Comments on: Why Didn’t We Know About This?

By: Jean

Jean — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:14:56 +0000

Thanks for coming by.

By: Quill

Quill — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:08:03 +0000

I think it is a remarkable gesture on the part of the Russion government and the Russion Academy of Arts. There was news coverage only not much of it:
Applebone, Peter. “A Jersey City Teardrop for 9/11, Or a 10-Story Embarrassment?” The New York Times. 30 June 2004.

Finnegan, William. “Monument.” The New Yorker. 25 June 2007.

Associated Press. “Bogus Names Feared on New Jersey Sept. 11 Monument.” FOX News. 28 July 2006.

Associated Press. “9/11 Memorial in New Jersey Honors 40 People Too Many.” The New York Times. 10 September 2006.

CNN. “Controversial 9/11 Memorial.” 21 July 2004.

You will find additional information at http://hubpages.com/hub/TEAR-DROP

By: rummuser

rummuser — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:09:42 +0000

No Jean, I am serious on this issue. I have just posted an elaborate comment on your other blog cheerfulmonk. There are too many wheels within wheels in this world. In any case, there is little that can be done apart from what all of us are trying to do with this memorial. My comments on your other blog will clarify my thinking on this issue. rummusers last blog post..Marriage, Sugar Daddies, Mommies And Other Possibilities.

By: Jean

Jean — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:22:49 +0000

Square Peg Guy,
Thank you!

By: Square Peg Guy

Square Peg Guy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:01:57 +0000

Just a quick "Thank you" for writing about this. I can tell that you put a great deal of effort into it! Great job! Square Peg Guys last blog post..Maintaining Personal Medical Records

By: Jean

Jean — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 18:15:47 +0000

rummuser,
One of the women I talked to disagreed with you. She said with all the 9/11 monuments in the area she thought they received their fair share of publicity. And it appears that Tsereteli and his staff aren’t interested in publicizing it more, since they didn’t bother to respond.

The monument is getting a lot of attention from people interested in 9/11 monuments. When tourists visit some of them they ask if there are others in the area, and the BLRA gets phone calls from across the nation asking about it. One concierge from a hotel in Manhattan asked how their guests could get there via mass transit.

And, of course, the monument is so large because it’s really meant to be seen from the harbor. When ships come in the people on it see it before they see the Statue of Liberty. And it’s very noticeable by air.

I get the impression that you think it should get national coverage because of the Cold War. That ended a long time ago and the world has moved on. 15 years after World War II we were friends with Germany and Japan.

So I’m a bit confused. Are you simply responding from your old views of U. S.-Russian relationships or have I misread your sense of humor again? A few weeks ago over at Cheerful Monk you wrote, “Jean, bless you. You took me seriously. You must be the only one on this planet who still does.” I clearly took this question of the monument seriously enough to do a lot of research and to give it a lot of thought. Was it supposed to be just another joke?

By: rummuser

rummuser — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:04:54 +0000

Jean, all the more reason that this should have got far more publicity than it did and is receiving now. rummusers last blog post..Earrings? Try Hearings!

By: Jean

Jean — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:51:10 +0000

In the post I say the problem was “Location, location, location!” Actually it was also “Timing, timing, timing!” As I said the dedication occurred before the park was completed. One of the gals said about 100 people attended, which means they tore up the recently planted grass and it had to be reseeded. Big projects take time and there are bound to be complications.

By: Jean

Jean — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:52:08 +0000

Conrad,
On your site we discussed that it had first been planned for Jersey City. One of the gals I talked to this morning had actually worked there at the time. She said it was the right decision not to place it there…it was too big and overpowering for the area. The second place they considered in Jersey City was a pier…but it turned out the pier wasn’t strong enough. How embarrassing that would have been.

By: Jean

Jean — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:21:46 +0000

rummuser,
“I suppose that it is a measure of the times that we live in, that something as important as this does not get visited because it is difficult to reach by car!”

In fact it’s even more difficult to get to by walking or mass transit. Or swimming for that matter.

I phoned the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority a couple of days ago and received a phone call this morning. I ended up spending about a half an hour talking to two very friendly ladies there. I had known that whole peninsula is scheduled to be redeveloped and that the memorial was the first step. As I mentioned above, it was dedicated for the anniversary of 9/11, even thought the park hadn’t been completed yet.

One lady made a point I hadn’t thought of. I knew the peninsula had been a former military base which had been decommissioned and was in the long process of being redeveloped, but I had missed the significance of a gift from the Russian people being placed on the site of a base that had been closed because of the end of the Cold War:

With the end of the Cold War and decreased need for deploying US military forces, the federal government began closing down US military bases all over the world. In 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) voted to close MOTBY despite strong opposition from local, state, and federal officials.
—From the history of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority