About a week after September 11, 2001, people across the nation took ownership of what we called the Site and everyone else called Ground Zero. By we, I mean those of us who were within the sphere of the flames. My seat was on the 51st Floor of the Woolworth Building facing the World Trade Center.
I had the best view of the Site of anyone in the world. You doubt me? Life Magazine took its photograph of the site from my desk chair. I never looked at it, but it was there. Those of us in my suite wanted to see the Site rebuilt as quickly as possible. We wanted new skyscrapers where the old ones had been. This was our Manhattan, and we wanted it back.
The families of the people who died had a different idea. They wanted a shrine. They called it “hallowed ground.” And so, the war over what would become of the Site began. People from Des Moines thought they got a vote. The victims families were fighting amongst themselves. The only thing that wasn’t happening was the rebuilding of the Site. It was a big wound, a gash, that sat there, ugly and useless. Vendors sold trinkets to tourists who came to see the Site and clogged the sidewalks.
It had been about six months before I was allowed to return to my office. It took another two months for my telephone service to be restored. As I sat around with nothing to do, I listened to pundits and plumbers talk about the Site as if it was theirs.
It’s happening all over again because they want to build a Mosque where the old Burlington Coat Factory store had been. I’d been in there a few times but never bought anything. It was down the block, to the west, of my building which sided on Park Place.
President Obama says that we neither favor nor punish anyone because of their religion, though he offers no opinion as to the wisdom of putting a Mosque so close to Ground Zero. There’s nothing controversial about this. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Congressman Jerry Nadler of Manhattan agree. One is a Republican, the other a Democrat. So what if Nadler waddles instead of walks, or Bloomberg is a billionaire. In New York, we respect a self-made man.
According to the news, two thirds of America thinks this is a terrible idea, disrespectful. I rely on that number since I haven’t had occasion to ask two thirds of America, but I’m fairly sure that the vast majority of them haven’t got the slightest clue what they’re talking about. Forget Congressman Peter King’s position. He’s from Long Island, and he’ll attack anything that smells of the Democrats. We like him because he’s a bulldog, but we don’t take his barking seriously. People elsewhere should understand that.
To those in Des Moines, or Kansas City, or San Diego, who want to believe that they get to have an opinion as to the area surrounding the Site, what you out-of-towners call Ground Zero, here’s a lesson in Manhattan geography. One city block is a sufficient difference to distinguish between countries. Half a block is enough to change climate zones. Entire socio-economic walls can exist on different sides of a single building. One of our buildings can be a zip code. You have nothing like it.
If someone was trying to build a Mosque on the Site, there would be one debate. But building a Mosque where the old Burlington Coat Factory used to be isn’t the Site. Not even close. It’s the equivalent of building it ten miles away in Houston. It’s a different neighborhood, climate, time zone. There are a couple of nudie bars, even another tiny Mosque, that far away, not to mention dozens of stores selling cheap junk. It’s not a pretty neighborhood. It’s not what people who don’t know Manhattan think it is. Not even close.
There’s a reason all the elected officials of both stripes in Manhattan think this whole debate is nonsense. They’ve been there and know what they’re talking about. This is being used by politicians to manufacture a debate that doesn’t exist. They are selling a fantasy to people who don’t know any better. This Mosque has absolutely nothing to do with the Site. It doesn’t besmirch anyone’s memory. It might as well be in another country for it’s impact on anything.
Build a Mosque. Build an office tower, Build a Starbucks. Whatever. Just don’t let lower Manhattan atrophy as people from elsewhere argue about things of which they understand little and know nothing. It’s not some extended graveyard. If people really wanted to make a statement about America, the World Trade Center should have been rebuilt on the Site immediately to show that no one dictates through terrorism what we do. Instead, it’s a political football nearly a decade later for people who know nothing about Manhattan. When did America become a nation of weepy hand-wringers?
