Lower Manhattan Storefront Preserved as 9/11 Memorial

Lower Manhattan Storefront Preserved As 9/11 Memorial
August 25, 2006A Lower Manhattan storefront that's been preserved since 9/11 is back on display as a reminder of that day. The owner of Chelsea Jeans chose not to clean away all of the dust and debris that covered his merchandise. Instead, he kept some racks of clothing covered in ash as a memorial in his store. The business struggled after 9/11 and Chelsea Jeans eventually closed. But the memorial was donated and stored. It’s now on exhibit at the New York Historical Society on the Upper West Side. The curator says the store's owner wanted it to be a way for people to remember what the city went through and lost. "He felt that as soon as the dust and ash and debris and all of the wreckage was cleared and cleaned away that we might forget how awful the day was, so he decided to save a piece of his store exactly as he found it," said Amy Weinstein of the New York Historical Society. The Chelsea Jeans exhibit is open now through January - including September 11th. For more information you can go online to www.nyhistory.org.

Widow Aims to Finish Husband's 9/11 Memorial Project

Widow Aims to Finish Husband's 9/11 Memorial Project
Written for the web by Alicia Malaby, Anchor-Reporter

When JoAnn Davis visits the Septemeber 11th Memorial Plaza at Cal Expo she feels a sense of pride and patriotism. Her late husband, Larry Davis, a former Cal Expo board member, came up with the idea for the memorial after watching images of the terrorist attacks unfold on television. "This was Larry's dream," JoAnn Davis said. "He said it was his legacy to do this." She is now hoping to raise the $600,000 needed to finish the project that is two-thirds complete.In 2001, Larry Davis, who was the Director of the California Exposition and State Fair, contacted New York City officials about donating wreckage from the World Trade Center to be used for a monument. The monument's largest piece is a massive I-Beam, weighing 2000 pounds per foot. It was extracted from the rubble of the North Tower where it served as a support beam for the second floor. The beam offers state fair visitors a close-up look at the devastation. Fred Vaughn of Lodi is one of those who has stopped to ponder the vivid reminder. "It really strikes a sad core in your heart. It's just terrible."In addition to the I-Beam, fair visitors marvel at the Granite Sphere, a fountain with a floating sphere engraved with the names of the 3,071 people who were killed on 9/11. The memorial also contains two Reflection Towers and a Carillon Bell Tower with 23 bells inscribed with the words, "Let Freedom Ring." JoAnn Davis said her late husband was working to secure funding for two additional plaza memorials, one to honor the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field, and the other to remember the 184 people who died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. She says, "He just didn't want people to forget what had happened to us because it affected the whole world. It changed the whole world."A non-profit foundation has been set up to accept donations. A link to the September 11th Memorial Plaza Foundation is listed above.

Memorial Stolen?

MEMORIAL STOLEN?
Three criminal complaints over monument corrections
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By JENNIFER MARKOWITZJOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Enraged that city officials had the nerve to send the Jersey City's 9/11 memorial plaque to be fixed when they realized names of some 9/11 victims were misspelled, John Guarini, chairman of the 9/11 Memorial Committee, has slapped two city officials and the memorial's builder with theft complaints.

Guarini filed his three separate "theft by deception" complaints in Hudson County Superior Court last Saturday, soon after he discovered the 6-by 8-foot granite block missing from its perch at the foot of Grand Street.

The complaints specifically names Jersey City Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly, Assistant Business Administrator Greg Corrado, and John Burns, co-owner of Burns Brothers Memorials in Jersey City.

The complaints allege the trio removed the memorial "without the consent or permission from the complainant (Guarini), and pegs its value at $20,000.

"The act was criminal and 100 percent political," said Guarini, a Republican running against West New York Mayor Albio Sires for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's old congressional seat.
"We want the truth to come out and we will bend over backwards to end this massacre of politics," Guarini added. "I want them to stop their nonsense and lies and leave us and the memorial alone."

Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis said yesterday Guarini's complaint "is not worthy of a response."

O'Reilly authorized Burns to remove the statue in July to have four names that were misspelled - out of the 38 names of 9/11 victims on the memorial - corrected. The 9/11 Committee originally gave Burns a bad list, officials said.

Two other names had misplaced additions, such as "Jr." And for two others, it was questionable if they lived in Jersey City at the time of the World Trade Center attack. The corrected plaque will have a total of 40 names, city officials said.

The 9/11 Memorial Committee raised the money for the plaque, which was unveiled in 2002. But the city is paying for repairs.

"The city needed to get the names repaired for the anniversary of the tragedy," O'Reilly said yesterday.

"The committee is dragged down by bad leadership from the top," he added. "Fighting this will be like fighting with a one-armed man."

A hearing date has been scheduled for Sept. 12.

