Surely you jest! Mr. Schwartz created this...

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I can.

Because Mr Schwartz is a hack.

Just check out his website for more examples of his kitsch.

I just wanted to make a quick point about the conceptual design of 'Empty Sky'.

If this is built, and if the WTC site ever gets built with the half dozen or so large towers planned, 'Empty Sky' won't be all that empty and the entire concept of the memorial design will be lost.

I can't believe this notion hasn't entered the mind of Mr. Schwartz.

Corzine calls state memorial 'absolutely essential'

Friday, September 12, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The state's planned Sept. 11 memorial in Liberty State Park is called "Empty Sky," but for now it remains an empty lump of dirt and weeds surrounded by a fence - and some people argue that if and when it is built, it will still be an eyesore.

Gov. Jon Corzine came to the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal building yesterday to announce that a foundation will raise roughly $12 million in private funds for the project, as its cost balloons to an estimated $25 million. The original tab for the project was $9 million when ground was broken in 2004.

Designed by architect Frederic Schwartz, it will consist of a pair of stainless steel walls - 200 feet long and 30 feet high - replicating the imprint of the Twin Towers on the Manhattan skyline. The walls will contain the names of the 743 New Jersey residents who died in the attacks.

"It's absolutely essential to maintain that memory," Corzine said.

He said the state will use $1.2 million of the $13 million previously committed - $7 million from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and $6 million from the state - to do grading and landscaping on the memorial site.

Money is not the only obstacle to the memorial.

The Friends of Liberty State Park, the park's volunteer caretakers, say the memorial will wreck views of Downtown Manhattan from the busiest part of the park. Tanya Chauhan, a Jersey City resident who worked in Tower 5 of the World Trade Center, said she used to bring family and friends to the spot before it was fenced off.

"I loved how the closer you got to the city, the bigger it was, and the more majestic the view was," she said.

The Friends have filed a lawsuit charging that the state Department of Environmental Protection failed to hold necessary public meetings before it issued permits for the project.

Their attorney, Cynthia Hadjiyannis, said the state's reply to the lawsuit was due yesterday, but oral arguments may not take place for several months.

In addition, all nine Hudson County state legislators signed a letter to Corzine in April stating their opposition to using any more state funds for the project.

State Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy attended the event yesterday to reiterate that they do not approve of the project as it is currently designed.

Corzine suggested that modifications to the design could be considered, although he said he has seen no evidence that views would be significantly harmed.

Use the money to reduce the budget deficit. There will be a momorial at WTC.

Another year of interest generated from these funds, but where is this extra money ? (It ain't chicken feed nickel and dimes - I'm talking hundreds of thousands)

Jon Corzine and Family & Survivor Advisory Committee member James Cahill discuss the plans for the "Empty Sky" memorial during a news conference at the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal.

Gov. in LSP to announce plans for 'Empty Sky' funds

Thursday September 11, 2008, 7:03 PM

At the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal in Liberty State Park, visitors look at mementos and messages to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

The state's planned Sept. 11 memorial in Liberty State Park is called "Empty Sky," but for now it remains an empty lump of dirt and weeds surrounded by a fence -- and some people argue that if and when it is built, it will still be an eyesore.

Gov. Jon Corzine came to the Central Railroad of New Jersey terminal today to announce that a foundation will raise roughly $12 million in private funds for the project, as its cost balloons to an estimated $25 million. The original tab for the project was $9 million when ground was broken in 2004.

Designed by architect Frederic Schwartz, it will consist of a pair of stainless steel walls -- 200 feet long and 30 feet high -- replicating the imprint of the Twin Towers on the Manhattan skyline. The walls will contain the names of the 743 New Jersey residents who died in the attacks.

"It's absolutely essential to maintain that memory," Corzine said.

He said the state will use $1.2 million of the $13 million previously committed -- $7 million from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and $6 million from the state -- to do grading and landscaping on the memorial site.

Money is not the only obstacle to the memorial.

