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Robert. Jack, what are you thinking.......
A construction executive touched off a furor yesterday after he said hundreds of hardhats should be forced to work near Ground Zero during the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks - declaring, "It is time to move on."
The E-mail sent by Robert McNally, a Tishman Contruction vice president, and a similar - but less harshly worded - E-mail written by an executive at the firm that's redeveloping the disaster site, were repudiated by both companies.
After inquiries from the Daily News, Tishman and Silverstein Properties said they would abide by a police call for a 24-hour moratorium on work at and around Ground Zero Thursday. Police officials have cited security and safety concerns surrounding the planned memorial ceremonies.
The controversy ignited Wednesday, when McNally got a memo from the city calling for the work stoppage and shot off a reply: "Not wanting to sound like a hard ***, 9/11 happened two years ago."
Yesterday morning, Jack Klein, who oversees the rebuilding of 7 WTC for Silverstein, fired off his own E-mail.
"Unless the City of New York convinces the unions to declare 9/11 a union holiday, we will open and work," Klein wrote.
Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Silverstein Properties boss Larry Silverstein, said construction at 7 WTC will come to a halt Thursday. He called Klein's E-mail "inappropriate and unauthorized."
Daniel Tishman, chairman of Tishman Construction, reacted similarly. "Mr. McNally is a midlevel staff person and is not authorized to take any position like that," Tishman said in a statement. "He's absolutely wrong."
A Verizon spokesman added, "There will not be any construction outside ... 140 West St." on Thursday.
The E-mail sent by Robert McNally, a Tishman Contruction vice president, and a similar - but less harshly worded - E-mail written by an executive at the firm that's redeveloping the disaster site, were repudiated by both companies.
After inquiries from the Daily News, Tishman and Silverstein Properties said they would abide by a police call for a 24-hour moratorium on work at and around Ground Zero Thursday. Police officials have cited security and safety concerns surrounding the planned memorial ceremonies.
The controversy ignited Wednesday, when McNally got a memo from the city calling for the work stoppage and shot off a reply: "Not wanting to sound like a hard ***, 9/11 happened two years ago."
Yesterday morning, Jack Klein, who oversees the rebuilding of 7 WTC for Silverstein, fired off his own E-mail.
"Unless the City of New York convinces the unions to declare 9/11 a union holiday, we will open and work," Klein wrote.
Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Silverstein Properties boss Larry Silverstein, said construction at 7 WTC will come to a halt Thursday. He called Klein's E-mail "inappropriate and unauthorized."
Daniel Tishman, chairman of Tishman Construction, reacted similarly. "Mr. McNally is a midlevel staff person and is not authorized to take any position like that," Tishman said in a statement. "He's absolutely wrong."
A Verizon spokesman added, "There will not be any construction outside ... 140 West St." on Thursday.
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