The Jersey Journal
EDITORIAL
A big pile of dirt and sorry excuses Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Because New Jersey has empty pockets, the state's proposed "Empty Sky"
9/11 memorial at the northeast corner of Liberty State Park in Jersey City has
been put on hold. Site preparation work has left a fenced-in 30-foot (10 foot
high by 200 feet long) mound of dirt - an eyesore - at the site of what once was
a pedestrian plaza in the state's most visited park.
The state realized the project was in trouble when bids for its construction
came in at double the anticipated $9 million price tag. State officials say $13
million has already been committed for the project, with $6 million from state
coffers and $7 million from Port Authority.
Construction was supposed to begin this fall and take 14 months. Officials at
the state Department of the Treasury say they are not abandoning the project.
Instead, the memorial honoring Garden State residents who died in the terrorist
attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 will continue at the same location - just at a slower
pace than anticipated.
Family members of those who died on Sept. 11 chose the design, which was
selected from a field of 320 entries. Called "Empty Sky," it features
two 30-foot-high and 200-foot-long stainless steel walls rising from a 10-foot
high grassy knoll surrounded by trees.
Opponents of the memorial are led by Friends of Liberty State Park, the
volunteer group (open space advocacy organization) that acts as advisors
(Friends is on the LSP Public Advisory Committee) to the state Department of
Environmental Protection, which oversees state parks. While saying they are
sensitive to the 9/11 families' desires, the Friends cannot understand how the
state could have approved a design that will block so much of the park's unique
view of the harbor and Lower Manhattan. The Friends have filed a court appeal
against the DEP in an attempt to stop the project.
Opponents say the state issued a general permit for the memorial, which is
tantamount to saying a picnic table is to be installed that requires few if any
public hearings, as opposed to a waterfront development permit, which would come
with extensive guidelines.
The memorial project is starting to look like yet another Garden State snafu
started by Gov. James E. McGreevey, who rushed this project while forgetting how
government works. Gov. Corzine nixed calls for public review and now there is a
big pile of dirt in the park for an indefinite amount of time. This is what
happens when the state does not follow its rules.
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