The Friends of Liberty State Park, the park's volunteer caretakers, say the memorial will wreck views of Downtown Manhattan from the busiest part of the park. Tanya Chauhan, a Jersey City resident who worked in Tower 5 of the World Trade Center, said she used to bring family and friends to the spot before it was fenced off.

"I loved how the closer you got to the city, the bigger it was, and the more majestic the view was," she said.

The Friends have filed a lawsuit charging that the state Department of Environmental Protection failed to hold necessary public meetings before it issued permits for the project.

Their attorney, Cynthia Hadjiyannis, said the state's reply to the lawsuit was due today, but oral arguments may not take place for several months.

In addition, all nine Hudson County state legislators signed a letter to Corzine in April stating their opposition to using any more state funds for the project. State Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy attended the event this afternoon to reiterate that they do not approve of the project as it is currently designed.

Corzine suggested that modifications to the design could be considered, although he said he has seen no evidence that views will be significantly harmed.

For more information on the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation, go to nj911memorial.org.

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JC has a memorial dedicated to the residents of JC who had died on 9/11. It is by the water facing the site of the WTC near Exchange Place, it has their names inscribed on it.
When I go by there and see my friends name on it I still feel sad for him.

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I don't think a town without a direct connection to the attacks needs a memorial, but, to me, it seems logical to have a 9/11 memorial at Liberty State Park because:

- Many people from Jersey City died in the WTC towers or were in or around the towers on 9/11.

- You could see the towers burning from downtown Jersey City, and, even in Jersey City, you could smell them burning for a couple of weeks after 9/11.

- The crews of the New York Waterway and Little Lady ferry boats rescued a lot of people and brought them to safety at Liberty State Park.

- The WTC salvage crews brought a lot of the metal that came from the WTC site to the Hugo Neu metal recycling plant, by the "rat bridge." So, a lot of WTC dust is in the ground right outside the park.

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I definitely agree with you there.

One of the great things about Liberty State Park is the view. There are many, many ways to create a memorial, and it's not clear at all why someone couldn't just put up a statue or a memorial wall that wouldn't block the view.

One consideration is that, by blocking the Manhattan view, the LSP hill memorial might end up keeping people from looking at whatever memorial is built on the Manhattan side.

As far as I am concerned, one could just plant trees or some flowers and that would be a fine memorial.

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Just so. We've had our memorial for 5 years. Apparently it's just not ugly enough, or it didn't involve connected contractors making millions, involving living things and children instead.

From http://www.newjerseytreefoundation.org/GroveofRemembrance.asp

The Grove of Remembrance, located in Liberty State Park, is a 10.8-acre tract where 691 mature trees, one tree for each New Jersey victim of September 11, 2001, are planted. This memorial has vastly improved a large brownfield in Liberty State Park, allowing all who visit a peaceful place to reflect while viewing the Manhattan skyline and the area where the Twin Towers once stood.

On April 21, 2003 Governor James McGreevey and the families of those lost on September 11, 2001, planted the first tree in the Grove of Remembrance. Prior to the tree planting, the families viewed a presentation covering the history of Liberty State Park, and the development of the Grove. Additionally, Jeanne Kavinski, who lost her sister in Tower One, read a poem that her sister wrote ?Help a Withered Tree Bloom?.

On Friday, April 25, 2003, Arbor Day in New Jersey, 300 volunteers planted the first 200 trees in the Grove. All 200 trees were planted, mulched and watered in a little over an hour, allowing the volunteers to join in on the Arbor Day Ceremonial activities, and enjoy a nice lunch. A special, quiet planting area was set up for 9/11 family members so they could help plant a tree in memory of their loved ones. NJ Certified Tree Experts, NJ Tree Foundation and Community Forestry staff supervised the volunteers in their planting and mulching efforts.

The Arbor Day Ceremony included a moving speech by Jeanne Kavinski, a family member who assisted with the planning and design of the Grove. Jeanne spoke eloquently about how helping to develop and design the Grove had assisted with her healing. Additionally, awards were presented to the Arbor Day contest winners, Tree City USA towns, and a ceremonial tree was planted with state and local officials. For this year?s Arbor Day contest, students were asked to write a short prose on What Trees Mean To Me. The top winners read their poems at the Ceremony, and helped the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection plant the Arbor Day tree.

