The Jersey Journal
EMPTY SKY, OR EMPTY VIEW?

Critics: Skyline vanishes behind 9/11 memorial
Monday, July 31, 2006
By ANA M. ALAYA
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

New Jersey's planned 9/11 memorial in Liberty State Park is designed to embrace the panorama of Lower Manhattan and Ground Zero, but critics, including the mayor of Jersey City, say the tribute will ruin the view.

"It destroys a natural attraction and a beautiful vista," said Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who recently asked Gov. Jon Corzine of Hoboken to consider a different spot in the park for the memorial.

Jersey City officials have been barraged with calls from residents since crews started dumping soil in the northeastern corner of the park several months ago, Healy said.

State officials say the mound, which is now 14 to 20 feet high, will be compacted into a rolling knoll up to 10 feet high in some places. Two stainless-steel walls will rise from it, 30 feet high and 200 feet long, bearing the names of the more than 700 New Jersey residents who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Some contend the memorial will be too big and will mar the view of Lower Manhattan from parts of the park. Some say the modern design will clash with the historic landmarks in the vicinity, including the Central Railroad of New Jersey Train Terminal, which dates back to 1889.

Sam Pesin, president of the 800-member volunteer group Friends of Liberty State Park, likens the view of Manhattan from the waterfront park to a "national shrine."

"We feel there should be a public meeting, and we want the hill design revised," Pesin said. "Certainly everyone understands the tremendous pain that the victims' families have, but this is an issue of democracy and a memorial that's going to last generations."

The memorial's design is meant to incorporate the sweeping view, said Lisa Jackson, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is overseeing the project.

The memorial is called Empty Sky, and its walls, set 16 feet apart, are meant to create a visual corridor focusing on the void where the World Trade Center's Twin Towers stood across the Hudson River.

Last week, Jersey City Planning Director Robert Cotter sent a letter to Jackson saying under state law the DEP should have asked the city Planning Board to review the proposal before beginning work.