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NYC-FF's rally for Memorial
NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of firefighters rallied blocks away
from ground zero on Wednesday to demand that Gov. George Pataki
give special recognition to uniformed officers in a memorial to
those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center.
"Our guys and girls who went into the trade center and were
killed ... they're war heroes," said firefighter Patrick
McCarvill, co-chairman of Advocates for a 9/11 Fallen Heroes
Memorial. "We don't list the war heroes on the same wall with the
civilian casualties."
The firefighters want special designation that would honor the
hundreds of Fire Department of New York members, New York and Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers and emergency
service workers killed Sept. 11.
But the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which was created to
oversee the rebuilding of the area and is holding a memorial design
competition for the new trade center, plans one memorial with no
hierarchy of victims. Families of killed civilians also have turned
away from the idea, insisting that everyone who died at the trade
center should be recognized equally.
Firefighters say the special designation would not devalue
anyone killed at the site but would distinguish the rescuers from
civilians.
After the rally, the demonstrators packed the auditorium at the
Tribeca Performing Arts Center for a public comment hearing on the
World Trade Center site memorial competition.
Dozens of FDNY members and their family members urged the design
competition selection jury to incorporate their ideas into the
memorial. After each spoke, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Development corporation interim president Kevin Rampe told the
crowd that the memorial will recognize each of the 2,792 people
killed in the 2001 attack and the six killed in the twin towers'
1993 bombing.
"But there is no specific form of recognition required, such as
a listing of names, because a memorial has not been conceived," he
said. "Rest assured, no one will be forgotten."
A spokeswoman for Pataki referred all questions about the
memorial competition to the LMDC. A 13-member jury will choose
approximately five finalists and select a winning design in the
fall.
Before the forum, about 300 firefighters and their relatives
stood in the rain waving American flags and holding signs saying
"Never Forget" and "Keep Our Heroes Together." Passers-by
honked their car horns and cheered them on.
"They ask me the difference between my brother and other people
who died that day (Sept. 11)," said John Mascali, whose
firefighter brother, Joseph Mascali, died in the attack. "Other
people lost their lives. My brother gave his life."
---
On the Net:
Lower Manhattan Development Corp.: http://www.renewnyc.org
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Never forget!
from ground zero on Wednesday to demand that Gov. George Pataki
give special recognition to uniformed officers in a memorial to
those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center.
"Our guys and girls who went into the trade center and were
killed ... they're war heroes," said firefighter Patrick
McCarvill, co-chairman of Advocates for a 9/11 Fallen Heroes
Memorial. "We don't list the war heroes on the same wall with the
civilian casualties."
The firefighters want special designation that would honor the
hundreds of Fire Department of New York members, New York and Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers and emergency
service workers killed Sept. 11.
But the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which was created to
oversee the rebuilding of the area and is holding a memorial design
competition for the new trade center, plans one memorial with no
hierarchy of victims. Families of killed civilians also have turned
away from the idea, insisting that everyone who died at the trade
center should be recognized equally.
Firefighters say the special designation would not devalue
anyone killed at the site but would distinguish the rescuers from
civilians.
After the rally, the demonstrators packed the auditorium at the
Tribeca Performing Arts Center for a public comment hearing on the
World Trade Center site memorial competition.
Dozens of FDNY members and their family members urged the design
competition selection jury to incorporate their ideas into the
memorial. After each spoke, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Development corporation interim president Kevin Rampe told the
crowd that the memorial will recognize each of the 2,792 people
killed in the 2001 attack and the six killed in the twin towers'
1993 bombing.
"But there is no specific form of recognition required, such as
a listing of names, because a memorial has not been conceived," he
said. "Rest assured, no one will be forgotten."
A spokeswoman for Pataki referred all questions about the
memorial competition to the LMDC. A 13-member jury will choose
approximately five finalists and select a winning design in the
fall.
Before the forum, about 300 firefighters and their relatives
stood in the rain waving American flags and holding signs saying
"Never Forget" and "Keep Our Heroes Together." Passers-by
honked their car horns and cheered them on.
"They ask me the difference between my brother and other people
who died that day (Sept. 11)," said John Mascali, whose
firefighter brother, Joseph Mascali, died in the attack. "Other
people lost their lives. My brother gave his life."
---
On the Net:
Lower Manhattan Development Corp.: http://www.renewnyc.org
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Never forget!