The Ground Zero—today

I went went down way to the bottom of the island Monday for a meeting to plan a fundraiser for The Dart Society Monday. I took the long walk back to sign copies of Columbine at a Barnes & Noble, and passed by Ground Zero.

What I saw:


I was walking uptown (i.e., south to north) on West Street, with Ground Zero to my right/east. This first shot is facing north, a new building with the superstructure already in place:






I turned to my right for a wider shot, capturing more of the construction. I still couldn't get all the cranes:



Pedestrian traffic is blocked just before you reach the site, so I had to travel north inside the cluster of buildings that run a long city block. I think the x is about where I stood for the remaining pictures:





There is a huge glass viewing area inside to view the site:





Here's a tighter shot of the building on the left, from a slightly different angle:





And a still tighter shot, to give you a sense of the people actually working down there:





Update:

I got some quick response on my Facebook page about how glacial the pace has been. I know it feels slow, but my experience observing what to do with sites after big tragedies (Columbine, OK City, Virginia Tech . . . ) is that slow is much better.

Most individuals survivors don't even know what they want the first year or two after. It's too close. Five years later, they have a much better distance to gauge what they will want fifty years later.

Groups can't form consensus when even its individuals are unclear. It's so much better to wait and get it right.

One of the Arizona papers interviewed me a few weeks ago about lessons from their predecessors regarding Tucson. It's good to see them asking. It's not always what you think. I'll look for the link to the piece.

9/11 Debates Ever

This is one of the best 9/11 Conspiracy debates ever! I’ve got little time for the Leftist and sympathizer to Islamic extremeism George Galloway, but he does a good job on his show of shepherding this wrangle. I was impressed that he remained professional and resisted the temptation to let fly on one of his characteristic bigoted rants.


This is an edited medley of a series of interviews George did over a number of programmes. The most interesting part is the first segment in which Tom Keely (Any relation to John Keely the Free Energy inventor?) is challenged by a regular caller into George’s The Mother of All Talkshows, Fred, “The Wisest Cabbie in Christendom!” Fred conjures up an image of in my head of a building teetering for 30 years like a precarious pile of dominoes, a little nudge and down it goes like a spring-loaded top hat. If the kind of structural damage done to it by the aircraft impacts could have caused that kind of structural damage then maybe a storm or something also could. New Yorkers could wake up after a windy night and find the WTC vanished and a pile of rubble substituted. Tom is right about the fire. Fred seems to think that it was like a furnace in a forge! And Tom is also correct about 9/11 being a media stunt. If the WTC towers had fallen straight away, as Fred thought they would have been bound to, the first reporters would have simply shown a boring heap of rubble.

The 17th floor of the South Tower

the mosque at Ground Zero



One of the casualties at the former World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was the Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor of the South Tower. No one knows how long it was there, but it existed long before a bomb was detonated below the North Tower on
February 26, 1993. Most significantly, it continued to operate, without controversy, until it was destroyed on 9/11/2001.

The North Tower also had a prayer gathering place for Muslims. Staff members of the Windows on the World restaurant used a stairwell between the 106th and 107th floor for their prayer services.

The second of the five Muslim pillars of faith requires prayer five times a day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, evening, and night. For most Americans, prayer throughout the course of the day is, at best, an afterthought, but it is usually not done at all except for the sporadic Bible study classes that are occasionally held at workplaces during the lunch hour. For devout Muslims (who are followers of the world’s most popular religion) prayer is an essential part of their day.

At some point in time, the majority of the religions of the world have been subjected to some type of discrimination.

When my Irish ancestors went through Ellis Island in the latter part of the 19th Century, they frequently encountered signs at potential places of employment that read, “Irish need not apply”. Since nearly 90% of Ireland was, and is, Roman Catholic, the signs actually were saying “Catholics need not apply”

Discrimination against Catholics continued well into the 20th Century. I am old enough to remember that some of my fellow Americans did not note for John F. Kennedy in 1960 simply because he was a Catholic.

“The troubles” in Ireland lasted hundreds of years, but were finally brought to a conclusion on April 10, 1998, in large part due to the efforts of former president William Clinton. With the signing of the Good Friday agreement in Ireland, most of us would have concluded that discrimination against Catholics had finally come to an end.

