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'INSPIRING' VISIT & MEET WITH BRAVEST Sarah Palin yesterday made an unscheduled tour of a visitors center at Ground Zero dedicated to those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terror attacks. The Republican vice-presidential nominee nodded her head several times and said, "Oh, my goodness," while a retired firefighter showed her pictures of the burning World Trade Center and exhibits that highlighted the moments the hijacked planes struck each tower. PHOTOS: Palin In NYC - Day 3 Her tour guide was Lee Ielpi, whose son Jonathan, a firefighter, died at the World Trade Center. Palin told Ielpi, "My parents...

Did you see what I saw? Obama "threw" his flower at the 9/11 WTC Memorial! Someone please post this to youtube ASAP!

Even with its budget cut nearly in half, to $500 million, the World Trade Center memorial would be by far the most expensive public monument ever conceived. (Illustration by Andre Malok) Commentary Ill-Conceived World Trade Center Memorial Will Leave Visitors Cold BY DAN BISCHOFF Not long after the World Trade Center Memorial competition was announced, architect Michael Arad went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy one of those decorative desktop water fountains. He took the little water pump out of the fountain and installed it in a tub on the roof of his East Village apartment building, so...

The names of the dead would be raised to the plaza from the pool level below, as many relatives have demanded. But thundering waterfalls would still cascade into those pools, at the bottom of two enormous voids marking the place where the twin towers stood. The reconceived World Trade Center memorial and museum, unveiled yesterday after weeks of anxious anticipation, tries to solve security problems, placate disaffected family members and, most of all, reduce the project cost from an estimated $672 million. A budget target of $500 million was set last month by Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael...

Leftists are still trying to degrade/usurp the New York City 9-11 Memorial. There is a short comment period for the public. Go Here to comment.

When the then-34-year-old architect won the ground-zero-memorial competition, he looked like the Maya Lin of 9/11—a bright, shining star out of nowhere who would build a breathtaking new landmark. Two years later, all we’ve got is a pile of dirt, a price estimate nearing $1 billion, and a nasty, behind-the-scenes war of wills. When Michael Arad unveiled his winning design for the World Trade Center Memorial, the last person New York wanted to hear from was another architect. It was January 2004, by which point the ground-zero rebuilding effort had devolved into a grating public spectacle of political bullying and...

NEW YORK -- The foundation in charge of developing ground zero's memorial and museum has pledged to permanently display the two huge pieces of steel left standing in the shape of a cross after the World Trade Center collapsed. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation agreed Friday to find a place for the artifact at the memorial. They said they will consider placing the artifact within the memorial museum. Officials have yet to decide whether the cross would remain at the site during construction. But they've scrapped plans to temporarily store the cross in a hangar at John F. Kennedy...

...Rebuilding officials concede that the new price tag is breathtaking — "beyond reason" in the words of one member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation board — and it is sure to set off another battle over development at the 16-acre site, with calls to cut costs, scale back theIt was supposed to be immune to the controversies that had en design or even start over... ...The new estimate, $972 million, would make this the most expensive memorial ever built in the United States. And that figure does not include the $80 million for a visitors' center paid for...

To All 9/11 Families, Friends and Supporters, On January 24, 2006 the LMDC Family Advisory Council (FAC) met with LMDC President Stephan Pryor and WTC Memorial Foundation President Gretchen Dykstra as well as several members of their staff. At this meeting numerous issues were discussed including: the proper listing of the Names; putting Artifacts like the sphere and tower facades at the street level of the WTC site; preserving the Footprint remnants at bedrock; moving the Memorial Museum above ground; and the security and safety of visitors to the site. LMDC President Pryor and his representatives were noncommittal in their...

This may have been asked before, but it's becoming more of an issue as time goes on - I was recently in Manhattan, and though I hadn't thought about it in a while, the former WTC site is still a gaping hole. Nothing has been rebuilt. Now, almost five years after the attack, that is getting kind of inexcusable. What, exactly, is holding up reconstruction? Is there not enough demand for office space? Too many "me-too!" groups demanding a say in the project? What, exactly, is hamstringing the reconstruction? As each year passess, it is becoming a bigger and bigger...

