With the sixth anniversary of the attack just days away, Ground Zero is a busy construction site.  There are now more than 600 construction workers busily preparing for the construction of four buildings and all the peripheral that they demand.

It is not that no work has been going on, because much has been accomplished.  However, not noticeably above ground.  Political and financial wrangling has had a choke collar effect on the building of, what many New Yorkers and Americans want to be a thumb in the eye of the enemies.

The transit center that you cannot see when viewing the pit, which is the main picture that the media usually gives us of Ground Zero, is a wonderment.

Did you know that the streets of lower Manhattan are virtually at sea-level, and the Freedom Tower's first four pillars are anchored to the bedrock 70-feet below street level.  Retaining walls are crucial in keeping the waters of the Hudson River out of the site, which will reach 7-stories below sea-level.

The New York Governor went on to praise David Childs, who is responsible for the changes and Daniel Libeskind, master site planner for the rebuilding project that includes  the Freedom Tower.

Mayor Bloomberg said, "It is also an important part of our vision to transform Lower Manhattan into a vibrant 24-hour residential and commercial neighborhood."  This is remarkable in a city with so many powerful and ambitious politicians: each of the five counties (boroughs) that make up New York City (all with huge populations) has a  Borough President   There is also a City Council, which is populated by many very aggressive and even radical members who are all known for their ability to flexing their muscles.

An extremely important component to the World Trade Center site is the transportation hub, of which few understand the real importance.

Debate over how much of the new project would be purely Memorial in nature covers the full spectrum of possibilities.  An example is the difference between Governor Potaki and Mayor Bloomberg.  Unlike George Potaki, Michael Bloomberg was not in office at the time of the attack that caused the demolition of what had been the dominant feature of the New York skyline since the early 1970s, however, Bloomberg has been a prominent figure in both New York City and its financial district for many years.  Mayor Bloomberg is looking to replace the 11 million square feet of office space lost on September 11, 2001, as well as have a memorial.  Governor Potaki, on the other hand said in a recent speech that he was committed to have a memorial only.  Not a few hard-nosed New Yorkers have gone to the extreme of stating that New York should rebuild the towers even higher than they were before, higher, in fact, than any other building.  It’s been too long since NYC has held the Tallest Building in the World title, is the opinion of many of these people. 

In fact, the plans released today seem all to be at varying points of middle ground.  The plans are all for multiple buildings, between 4 and 6, with none of the structures reaching as high as the 110 stories of the Twin Towers.  Each plan has in common a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack, some of whose remains it was said this week, may never be recovered.

Another common aspect of these proposals is a new public transportation hub.  Another fact worth noting is that New York Cities Financial District is where many well to do people work.  Many of these people live in places pretty far from lower Manhattan.  Many live out of the metropolitan area, which includes northern and central New Jersey, in places as Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  For these people the morning commute is more that just a train ride, but it entails a good drive to the train. 

An aside: I remember, I was a mere babe at the time, when Nelson Rockefeller was Governor of New York.  He lived at the family estate in Sleepy Hollow, then North Tarrytown, and took a boat, a reconditioned World War II PT Boat, to his offices in the City or up in Albany.  

Some interesting points made by John Whitehead, Chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. about:

The relationship of these proposals to the end results:

• The six plans are not final blueprints. 

• Each of the plans represents a package of proposed ideas. 

• These ideas can be mixed and matched and reconstituted based on public input.

Memorials

• Each plan begins with a memorial acknowledging that as we rebuild, we must remember.

Matthew Higgins, who is a spokesman for the LMDC, said that the release of the 6 plans is a starting point for a dialogue.  He indicated that the next step would be to actively engage the public through as many different forums as possible.

More to come.

Interesting Links:

• Artist renderings of the 6 Plans
• World Tallest Buildings
• Skyscraper Diagrams
• Skyscraper Museum
• New York’s Skyscrapers