Unfortunately, that’s still not the case. Here’s a couple of quick examples:

1) In January of 2010, elections were held for board members of the European Commission. One candidate in particular, Viviane Reding, faced opposition STRICTLY because she was Catholic. Although she WAS elected to office on February 6, her story exemplifies the fact that discrimination against Catholics still exists in Europe.

2) 90% of Mexico is Roman Catholic. If you’re a Catholic living in North America, and you’ve gotten all worked up about the problem of illegal immigrants, I’d recommend that you dust off your Bible, and read Matthew 5: 43-48. Since Jesus had told us that we should love our enemies, what would He tell us about how we should treat those whose share a common religious background ?

When One World Trade Center becomes operational in April of 2013, it will likely include a memorial to the 2752 people in the buildings who were killed on 9/11. Included in that total are the 23 Muslims who died on the same day.

Muslims have been part of the work force of the World Trade Center since its inception, and will continue to be when the new building begins operation in three years. Although the daily work force will come and go, the names of 23 Muslims permanently etched into the foundation will serve as a stark reminder that the victims of religious intolerance come from all walks of life, even those who are seemingly “on the same side”.

Since construction of a mosque at Ground Zero would inflame passions on both sides to the point that compromise would be impossible, it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll ever see a mosque at that location. However, building a Muslim center two blocks away, in the heart of Manhattan, would be the strongest possible argument against the false argument that America was at war with Islam.

The Ground Zero Mosque Design

Matt Sky (26) of Manhattan's East Village during the eighth day of his demonstration at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record




Yesterday's assignment(s) called for a drive into lower Manhattan for two separate stories. One reporter is writing on the national controversy on the proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of the former World Trade Center, now of course known as Ground Zero. The other story was some 10 blocks away at the U.S. Federal Courthouse where the trial of the "Newburgh Four", the suspected home-grown terrorists who were caught last year as they attempted to blow up synagogues in the Bronx, and shoot down military cargo aircraft at nearby Stewart Air National Guard Base. Since I knew getting to the city by car is usually a drag during the morning rush, it meant leaving home by 6AM or so, and channeling any good karma to the parking gods to play the "let's see if I can find street parking" downtown scenario. No such luck on street parking, so after finding a reasonably priced lot at $18.00, my day of pounding the streets could begin in an intermittent rain. The day's assignments called for a bit of walking between both sites, as well as venturing down to Ground Zero to make a few location "filers" (right) and for me to personally get a feel of the scene there again. Nothing panned out at the Federal courthouse picture-wise, as it was only the first day of the trial, and by the time I'd spent about two hours between the mosque site and Ground Zero, I was able to leave the city and make it home by 2PM or so. The office had images by 4PM, and everybody was happy. Our take on the proposed mosque story is scheduled to run tomorrow (Thursday). Here's a few favorites from my "parachute" assignment into the city. Ironically, all my favorite images from the day were made with one camera (Canon 5D-MKII) with the 16mm - 35mm zoom. ~cg.

Tourists view ongoing construction at Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Center in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. A proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks away has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record
Pedestrians cross Church Street at Vesey Street at Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Center in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. A proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks away has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Mounir Bouabane at his falafel cart on West Broadway near the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

The site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Matt Sky (26, center) of Manhattan's East Village during the eighth day of his demonstration at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Stephen Patti (83) of Brooklyn with his placards at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record.
Why do Muslims want to build a victory mosque at Ground Zero? This should give you some idea.

Islam's holiest shrine-the Kaaba, a cube-like building in Mecca-is an older pre-Islamic pagan Arab shrine. According to Islamic tradition the first building was constructed by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham (Ibrahim). The Black Stone, possibly a meteorite fragment, is a significant feature of the Kaaba. The Masjid al-Haram mosque was built around the Kaaba.

The Ibrahimi Mosque was constructed in Hebron, in 637 CE, over the second-most venerated Jewish holy site, the Cave of Machpelah-the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Dome of the Rock was built on the ruins of Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem, by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik, 687-691 CE. Al-Walid, son of al-Malik, erected the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the southern end of the Temple Mount and also over the Basilica of St. Mary of Justinian, in 712 CE.

By no means is this practice limited to venerated Jewish holy sites. The Grand Mosque of Damascus was put up over the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in 715 CE.