I did not say there was anything wrong, I simply asked how many memorials does one need. I think one is sufficient. Otherwise, why not have a 9/11 memorial in every town. And why does it need to be in Liberty State Park? And why does it need to be so obtrusive?

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There's nothing wrong with putting a memorial there. But it seems as if it ought to be easy enough to build one or two nice memorials on flat land with $1 million or $2 million (plus whatever is needed to flatten the artificial hill that the memorial builders have put up.)

Also: does the artist who designed the memorial have any connection with the towers or the victims of the attacks?

If not: I'd much rather see the memorial designed by one of the artists who had a studio or exhibition space at the WTC towers -- e.g., an economic victim of the attacks. At least that way the money spent on the memorial would be going to help an artist recover economically from the attacks. (If the memorial artist does have a connection with the WTC losses: sorry, never mind.)

They should simply call the new 250 acre recreational area being developed at LSP a "September 11 Memorial Park" or something simple like that.

Please spare us a $25 million steel wall on a hill.

$25 million could certainly plant a lot of desperately needed trees and make the park a better place for residents and tourists alike. The view of the NYC skyline sans the WTC towers is already a profound memorial. City planners and developers have already done enough harm isolating the waterfront from the city.

It's sad that so many people died, but how many friggin' 9/11 memorials does one need. And does it really need to block the view of Manhattan.

Why couldn't everyone compromise and come up with a different, easier-to-finish memorial design that wouldn't wreck the view?

Public meetings sought on park's Sept. 11 memorial

Monday, April 28, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

With work slowed by budget constraints, state Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham says there's time to meet with community groups to discuss the future of the "Empty Sky" memorial to Sept. 11 at Liberty State Park.

Cunningham, D-Jersey City, told the Budget Appropriations Committee last week that she wants the state Department of Environmental Protection to hold public meetings with family members of victims as well as local residents about the project, which some say will block views of Manhattan.

Citing "tough fiscal times" and cost overruns, Cunningham said she'd like to see if the money earmarked for the uncompleted project could be better spent elsewhere.

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, D-Jersey City, who is on the budget committee, said DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson told her last week that progress on the project had been "stymied" by cost overruns.

But James "Rick" Cahill, chairman of the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation, who lost his 30-year-old son in the tragedy, said state money for the memorial was committed years ago.

"The state is not on the hook for any more money," he said.

Cahill said the New York and New Jersey Port Authority committed $7 million and the state of New Jersey capped its contribution at $6 million in 2004. The New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation, which was created last month, aims to raise at least $15 million more to see the memorial through.

The state's 9/11 memorial at Liberty State Park turned out to be more costly than expected and construction was halted while the memorial's designers looked for ways to save money.

Construction of the two 30-foot-high and 200-foot-long concrete walls covered with stainless steel etched with the names of the 710 New Jersey residents killed in the attacks was scheduled to begin last fall, but bids came in between $22 million and $25 million - more than double the state's $9 million estimate.

"The memorial was a commitment for years. To rescind would be sad and is a sign of '9/11 fatigue,'" said Barry Zelman, whose brother, Kenneth Zelman, was killed on the 99th floor of the North Tower. "Americans don't need help in forgetting the most tragic day of our history."

The Record (based in Bergen County)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Editorial Page COLUMN
A living memorial is best
By JAMES AHEARN
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

A fitting tribute to New Jerseyans who died on Sept. 11 is already in place, on a restored brownfield, and called the Grove of Remembrance.

THE CONSTRUCTION bids for the Sept. 11, 2001, memorial proposed for Liberty State Park have come in. The bids were expected to be $10 million or so. The low bid turned out to be $22 million. The high bid was $25 million.

The state Treasury Department is negotiating with the architect for revisions that would cut costs but preserve the plan. I submit that that would be wasted energy.

