Mayor Bloomberg Mocks the Victims of 911

The legal team for The Coalition of the Preservation of Ground Zero pointed out to the Chair of the LMCBLC that the LPC was rushing to make a decision without having the full vote from the board, which is scheduled to meet later this month, after the LPC is scheduled to vote on the matter this Tuesday, July 13. The few board members simply said that this is the procedure. The facts, however, are undeniable. The LPC has had the Property “calendared” for landmark consideration since 1989, tabled for 22 years. Only within the last two weeks has it provided the public notice that it would be making a decision. It is doing this without full public input, and in the dead of summer, when many people aren't around to provide input.

One phone call from the Mayor's office could get this vote scheduled for next week tabled, so that the legal team for the Coalition for the Preservation of Ground Zero could prepare the case for landmark status. Considering the sudden rush to schedule this all-important vote, it seems a small accommodation.

The LMCBLC is also completely ignoring the significance of the Property in light of the 9/11 attacks, given the properties' proximity to Ground Zero and the fact that pieces of one of the planes landed in the building. The LMCB actually favored landmark status several decades ago, and now the increased historical and cultural significance of the property is being completely disregarded. The rush to deny this property landmark status so that a mosque can be constructed for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 — when the Freedom Tower that has been kicked around for nearly a decade as a political football will still not be finished — is disrespectful to the public at large, and especially to the 9/11 victims and their families. At the very least, due process demands that this vote be delayed so that the community has a full opportunity to be heard.

The only thing worse than Bloomberg's pernicious callousness, in his refusal to meet with the 911 families on this issue, is the media's silence -- Bloomberg Media.