NEW YORK - Families of people killed in the World Trade Center attack demanded Monday that officials redesign the memorial, saying the current plan is unsafe and disrespects victims by placing their names below street level. Police and fire union leaders joined victims' families at ground zero to seek a new design, although construction on the "Reflecting Absence" memorial is set to begin in March. "We're asking that the memorial see the light of day," Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, told about 150 people. The design, chosen two years ago by a panel of artists, civic and...

As seen New York Daily News, 1/2/2006 by 9/11 family members Anthony Gardner & Particia Reilly: New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com Memory lapse By ANTHONY GARDNER and PATRICIA REILLY Monday, January 2nd, 2006 Congress and U.S. taxpayers gave the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. $2.78 billion to redevelop the World Trade Center site, entrusting them with the duty of building a magnificent memorial to the victims of Sept. 11, 2001. Just months before construction of the memorial is slated to begin, the LMDC is offering the American public a bargain basement version of Michael Arad's "Reflecting Absence." The LMDC's latest...

Manhattan rebuilding officials opened the bidding for a construction contract for the World Trade Center memorial on Monday, three months before a planned groundbreaking. The trade center site's owner repeated an offer to build the memorial but said it wouldn't formally apply for the job. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. put out a request for proposals for a construction manager to oversee building of the memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a memorial museum. Late last month, the LMDC said it would cost $490 million to build both facilities. The...

You may recall that leftist groups have been attempting to usurp memorials being planned to remember, with honor and with reverence, the 3000 souls who perished at the murderous hands of Islamic terrorists on 9/11. The New York memorial was in the process of turning into a blame-America monstrosity that essentially blamed the victims for this despicable act at the World Trade Center. Fortunately, enough pressure was brought to bear by the families that Governor Pataki courageously called a halt to the unfolding design. Even worse, the architect commissioned to design the memorial planned to honor the victims of Flight...

9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America Friday, Mark Levin spoke with Tim Sumner who informed us that the battle to take back the memorial is not over! These Libs are hell bent on disgracing our nation! We can’t let our guard down for a moment! Check out Tim’s web site! www.911familiesforamerica.org From: http://marklevinfan.com/?p=617 - Levin Show audio link is near top of page. Nov. 11 -- 9/11 Memorial or Cultural Arts Center? This is a crucial time. It now appears that the desires of New York's cultural elite may be competing head-to-head with the 9/11 Memorial & Memorial...

This is a crucial time. It now appears that the desires of New York's cultural elite may be competing head-to-head with the 9/11 Memorial & Memorial Museum for a very limited amount of funds. While the LMDC has repeatedly said that the Memorial will take fund raising precedence, it is hard to believe that is what will happen when they are handing out $35 million federal dollars (your money) in the form of grants "to existing and new cultural institutions downtown." We invite you to vote in our on-line poll which asks the question: "If given a choice between...

New York, N.Y.—October 26, 2005—The alliance of 15 major 9/11 family groups calls upon the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and its chairman, John Whitehead, to move forward with Governor George E. Pataki’s historic mandate that the World Trade Center Memorial and memorial quadrant be solely devoted to honoring the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001 and telling the story of that day and of those who came to our aid, as well as the story of the first attack on the Trade Center in 1993. It has been one month since the governor took the decisive step of removing...

The alliance of 15 major 9/11 family groups calls upon the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and its chairman, John Whitehead, to move forward with Governor George E. Pataki’s historic mandate that the World Trade Center Memorial and memorial quadrant be solely devoted to honoring the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001 and telling the story of that day and of those who came to our aid, as well as the story of the first attack on the Trade Center in 1993. It has been one month since the governor took the decisive step of removing the International Freedom Center...

NEW YORK -- Visitors to a Sept. 11 memorial museum could relive the 2001 terrorist attacks in an "immersive" area that surrounds them with pictures of the falling towers, the sounds of police sirens and the last words of some of the people who died at the World Trade Center. The first piece of steel in the trade center's north tower to be hit by a hijacked jet _ as well as lottery tickets and keys pulled from ground zero, and a contemplative area where visitors can leave personal messages _ are among other proposed exhibits for the memorial museum.The...

 Working together, the elites of the media and the culture have mostly controlled "Big Art" -- the complex of museums, monuments, and galleries that help to shape the way we think about society, history, even politics. But now, the grip of this gilded oligarchy has been broken in its own back yard: Manhattan. Jim Pinkerton on the significance of the battle over Ground Zero.  The New York Times is hopping mad. And so are the radical chic artiste types. Working together, the elites of the media and the culture have mostly controlled "Big Art" -- the complex of museums,...