The plan is a grandiose, overblown architectural fantasy that would forever spoil the breathtaking view from the park of the harbor, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan. (memorial doesn't block Statue or Ellis Island).

I have an alternative memorial in mind. It would cost nothing, because it is already in place in the park, although few know it is there. It is smack where a memorial should be, well back from the water's edge but with a view of the site where the World Trade Center stood.

This installation, on 11 acres of a former brownfield, is called the Grove of Remembrance. It was built with a modest federal forestry grant of $143,000 and with $220,000 in cash and in-kind donations.

The grant paid for 691 mature trees, one for each New Jerseyan who died in Lower Manhattan on that terrible day. The grant also paid for mulch, soil and shrubs, and for a big bronze plaque engraved with the names of the dead.

The grove, a living memorial, is maintained free of cost to the state by volunteers and by Jersey City schoolchildren who grow flowers and plants in classroom conservatories and take them to the grove each spring for planting. The kids learn about gardening and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Every year, there is an Arbor Day contest, for which children write a poem or a short prose piece. The winners read their compositions aloud, in a ceremony in the grove, and plant a tree. It is homey and nice.

The first year this custom was observed was 2003, when then-Gov. James E. McGreevey planted the first tree in the grove, attended by relatives of the New Jersey Sept. 11 victims. Four days later, on April 25, Arbor Day, 300 volunteers planted, mulched and watered another 200 trees. The Grove of Remembrance was thus established.

Vanity

Our Jim had bigger plans, though. A garden was all well and good, but he wanted something monumental, a built structure that would commemorate his own leadership as well as the dead.

In December that year, he announced a national competition for a design for a memorial. Three hundred twenty entries were submitted. These were whittled to a half-dozen by a team of architectural and design professionals. Then a jury of a dozen New Jersey relatives of 9/11 victims picked the winner. It had been submitted by a Manhattan architect, Frederic Schwartz.

He called it "Empty Sky," because it would be open to sun and rain, morning and night. It would consist of two parallel, 30-foot-high concrete walls, faced in stainless steel, 16 feet apart. Each wall would be 200 feet long, the same length as each side of the World Trade Center towers. On the steel would be engraved the names of the 691 New Jersey dead, in random order.

The walls, open at the ends as well as the top, would be built atop (inserted into) a 10-foot-high earthen mound. They would focus the gaze of visitors toward the site where the towers stood, on the other side of the harbor. At night, bright lights atop the walls would shine straight up into the sky.

The installation would cover 1.6 acres, including much of the public, harborside plaza adjoining the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. The plaza, formerly used for concerts and other public gatherings, is now truncated, ending at a pile of dirt 30 feet high, surrounded by a fence. The pile is to be compressed into the planned 10-foot mound. (mound is already at 10 feet).

Funding source

What has yet to be established is where all the money for the memorial is to come from. The Port Authority is supposed to contribute $7 million and the state $6 million, although it is confronting a deficit of more than $3 billion. McGreevey had spoken vaguely of private donations, but no campaign has been mounted.

Jersey City officials have criticized the scale and location of the memorial, as has Sam Pesin, the indispensable, irrepressible president of Friends of Liberty State Park. He complains, justifiably, that state officials have convened no hearing on the plan since it was chosen. If they did, they would get an earful.

Governor Corzine has supported the plan, and I suppose that, if need be, he could just sit down and write a personal check for whatever was needed. But there is a better solution. It would be to give greater visibility and recognition to what's already there, the Grove of Remembrance. If in addition something more was deemed necessary, it should supplement the grove, not stand between it and the harbor, cutting off the view.

James Ahearn is a contributing editor and former managing editor of The Record.

I would love to know who paid for workers to hurriedly make the huge dirt mound and add the cyclone fence!

Mr. More-to-heft tear down this fence!

I'd like them for once to generate a rendering of what it would look like from the side rather than the end: a frigging 200 foot long steel blast wall on a 10 foot hill. On the other hand, it would look just like the blank windowless wall of a fortress, accurately symbolizing Bush's America.

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Agreed.

Also, there already is a memorial grove of trees in the park dedicated to the victims of 9/11.