On October 18, 1009, the Muslim Fatimid caliph Abu 'Ali Mansur Tariqu'l-Hakim destroyed, down to the bedrock, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a Christian church venerated by most Christians as Golgotha, the Hill of Calvary, where tradition says that Jesus was crucified. Gravestones were also destroyed. Muslim forces tried to dig up all the graves and wipe out all traces of their existence. The site is now within the walled, Old City of Jerusalem.

This practice continued through the centuries and was applied not only to Jewish, Christian and Hindu sites but other faiths as well. Late in the 20th century, in Libya, on November 26, 1970, the Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Tripoli was converted into the Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque.

Two 1,400 year-old statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan were blown up in March 2001. This came after a fatwa (a religious edict), ordered by the Taliban directed all Afghan "idols" be destroyed as being anti-Muslim. In the Central Asian republics no Buddhist temples remain.

While not a religious site, the World Trade Center stood as a symbol of Western commerce, industry and civilization. Then came the horrors of the destruction of those twin towers on September 11, 2001. No doubt many prayers were said there both during and after the calamitous collapse.

In May 2010, it was announced that near the ruins of buildings reduced to rubble in the name of Islam, an Islamic mosque would rise. This fits the historic pattern of Muslim construction near or atop the ruins of their enemies' symbolic buildings as a mark of Islamic supremacy.

People Ground Zero Mosque Protest

Dear America

In case you were wondering where the "Ground Zero" community center / mosque (Park 51) is going to be built, here's a map. And an eloquent set of directions on where 68% of you can put your opinions on the matter.

L

P.S. Why didn't anyone protest when Giuliani allowed that crossbeam to be mounted on a pedestal right in the middle of G.Z.?

The Ground Zero Mosque

There should really be little surprise that the allegedly Kenyan-born President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, who hails from a Muslim background, is supportive of proposals to erect a massive mosque on the site of Ground Zero, despite the fact that at least 70% of US citizens are opposed to it.



It is doubtful that Obama could have insulted the American people in a more calculated manner than by giving his support to this outrageous proposal. In the face of already waning popularity, Obama has really shot himself in the foot this time. The first part of his statement, made at an event to mark the Festival of Ramadan, is innocuous enough. After all, most right-thinking folk will agree that it's a basic human right to enjoy the freedom to practise the religion of your choice in your home country. Obama said, "As a citizen and a President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise their religion as anyone else in this country." Who can justify arguing against that?


The problem is with the next part of his statement: "That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances." Obama then presses on to upset the vast majority of God-fearing moderate Americans by saying that he considered Islam to be a major force in 'advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings' and that it (Islam) had always been part of America. In this statement he showed his ignorance about the history of his adopted land, for the USA was founded on Christian principals. The concepts of 'freedom of religion' would not have included those practises carried out in some Islamic nations which revolt the civilised world; practises such as the stoning to death of women who have been found guilty of adultery, or the slaughter of any Muslim who dares to convert to Christianity.


Since Islamic Fundamentalists perpetrated the atrocity of 9/11, murdering thousands of US citizens of all races and religious creeds, the site of the Twin Towers, known as Ground Zero, has been regarded as a national shrine. Newt Gingrich has likened building a mosque on the site to placing a Nazi swastika on a Holocaust memorial or a Japanese Cultural Centre at Pearl Harbour.


There are many sites that could be used to site a Mosque, apart from Ground Zero, but none of them would have the same triumphant statement of successful conquest as building it on ground revered by so many US citizens out of their respect for those who were murdered on 9/11.


This time it would appear that Obama has talked himself into early oblivion. History will be the judge.

Need You Now

Picture perfect memories
Scattered all around the floor
Reaching for the phone 'cause
I can't fight it anymore

And I wonder if I
Ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one
I'm all alone
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call
But I've lost all control
And I need you now

And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now

Another shot of whiskey
Can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping
In the way you did before

And I wonder if I
Ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one
I'm a little drunk
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call
But I've lost all control
And I need you now

And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now

Whoa, whoa
Guess I'd rather hurt
Than feel nothing at all

It's a quarter after one
I'm all alone
And I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call
But I'm a little drunk
And I need you now

And I don't know how
I can do without
I just need you now
I just need you now

Oh baby, I need you now

lady antebellum lyrics

Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor
Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door
Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind
For me it happens all the time

It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now
Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

Woah, woah
Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now, I just need you now

Oh baby, I need you now