If you had been here, you would have bought a trinket and felt proud of yourself for being a part of the tragedy before going home to whatever you call your city. Be happy it didn’t happen where you live and work, and stay out of things you know nothing about. This is Manhattan, and two city blocks is a world away.
Update: Here’s another New Yorker’s view of the issue. I can’t help but wonder how many nice folks in Idaho will find that this video reinforces their hatred of New York.
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If people really wanted to make a statement about America, the World Trade Center should have been rebuilt on the Site immediately to show that no one dictates through terrorism what we do.
That’s what I thought at the time, and still do. I particularly liked the five-tower design, with all of equal height, except for the middle one, double the height of the others.
I didn’t care what they built, only that they built. And then came the cries of “hallowed ground” and memorials, and I knew it was lost.
Very well said.
BRAVO!! You the man Scott.
Hear, hear. Outstanding.
I’m a full time New Yorker. I own property (a condo, not shares in a co-op) in Manhattan and I pay city taxes. I disagree with you 100%. The tower hasn’t been built because of insurance claims and union issues, not because someone in Iowa thinks this is Hallowed Ground [1]. That said, it’s the site of the worst attack on our country. You just can’t whitewash it. This mosque has symbolism beyond Democrats and Republicans. Initially called the Cordoba Initiative this project seeks to build a mosque on territory that Islam destroyed, just like Cordoba in Spain around the year 1000. It’s not a nice thought to think a religion is violent and seeks to conquer but Islam does. Read the Koran for yourself at your local B&N and remember that the later verses in the Koran supersede the earlier ones. If the creators of Park51 want peace love and understanding they should show a bit themselves and move somewhere else — like midtown — as a show of good will and respect despite their legal right to build there.
[1] [Ed. Note: Link deleted as against the rules.]
I completely disagree. The terrorists struck at America, not New York. Therefore, as an American, I do have a say in whether building a Mosque/Islamic Center two blocks from “Ground Zero” is a bad idea or not. So what if my perspective is not the same as yours? Neither is the average muslim’s in Saudia Arabia. From their perspective, the mosque could very well be being built right on top of the site. As a person who went to a combat zone for what the terrorists did to New York City, and America I have earned the right to express what I think about the proposed plan, and if it bothers me or not. To discount mine, and the opinions of the millions of American’s who were effected by this cowardly attack is ludicrous and wrong.
So you’re point is that Islam is an evil and violent religion? You’re a nutjob.
Sadly, James, you were not affected. You can believe the nonsense all you want, but you were not affected. Not at all.
You’re suffering from the delusional nonsense that’s sold to the ignorant in order to fire up patriotic spirit, get young people to put their lives on the line for nothing, and create an inexplicable sense of ownership of this tragedy to get people to accede to the government doing as it pleases in the name of safety. When 9/11 happened, you watched it on TV. The next day, your life was exactly the same it was two days earlier. No, James, you were not affected. You were, however, fooled.
Aside from Scott’s correct diagnosis that you are a nutjob, you are simply incorrect that the project seeks to build a mosque “on territory that Islam destroyed.” Putting aside whether “Islam destroyed” the towers, the project is about a random city block, which whether two blocks, or 100 blocks from ground zero, is a world away, which was the point of the post which you seem to have missed.
Congratulations on your condo ownership and thanks for the explanation of how it differs from a co-op. While I usually come here for insight into criminal law, a nice real estate lesson every now and then is like an added bonus.
This comment is why this is one of my favorite sites. That people whom normally curse NYC and SF as the home of all that is evil in the world to continue to act like they where the victims almost a decade after the event shows how wimpy we have become.
SHG,
Any time you want to have a discussion about who is delusional or ignorant, please feel free to call me. My life has changed since that day. I have one less family member. I also lost a year of spending time with my children. To say that how my life has been impacted is inconsequential because I don’t live if freakin’ NY is a bunch of crap. I’ve seen and done things that you can’t even imagine, and lot of them are a direct result of what happened that day. It doesn’t matter if I saw it on TV, or a block away. It had an impact on my life, and will most likely continue for quite some time.