NEW YORK, New York --- Al Qaeda expressed outrage today over the announcement that the "Freedom Center" would no longer be built at Ground Zero. Governor Pataki decided that the center was too controversial and had it removed from the plans. Designed by liberal advocates, The Freedom Center would have been a central display at Ground Zero showing how Americans embrace racism, sexism, discrimination, and intolerance. "We are very disappointed," said Osama bin Laden from his spider hole in the sewers along the Pakistan border. "We murdered thousands of people, and these Americans were going to be kind enough to...

PRESS RELEASE September 28, 2005 Statement of the International Freedom Center We are deeply disappointed that the will could not be found to continue the development of the International Freedom Center at this hallowed site. It is the site for which the IFC was created-at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's request, and as an integral part of Daniel Libeskind's master site plan. We do not believe there is a viable alternative place for the IFC at the World Trade Center site. We consider our work, therefore, to have been brought to an end. We are profoundly sorry to see: This...

The hate-America, multiculturalism crowd tried their best to destroy all relevant meaning to the memorials planned for “Ground Zero” and for the crash site of “Flight 93’, but the unyielding efforts many brave people who lost loved ones on that day seem to have paid off. We cannot relax, because the Ward Churchills of this world are still out there waiting to pounce, but if we are vigilant, we can honor our history proudly and truthfully. “Westchester Housewife Meet Debra Burlingame, who won a battle at Ground Zero.

Gov. Pataki's decision to eliminate the long-planned International Freedom Center from the World Trade Center site marks a low point in the tug of war that began over Ground Zero's meaning and symbols almost immediately after the calamity. A great many people hoped that the rebuilding process would tap the rich vein of America's democratic culture and showcase our best qualities - optimism, energy, ingenuity and diversity. Those people have been sorely disappointed. The unceremonious demise of the Freedom Center makes clear that no statement about mankind's hopes for freedom or democracy will make it to Ground Zero without a...

To almost no one's surprise, Gov. George Pataki banished the proposed International Freedom Center from ground zero on Wednesday, a day before he announced plans to build a half-million square feet of retail space at the World Trade Center site. Any orderly, open process for creating a vibrant, meditative space there has been discarded. Mr. Pataki killed the Freedom Center a few hours before a public forum on its fate was scheduled to be held. He killed it before the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation had a chance to vote on it. Since late June, it has been clear that Mr....

Four years ago, when the first Qantas jet flew into New York after the September 11 terrorist attacks, you could see out the window the huge plume of thick smoke still billowing from the hole where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre had been. The sky was blue, the weather balmy, and the air smelled of death. Last week it was wet and windy when I went again to Ground Zero. The six-hectare site is orderly now, but oddly quiet. The base of the four-storey deep crater is lined with orange safety cones. Around the perimeter fence are...

We are very pleased to announce that Governor Pataki has announced the removal of the International Freedom Center (IFC) from Ground Zero. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092801849.html for details. Every since June 8, 2005 when Debra Bulingame's op-ed, The Great Ground Zero Heist, appeared in the Wall Street Journal, we have fought together for the preservation of the dignity of Ground Zero. With your help, we have achieved a major victory toward that goal. We will continue to monitor the plans for Ground Zero to ensure that a fitting and proper memorial is built; one that is respectful of the victims murdered that...

Pataki Nixes WTC Freedom Center September 28, 2005 In a story first reported by NY1, Governor George Pataki has cancelled plans to build the controversial International Freedom Center at the World Trade Center site - and representatives of the center say the location change has forced the entire project to be scrapped. The center had drawn criticism from some 9/11 victims' family members because it would not focus exclusively on the terror attacks. Family members also said the IFC could potentially contain exhibits that were anti-American. Pataki said Wednesday that he's given the center a chance to clarify its intentions,...

Just breaking on 1010 Wins Radio, no link yet! Governor Pataki says there will be no IFC at ground zero! We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For nearly two months, Hillary Clinton dodged phone calls, faxes and e-mails from Moonbat Central blogger Rocco DiPippo. Neither Hillary nor her flacks would tell DiPippo whether or not the junior senator from New York supported the so-called International Freedom Center (IFC), a museum which will stand on the site of the fallen World Trade Center. The IFC reportedly plans to desecrate Ground Zero with exhibits on the evils of black slavery, the Jim Crow South, the oppression of American Indians, abuse of terrorist prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other anti-American themes. Last night, Hillary finally broke her silence. "I...