Maria Pignataro, spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah Healy, said that the mayor's office is moving forward with the ceremony planned for the day before - Sept. 11. The mayor plans to meet with the 9/11 Committee today "to sort out problems," she said. "We're eager to put this behind us."

Sun City event to Commemorate 9/11 Sacrafices

Sun City event to commemorate 9/11 sacrifices
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published Wednesday, August 23, 2006
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BLUFFTON -- The public is invited to an event to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, which will be held at Sun City Hilton Head.

Sun City residents and guests from Bluffton and Hardeeville will gather Monday, Sept. 11, to remember those who were lost and to honor those who reached out to help others. The program will be held at the site of the 9/11 Memorial from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in Pinckney Parking Lot across from the Purrysburg Fitness Center in Town Square.

Highlights of the event are as follows:
• Al Reuben, president of the Sun City Community Association board of directors, will be master of ceremonies.

• The Sun City Veterans Association's honor guard will present the colors.

• Richard McCollum, chairman of the Interclub Council, will lead the pledge of allegiance.

• The Sun City Singers will offer selections of patriotic music including the national anthem.

• Bagpiper David Crampton will perform inspirational pieces throughout the program.

• Joe Fragale, chaplain of the Veterans Association, will deliver the invocation.

• Neighborhood representatives will place flags around the memorial.

• Bob Taylor of the Sun City Community Theatre will read a selection that honors our country and its heritage of freedom.

• Brian Lamkin, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Columbia, will be the keynote speaker. His subject will be terrorism and its effect on all of us.

• At the conclusion of the program, resident community association board members Jo Stephey and Bob Hooper will make a presentation to the association to be housed in a place of honor in Pinckney Hall.

Making of 9/11 Memorial Exhibit Opens Sept 10th

Written by Westchester.com
Monday, 21 August 2006
White Plains, NY - “A Community Comes Together: The Making of The Rising, Westchester County September 11th Memorial” opens to the public September 7th.

Rod by rod, welded together one segment at a time, The Rising, Westchester’s September 11th Memorial, was assembled like the pieces of a gigantic erector set -- except that it was made with 10,000 linear feet of stainless steel that weighed 18 tons. And, instead of a group of youngsters, it took a brilliant team of artists, architects, engineers, computer designers, and skilled technicians and laborers to make it happen.

“A Community Comes Together: The Making of The Rising, Westchester County September 11th Memorial,” is a multi-media exhibition chronicling its five-year development. It will open to the public on September 7th and remain on view through September 26th at the Westchester Arts Council’s Arts Exchange Building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains. “The completion of The Rising marks a most significant milestone for Westchester,” County Executive Andy Spano said. “It is unique in the world and making the transition from concept to construction involved protocols and techniques that had never been tried before. It is important for the public to know—once they visit the memorial—exactly what went into creating it.”

The Rising is an 80-foot high stainless steel sculpture designed by world-renowned architect Frederic Schwartz to honor the 109 Westchester residents who died in the tragedies of September 11th. The memorial is situated at the eastern corner of the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla, and it will be formally dedicated on Sunday September 10th.

The exhibition features a wide selection of photographs, videos, architectural drawings, computerized images and other works that illustrate each stage of development. On display will be models of the structure during the design process, design drawings of the Circle of Remembrance portion and samples of the nodes that were cast to refine the shape of the sculpture.

Over 400 individuals—donors, workers, designers—will be honored along with family members at a private reception preceding the opening. “The memorial could never have happened without the hard work, determination and dedication of so many people,” Spano said. “We need to say thank you to those, who with their checkbooks, and to those, who with their hands, made The Rising possible.”“I also want to thank The Hudson River Museum, the Westchester Arts Council and Frederic Schwartz Architects all of whom helped our Communications Office put this exhibit together,’’ he added.

The Arts Exchange is located at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, at the corner of Martine Avenue, in White Plains. The Janet Peckham Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. It will also be open on Monday, September 11th, from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Planners get ready for 9/11 Memorial Walk

Planners get ready for 9/11 memorial walk
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/19/06
BY BONNIE DELANEYSTAFF WRITER
In the picnic grove at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan, the hot dogs and burgers were on the grill, the chips were on the table and the drinks were in the coolers.

A few children romped in the grass, and the adults talked and moved from table to table.

Although it appeared to be an ordinary after-work barbecue on a warm Thursday in August, there was an undercurrent of sadness and a bit of disbelief and outrage among the group.

That morning, the news media reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had raised the terror threat level for commercial aviation to severe, or red, for all flights leaving Britain for the United States. The move came in response to the arrests of 21 people in Great Britain in connection with a terrorist plot to blow up aircrafts flying from the United Kingdom to the United States.

