized. But this is like saying that a city’s greatest buildings shouldn’t look like mosquito jars.
The paralysis is shocking.
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