This massive earth and steel monument is a monstrosity. Give us back our park.

does anyone else feel that looking across at the empty skyline is enough of a reminder of 9/11?

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Totally agreed.

LSP can afford many small sections of the waterfront for that ugly, in-your-face monument.

Just the one they picked is totally inappropriate because it blocks the views from the whole section of the park between the Morris Canal and the CRRNJ Terminal.

Liberty State Park has over 2 miles of NYC skyline view. It can afford to have a small section of that blocked by a monument that I for one think is appropriate. There are more of us in favor of the memorial than one would believe.

There must be a siht load of interest dollars generated from the funds collected over the years. Anyone know how much?

Dear Lovers of Liberty State Park,

Please support the Friends of LSP's Legal Fund to Save the Sacred Views of Ground Zero and Manhattan from the closest place in LSP, and to save LSP's only Public Plaza. The memorial design is two 30 foot high by 200 feet long steel walls which would be inserted into a 10 foot high by 200 foot long Hill. The memorial would have a severe negative impact on LSP by obstructing one of the most important urban views in the world. The Governor and Commissioner has totally ignored park users' consensus against this design in this location. Another way to help is by writing a letter to the editor, Augie Torres of The Jersey Journal atorres@jjournal.com

and/or JC Reporter Editor in Chief, Caren Lissner clissner@hudsonreporter.com

For background on fight against the state's official NJ 9/11 Memorial, chosen with zero public input, please go to

http://www.folsp.org/memorial%20design.htm

If you'd like to help our legal effort, probably the only way to stop this memorial, with its new bids making the memorial cost twice as much as the $13 million estimate, please send a check of any amount, made payable to "Friends of Liberty State Park" to
Friends of LSP
PO Box 3407
Jersey City, NJ 07302

Thank you for any help in this battle for ours and future generations.
Sam
Sam Pesin, president of The Friends of LSP and son of the late Morris Pesin, the "father" of LSP

I encourage anyone who is against this overly expensive and hugely out of place memorial to write or e-mail the State Department of Environmental Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson.

Is this really what the 'environment' needs right now Lisa? Perhaps this money should go to keeping the proposed 'trash/freight rail tunnel' out of Jersey City that U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York wants to have constructed. Now that is an environmental issue!

Around 20mil for a memorial is such a huge waste of money when you could spend a fraction of that on a decent, well made and good intentioned memorial that would be just as fitting and special. Not to mention the fact that no one had a say in this for the start.

STOP THIS RIDICULOUS SPENDING ON "SUPER SIZE ME" MEMORIALS.

Lisa P. Jackson, Commissioner
401 E. State St.
7th Floor, East Wing
P.O. Box 402
Trenton, NJ 08625-0402
phone: 609-292-2885
fax: 609-292-7695

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Liberty State Park needs a 9/11 memorial as much as it needs another yacht marina.
Enough already with these stupid memorials blighting the landscape EVERYWHERE.

Liberty Park needs green open space. PERIOD!

State's 9/11 memorial at standstill, says official

Friday, October 19, 2007
By KEENAN STEINER
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

State Department of Environmental Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson confirmed yesterday that the state's 9/11 memorial, planned for Liberty State Park, is "at a standstill."

The project, which the DEP oversees, has turned out to be far more expensive than the state budgeted for, but Jackson said she hopes that the state can find the funds to construct the memorial.

Jackson spoke about the project during an interview following her appearance at the park's Interpretive Center to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Clean Water Act.

Critics say the steel structure is too costly and a "monstrosity," in the words of Assemblyman Lou Manzo, D-Jersey City. The Friends of Liberty State Park, an advocacy group, has objected to the proposed design on the ground that it would block views of the New York City skyline from the park.

But Jackson defended it, saying the design would be a "fairly minor obstruction in one area" and 9/11 is part of the park's legacy.

"All parks have to balance the legacy of the past with what it will be in the future," she said.

Plus, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, she added.

"For some it's quiet contemplation," Jackson said. "For others, they want a place where they can see their loved one's names."