"It was eerie," said Betty Anne O'Malley, a Little Egg Harbor resident, who is one of a group of people planning a walk on Sept. 9 to remember Patrick "Joe" Driscoll, who was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked Sept. 11, 2001, by terrorists. The plane crashed into a remote Pennsylvania field after passengers fought the hijackers. All onboard died.

"I heard about the alert and the plans to blow up commercial flights in the morning, and I knew we were having our barbecue to finalize plans for the walk for Joe this afternoon," O'Malley said. "It brought everything back about 9/11 — the disbelief and the grief."

Driscoll's son, Patrick Driscoll of Freehold, echoed O'Malley's comments after taking a break from grilling hamburgers for the group.

"It brought back a flood of feelings. It's tragic how people want to continue to destroy us," Patrick Driscoll said. "I'm grateful they found out about the plot in time to stop it."

Patrick Driscoll was among two dozen people at the planning meeting/barbecue for The Walk With Joe, a memorial 5K walk to remember his father and the passengers of Flight 93, to be held 10 a.m. Sept. 9 at Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Route 33, Manalapan.

"I'd rather focus on the walk," he said.
Now in its fifth year, the walk has "become a great day for me and my family to see my father's old friends and the people I grew up with," Driscoll said. "It's become a reunion."
O'Malley said the walk has become a living memorial to all who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. The money raised through the past four walks — more than $96,000 — was donated to charities and organizations that Driscoll had been involved with or supported, including The Samaritan Center in Manalapan, the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center, and the Christopher Gray Memorial Scholarship Fund at the University of West Virginia. Money also has been donated to the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pa., as well as to local memorials.

Michael Sullivan of Long Branch, chairman of the walk, said the the Yorketowne Club is its sponsor. The club was formed by residents of the Yorketowne development in Manalapan more than 30 years ago to provide organized sports for the children in the neighborhood. Sullivan and O'Malley are former residents of Manalapan, as was the Driscoll family.

Joe Driscoll, 70, and his wife, Maureen, lived in Manalapan for 35 years, and had moved to Point Pleasant Beach while waiting for their new home in Manchester to be built when the tragedy occurred. Driscoll died on the flight that was to take him to Yosemite National Park in California for his annual hiking trip.

"After Joe died, a few of us (members of the Yorketowne Club) were sitting around and decided we wanted to do something to give comfort to his family, so we organized the walk," Sullivan said. "Our logo is "We Will Not Forget.' "
Sullivan said that last year's walk drew 800 people. Many were those whom
Driscoll had coached in sports or taught catechism to at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Manalapan, he said.
"We couldn't let it go and do nothing. It was like it had happened to our own family," O'Malley said. "It was such a dastardly deed that when it hit this close to home we had to show this family (the Driscolls) how much we all cared.
"To many people who walk, Joe was their coach, their mentor, their friend," she said. "The walk has become something spiritual and uplifting."

Registration will take place at the reception area in the overlook section of the park, she said. At 10 a.m., opening ceremonies will begin, and they will include a blessing by Father John Bambrick, pastor at St. Thomas Moore; an American Legion honor guard, bagpiper Dennis Donovan of the state police Fife and Drum Corps, local DJ Lee Deedmyer, and the Battleground Barbershop Chorus, of which Joe Driscoll was a member.

All who register by Sept. 1 will receive a T-shirt, and those who register at the event will receive one while supplies last.
Bonnie Delaney: (732) 643-4218 or bdelaney@app.com

Honoring Victims of 9/11

World Trade Center replica in Bethel turns heads
By Donna Christopher NEWS-TIMES CORRESPONDENT

Peter Paulnak of Bethel built a Sept. 11 memorial in his yard.

BETHEL -- People are curious. They slow down. Some get out of their cars and take pictures. Others walk up to Peter Paulnak to ask questions.

They want to know why the Chestnut Ridge Road resident built a Sept. 11 memorial on his front lawn. Made out of wood and painted green, it is a 16-foot model of the World Trade Center. There is a huge heart in between the two towers. The buildings are lit at night and a broadcast antenna on the North Tower has a flashing beacon.

Paulnak spent several months building the tribute he set in place July 4.

When illuminated with red, white and blue rope lighting outlining the model, the towers appear to be floating in the darkness at night, said Paulnak.

"It stops traffic," he said at his ranch house on Daniska Drive.

Passersby ask him, "Why did I do it? Did you lose anybody?" He tells them, "No. I have no relatives or friends, know no one who died in the towers." Paulnak's objective is to keep the memory of a tragedy that affected thousands from fading. "It changed families. It changed the world," he said.

The 57-year-old plumbing and heating contractor "could not forget" seeing people people die when terrorists hijacked jet planes that hit the Twin Towers almost five years ago. It is a tribute to the victims, the heroes and the families, he said.