Senator Hillary Clinton is opposing a freedom museum planned for ground zero, citing concerns raised by the families of the World Trade Center victims who say the proposed museum would dishonour the dead. The International Freedom Center last week released a report saying the museum "will tangibly link Sept. 11 and the lives of its victims to humanity's greatest idea: freedom." In addition to the terrorist attacks, its exhibits would deal with events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, efforts such as the Civil Rights Movement, and documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the South African...

NEW YORK - Sen. Hillary Clinton is opposing a freedom museum planned for ground zero, citing concerns raised by the families of the World Trade Center victims who say the proposed museum would dishonor the dead. The International Freedom Center last week released a report saying the museum "will tangibly link Sept. 11 and the lives of its victims to humanity's greatest idea: freedom." In addition to the terrorist attacks, its exhibits would deal with events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, efforts such as the Civil Rights Movement, and documents such as the Declaration of Independence and...

With Hillary Clinton's unequivocal rejection of the ill-conceived International Freedom Center at Ground Zero, you've got to wonder: Is there anyone left who still doubts that the center would be an abomination at that site? "I am troubled by the serious concerns that family members and first responders have expressed to me," Sen. Clinton told The Post exclusively yesterday. "The [Lower Manhattan Development Corp.] has authority over the site, and I do not believe we can move forward until it heeds and addresses their concerns. Therefore, I cannot support the IFC." Actually there is someone who's still on the fence...

Please get off of your computers, go to the phone or fax machine, contact your congressional representative or any Republican leader you know and tell them to: Call George Bush and tell him to tell George Pataki to stop the second hijacking at Ground Zero; to stop the International Freedom Center planned to be built over the missing remains of those who died at Ground Zero. Tell them to call George Bush and tell him to tell George Pataki The nation cannot have the memorial space at Ground Zero hijacked for a public political debating forumn. You have to act...

"Freedom Center" backers say it will help people understand 9/11 sacrifices. Victims’ families say controversy surrounding the museum will dishonor the dead. Do you think it belongs at the WTC site?

Freedom Center backers say it will help people understand 9/11 sacrifices. Victims’ families say controversy surrounding the museum will dishonor the dead. Do you think it belongs at the WTC site? http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-wtc-poll0923,0,4578562.poll?coll=nyc-homepage-breaking2

<p>The planned International Freedom Center at Ground Zero got socked from two sides yesterday.</p> <p>First, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association joined city firefighters in blasting plans for the proposed center.</p> <p>Then, three key New York congressmen threatened hearings into the appropriateness on federal funding at Ground Zero, unless the facility submits "an acceptable plan."</p>

15 Major 9/11 Family Groups Reject LMDC Mediation Plan New York, N.Y.—September 15, 3005—The alliance of 15 major 9/11 family organizations was stunned to learn through the media last week and not from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation of their plans to engage in mediated talks with 9/11 family members about the presence of the International Freedom Center on the World Trade Center memorial site. According to the media, the LMDC’s stated purpose in hiring an outside mediator was to facilitate ‘conversations that might otherwise not happen.” We hasten to point out that individual and collective members of the 9/11...

When Hillary Clinton faces re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2006, what issues will she champion? For over a month, Hillary Clinton has refused to tell Moonbat Central her position on the one issue closest to New Yorkers' hearts -- the fate of that gaping hole at Ground Zero.As reported in FrontPageMagazine, a cabal of America-hating leftists have hijacked Ground Zero, announcing their plans to defile the site with a museum which will expose the evils of imperialism, highlighting such topics as the abuses of the Jim Crow South, the displacement of American Indians and the mistreatment of terrorist prisoners...

15 Major 9/11 Family Groups Reject LMDC Mediation Plan New York, N.Y.—September 15, 3005—The alliance of 15 major 9/11 family organizations was stunned to learn through the media last week and not from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation of their plans to engage in mediated talks with 9/11 family members about the presence of the International Freedom Center on the World Trade Center memorial site. According to the media, the LMDC’s stated purpose in hiring an outside mediator was to facilitate ‘conversations that might otherwise not happen.” We hasten to point out that individual and collective members of the 9/11...