You’ve made yourself into a victim, James. Nothing more. Everything that happened to you afterward was your own choice.
And James, suggesting that I call you is the sort of thing one expects from some psycho trolling the internet. Are you a psycho trolling the internet?
You kid yourself to think you speak for New Yorkers. Just speak for yourself like I do. My wife worked in the north tower but wasn’t at work yet on 9/11. We attended too many funerals for her co-workers who were there.
The site of the proposed Islamic Center is closer to the WTC site than your office at the Woolworth building. The group building the mosque thinks it is sufficiently close to the WTC site to be meaningful — that’s why they want it there in particular. So, it seems odd that you argue that the location is so far from the WTC site that the location is meaningless & those objecting to the location don’t know the location. That’s simply false.
You should not dismiss the views of those objecting as “out-siders.” Many real New Yorkers think the location of the proposed Islamic Center is not an appropriate place to celebrate Islam through the creation of an Islamic Center.
I didn’t claim to speak for all New Yorkers, but I knew plenty of people who worked and died in the WTC as well. Those of us who were down there afterward talked a lot about this, and we all wanted the Towers back and construction to begin as soon as possible. As for the distance, your wrong. There’s no discussion. It is what it is.
I’ve no doubt that there are New Yorkers, like you, who want to wallow in the death of loved ones and hatred of Muslims. There are more who want to show that we won’t spend eternity crying and hand-wringing. You want to be a victim and hate Muslims, fine. Not me.
Fortunately for me, Mayor Bloomberg disagrees with you too.
This is just to let people know that most New Yorkers, you excepted, won’t live their lives as victims.
I’m always shocked when people say that Islam is a religion of hatred and violence. Maybe because, uh, I was raised muslim and we weren’t taught that. I am finding that instead of the cream rising to the top in the U.S.,what’s rising is just ignorance. A lot of folks are just plain stupid. SHG, it’s great that you are trying to use rational argument in a case such as this, but freaks and morons (like those who flew those planes into the towers) will never see it your way. It’s all based purely on emotion, dogma, and all sorts of other inane bullshit.
There’s no argument that will get through to the ideologues and dogmatic idiots, but for those who aren’t blinded by their hatred and ignorance, there’s a chance they will let go of their emotions and start thinking again.
I hope you are right. How many people do you know, truly, who change perspective on things like this?
It’s hard to say, but I suspect that others who disagree with the majority will feel better knowing that there is someone else out there who, like them, doesn’t foam at the mouth whenever the hear the word Muslim.
I absolutely agree with you here. To associate the actions of extremist terrorists with that of an entire belief is feloniously ignorant.
The terrorists who flew the planes into the world trade center no more accurately represent Islam than does Timothy McVeigh represent Army Veterans, David Koresh represent Christianity (or Jesus for that matter), or Ted Kaczynski represent professors at UC Berkeley.
The arguments the opponents of the mosque are making lack of foundation. “If the mosque goes up, the terrorists win.” Absolute trash.
Our constitution protects the rights of individuals to practice their chosen religion without interference from the government. To disallow the building of the mosque because of anti-Islamic sentiment and emotions of 9/11 would dishonor every individual who has served or died to protect our nation and our constitution.
Posting late here.
I lived in NY briefly in 2002 and 2003- kinda hated it and moved out as soon as I could- but I worked on the same block as the proposed Islamic center, selling hiking boots. At that time, there was a nightclub next door to my work that regularly (maybe weekly) held gay bondage themed parties and there were three Vietnamese nail salons on the block that everyone assumed were fronts for something more nefarious (the thought being that three nail salons could not exist in competition with each other on the same block in lower Manhattan unless they were selling something more than manicures).
The point is, of course, that there’s nothing sacred about Park Place between Broadway and Church.