"They went to work on a normal autumn morning. Parents did not go home to their kids. Kids did not go home to their families. People parked in a commuter lot in Jersey and took the PATH trains to work. They had nothing to do with terror. They were people making a living and the families changed, the world changed. It was very sad. I could not forget. We should not forget."
An amateur photographer and craftsman, Paulnak is a prolific builder of models from kits and from scratch, a hobby he has spent 15 years honing, as evidenced from a massive 12-by-40 feet model railroad in his basement. Replete with six working engines, six loops totaling 500 feet of track, six sets of trains and city buildings, and a Grand Central Terminal on one end and Union Station on the other, the model is of the New Haven Line from Danbury to Norwalk, circa 1950.
The 9/11 memorial was a design from Paulnak's imagination. He decided to build one last winter and searched the Internet but came up with no plans. Paulnak then created his own."I was obsessed once I started thinking about it," he said. "I started working on it in the spring."
He learned the dimensions of the Twin Towers and decided to build his installation to scale. "The South Tower was 1,362 feet and the North Tower was 6 feet taller, 1,368 feet in total. So I built my towers about 16 feet. That's 29?3„4 inch to every 208 feet. Both towers are about 16 feet, though one is an inch taller. The mast is six feet," he said.

Paulnak wanted people to see the structure at night, so he installed lighting and makes sure they're on at 8:45 p.m., when it is pitch dark."You can hear (cars) slow down going up and down the hill," he said.

The reaction from everyone, including neighbors, is "very positive."

Paulnak was working at a client's home in Wilton Sept. 11, 2001 and watched the tragedy, like many people, on TV.

"I could hear the commotion downstairs and went down to see what was happening. I saw the tower smoking. You think it's serious but I thought it was a small commercial plane, not a commercial airline. The saddest thing was seeing the papers, stuff on people's desks that was important one minute and scattered through Manhattan the next minute. For the towers to come down that way was a hideously efficient way of killing a lot of people. They used jetliners to kill people on planes and jet fuel to kill the people inside."

He remembers watching with the homeowners as the North Tower crumbled.
"We were shocked. They were worried about a friend who was working in one of the towers." The client learned later the friend had perished.

He's been to the site in lower Manhattan. "It's a hole in the ground. We went to pay our respects." He expects no accolades from building the memorial, just knowing, from reactions so far, that his visual reminder of the tragic loss of human life prevents the memory from fading."I will never forget," he said.

First Big Contract for 9/11 Memorial Awarded

First Big Contract for 9/11 Memorial Awarded

By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: August 3, 2006

The first big construction contract for the 9/11 memorial — 118 footings from which the structure will rise within the deep hole at ground zero — was awarded today by the Port Authority and the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.

Work is to begin this month, officials said. Last March, in a preparatory job that was then hailed by Gov. George E. Pataki as the start of “actual construction,” crews built protective enclosures around the remnants of the original perimeter columns that define the twin towers’ footprints. The memorial will occupy much of this area.

E. E. Cruz & Company of Holmdel, N.J., won the $17 million contract.

The company built the foundations for the Goldman Sachs tower at 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, which made use of a slurry wall like that at the trade center, and part of the AirTrain light-rail system that burrows below the runways at Kennedy International Airport.

“This is the clearest sign yet that this memorial is actually being built and it is a powerful signal to our donors,” said Joseph C. Daniels, the acting president of the foundation, which is to raise $300 million for the memorial and museum ($130 million down, $170 million to go).

Less than a month ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site, agreed to take over construction of the memorial and museum, in the name of efficiency and economy.

“We’re excited about this because it’s the very first step in our partnership with the memorial foundation,” said Kenneth J. Ringler Jr., the executive director of the authority. “The starting of the foundations is a significant step.”

Last winter, bids came in unexpectedly high on an earlier footings and foundation contract put out by the foundation and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. That contract was shelved as officials began re-examining the overall cost estimates for the memorial. That process ultimately led them to modify the memorial design in order to meet a budget goal of $500 million.

There are a total of 142 footings for the memorial and museum, Mr. Daniels said. The balance will be covered by a subsequent contract.

From 5,000 to 10,000 cubic yards of dirt will be removed from the site through drilling, blasting and excavation, said Edward Cruz, the president of the Cruz company. The holes will reach bedrock, 4 to 10 feet below the lowermost level of the memorial. Concrete will be poured into those holes, into which about 500 tons of reinforcing steel will also be set. These concrete and steel footings will support the structure above.

Mr. Cruz recalled today that his workers were building the foundations for the Goldman Sachs tower on Sept. 11, 2001, when they watched as the terror unfolded across the Hudson River.

The company then sent equipment to Lower Manhattan to help in the cleanup, he said.

So the memorial project has a special resonance, Mr. Cruz said. “It’s something all our people want: to go back and finish the job.”