Hundreds of family members who lost loved ones on 9/11 demanded again yesterday that a controversial museum plan for the World Trade Center site be scrapped. Chanting "No, no, the IFC must go!" the crowd rallied at Ground Zero against the International Freedom Center, a proposed memorial that some families want solely to focus on the terrorist attacks. "The IFC threatens to turn Ground Zero into a place of endless controversy, not a place of honor," said Anthony Gardner, whose brother, Harvey, was killed in the attacks four years ago. The museum is under attack from critics who contend it...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Holding up pictures of their loved ones and signs that read "Preserve Sacred Ground," more than 500 relatives of Sept. 11 victims rallied at the World Trade Center site Saturday against a proposed museum. Family members worry the International Freedom Center will take attention away from those who died in the attack. They said the museum should not be allowed to show exhibits about struggles for freedom around the world. "These are important stories to tell," said Jack Lynch, whose firefighter son Michael Lynch is one of the 2,749 people who died at the trade center....

A 9/11-themed art exhibit at Cooper Union has bombed with families of terror attack victims, who say its vitriol against President Bush, seeming mockery of war hero Pat Tillman and other anti-American images denigrate the memory of their loved ones. "What is the matter with these people? Where is their sense of decency?" asked Debra Burlingame, whose brother was a pilot aboard the airliner hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon and who has been among relatives fighting the location of the International Freedom Center at Ground Zero. The artworks bashing Bush and the military are included in a program called...

>Greetings Supporters! We have received several emails asking if the rally is still on and the answer is YES! We had considered postponing the rally because of the tragic events in the Gulf Cost, but New York Officials have not stopped their efforts to raise funds for the International Freedom Center (IFC) and there is no time for inaction. Yesterday, New York Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, urged American corporations to continue to fund his vision of a 9/11 memorial, one that includes the IFC. Over the course of the last ten days, we have channeled our energies into Katrina relief. Our...

We have received several emails asking if the rally is still on and the answer is YES! We had considered postponing the rally because of the tragic events in the Gulf Cost, but New York Officials have not stopped their efforts to raise funds for the International Freedom Center (IFC) and there is no time for inaction. Yesterday, New York Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, urged American corporations to continue to fund his vision of a 9/11 memorial, one that includes the IFC. Over the course of the last ten days, we have channeled our energies into Katrina relief. Our thoughts and...

The controversy surrounding the World Trade Center memorial is growing, with one of the city's fire unions effectively withdrawing its support from the 9/11 Memorial Foundation. At issue is the International Freedom Center planned for the site. Victims' families and the Uniformed Firefighters Association say it won't focus exclusively on the attacks, and some fear certain exhibits could be anti-American. “To talk about a Freedom Center is offensive,” UFA President Stephen Cassidy said Wednesday. “It's offensive to the victims, it's offensive to the victims families, it will bring no peace to anyone who goes there, and we don't want it...

The Uniformed Firefighters Association's decision yesterday to withdraw support for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, citing two controversial museums proposed there, may have ended the threat of institutionalized activism at Ground Zero. Good for the UFA. The union's "membership and our 9/11 families believe that the memorial design will take away from the memory and sacrifice of the firefighters who bravely gave their lives during the most horrific terrorist attacks our country has had to face," UFA President Steve Cassidy said. Good for Steve Cassidy. It's going to be especially hard now for the International Freedom Center and the...

NEW YORK - A union representing 22,000 active and retired firefighters announced Tuesday it has withdrawn its support for the foundation overseeing development of a memorial and other structures at the World Trade Center site. Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, cited objections to the planned International Freedom Center and a Drawing Center, which detractors say could include anti-American exhibits and draw attention from a planned memorial museum. Cassidy said in a statement that his "membership and our 9/11 families believe that the memorial design will take away from the memory and sacrifice of the firefighters who bravely...

Freedom Center's Place at Ground Zero in Question By DAVID W. DUNLAP The International Freedom Center was all but shown the door yesterday by state officials, who demanded that the fledgling institution undergo a new round of vetting - by relatives of 9/11 victims, among others - before it can claim the spot it was assigned last year in the World Trade Center's cultural building. John C. Whitehead, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said the Freedom Center had been asked to develop "specific plans, program and governance structure" by Sept. 23, which would then be presented to...

Rally on Sept. 10, 2005 New York, NY Corners of Church and Liberty Streets - WTC 9:30-10:30 If you are able to attend, please send an email to rally@takebackthememorial.org