What’s in a name?
For New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a lot. Especially when it comes to the hallowed area where thousands of people perished when the World Trade Center was destroyed a decade ago — leaving behind a ruined zone quickly named Ground Zero.
Yesterday, the billionaire mayor suggested the world drop that term.
“We will never forget the devastation of the area that came to be known as Ground Zero. Never. But the time has come to call those 16 acres what they are: The World Trade Center and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum,” he said.
Delivering a breakfast speech to the Association for a Better New York, Bloomberg said ditching the grim “Ground Zero” moniker when referring to the lower Manhattan site will prove that the past doesn’t have to determine the future.
“We have turned a corner. We know that.”
John Feal — a construction and demolitions expert who started the FealGood Foundation for 9/11 victim advocacy after losing part of his foot while working at the site in the days after the attack — was incensed by the mayor’s attempt to drop “Ground Zero.”
“Once again, the mayor’s IQ does not match his checking account. Even the mayor can’t change history,” said Feal.
“9/11 happened and thousands of people that came to aid this city, before the mayor became the mayor, worked on the Pile and what we call the Ground Zero.”
The mayor’s lengthy speech — which trade center developer Larry Silverstein and celebrity architect Frank Gehry heard in the audience — drew several rounds of applause for a salute to the victims.
The mayor also cited a boom in small and big businesses around the neighborhood that had suffered a huge economic blow after the attack. And he promised that more jobs “on every step of the economic ladder” will continue to come.
For retired NYPD Officer Anthony Flammia, the soil is “sacred” and the dollars-and-cents talk is cheap.
“After 9/11, the words ‘Ground Zero’ and ‘never forget’ came up. And [Bloomberg] is forgetting,” said Flammia.
“Thousands and thousands who either died there or got sick because of being there will call it Ground Zero for the rest of their lives.”
For New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a lot. Especially when it comes to the hallowed area where thousands of people perished when the World Trade Center was destroyed a decade ago — leaving behind a ruined zone quickly named Ground Zero.
Yesterday, the billionaire mayor suggested the world drop that term.
“We will never forget the devastation of the area that came to be known as Ground Zero. Never. But the time has come to call those 16 acres what they are: The World Trade Center and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum,” he said.
Delivering a breakfast speech to the Association for a Better New York, Bloomberg said ditching the grim “Ground Zero” moniker when referring to the lower Manhattan site will prove that the past doesn’t have to determine the future.
“We have turned a corner. We know that.”
John Feal — a construction and demolitions expert who started the FealGood Foundation for 9/11 victim advocacy after losing part of his foot while working at the site in the days after the attack — was incensed by the mayor’s attempt to drop “Ground Zero.”
“Once again, the mayor’s IQ does not match his checking account. Even the mayor can’t change history,” said Feal.
“9/11 happened and thousands of people that came to aid this city, before the mayor became the mayor, worked on the Pile and what we call the Ground Zero.”
The mayor’s lengthy speech — which trade center developer Larry Silverstein and celebrity architect Frank Gehry heard in the audience — drew several rounds of applause for a salute to the victims.
The mayor also cited a boom in small and big businesses around the neighborhood that had suffered a huge economic blow after the attack. And he promised that more jobs “on every step of the economic ladder” will continue to come.
For retired NYPD Officer Anthony Flammia, the soil is “sacred” and the dollars-and-cents talk is cheap.
“After 9/11, the words ‘Ground Zero’ and ‘never forget’ came up. And [Bloomberg] is forgetting,” said Flammia.
“Thousands and thousands who either died there or got sick because of being there will call it Ground Zero for the rest of their lives.”
