31 Named to Raise Funds for Memorial to Sept. 11

By DAVID W. DUNLAP, December 2, 2004

The task of raising half a billion dollars to build a World Trade Center memorial, a museum building and a performing arts center will fall to a foundation made up of captains of finance and real estate, cultural leaders, media heavyweights and seven relatives of those killed on 9/11. After months of searching and one awkward false start last spring when two prospective co-chairmen, Jerry I. Speyer and Sanford I. Weill, backed away from the job, Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg were able yesterday to name 31 members of the board of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. John C. Whitehead, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, will head the foundation until the board members have a chance to meet next month and select a chairman. Until yesterday afternoon, even the designated members did not know whom all their colleagues would be. Heading the list of boldface names, in one arena or another, are Robert DeNiro, who has been a presence in TriBeCa for many years; Barbara Walters of ABC; David Rockefeller, who was deeply involved in the original development of the World Trade Center; and Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company. The roster seems to reflect some geopolitical ticket-splitting, with the chairmen of giant downtown companies like American Express, American International Group and the Bank of New York balanced by Robert Wood Johnson IV, the owner of the New York Jets, who hopes to build a football stadium on the far West Side. "You probably won't find a board of any higher caliber anywhere in the city," said Mayor Bloomberg, who knows a thing or two about philanthropy. "And that's really exactly what is called for because there isn't a more noble task before us." The mission of the nonprofit foundation is to oversee and coordinate fund-raising and construction of the memorial and the cultural buildings at the trade center site. It will also own and operate the buildings. Though the foundation will not formally begin raising money until next year, Mr. Bloomberg all but made the second big pledge as he stood at the lectern in the lobby of the American Express headquarters in the World Financial Center at Battery Park City. "As the mayor of New York and also as a citizen of New York," he said, "I plan to do my part to ensure these projects reach their full potential." The first big pledge may be said to have come last week, when Governor Pataki declared in a speech that the highest priority for the remaining $816 million in unallocated federal grants controlled by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation should be "to guarantee that we have the funds necessary to build the memorial." Conceivably, then, the foundation may start its $500 million campaign with several hundred million dollars already available. Mr. Pataki had already said that four former presidents - Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Ford - would be honorary members. One of the working members will be Brian Mulroney, a former prime minister of Canada, whose presence symbolizes the international importance of the memorial, said Kevin M. Rampe, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and a foundation board member. Mr. Speyer, the chairman and chief executive of Tishman Speyer Properties, whose portfolio includes Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building, agreed to serve on the board that he would not lead. "I wanted to be helpful but, frankly, it was a matter of time," he said yesterday. Two jurors in the memorial design competition, Paula Grant Berry and Vartan Gregorian, will have the chance to solicit money for the project whose fate they helped decide. No downtown resident is on the board now, but one will be named in coming weeks as the board reaches full strength, Mr. Rampe said. Asked about the appropriateness of including Mr. Johnson of the Jets at a time when the team has so much business with the government, Mr. Rampe said he was a leading philanthropist. "Quite frankly," Mr. Rampe said, "it would have an omission not to have him on the board." The members announced yesterday are: Paula Grant Berry. Member of the memorial jury, vice chairwoman of the International Freedom Center. Wife of David S. Berry, who died in the south tower. Sir John Bond. Chairman of HSBC Holdings. Debra A. Burlingame. Founder of 9/11 Families for America. Sister of Charles Burlingame, captain of American Airlines Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon. Russell L. Carson. Co-founding partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private investment firm. Kenneth I. Chenault. Chairman and chief executive of American Express. Robert DeNiro. Michael D. Eisner. Chief executive of the Walt Disney Company. Maurice R. Greenberg. Chairman and chief executive of the American International Group. Vartan Gregorian. President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Agnes Gund. President emerita of the Museum of Modern Art. William B. Harrison Jr. Chairman and chief executive of J. P. Morgan Chase & Company. Lee Ielpi. Director. Vice president of the September 11th Families Association, which is organizing the Tribute Visitors Center at ground zero. Father of Jonathan Lee Ielpi, a firefighter who died at the trade center. Monica Iken. Founder of September's Mission, a foundation that supports the development of a memorial park at ground zero, and the wife of Michael Iken, who died in the south tower. Robert Wood Johnson IV. Owner of the New York Jets. Thomas S. Johnson. Retired chairman and chief executive of GreenPoint Financial Corporation. Father of Scott Johnson, who died in the south tower. Anthoula Katsimatides. Assistant vice president for family relations at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Sister of John Katsimatides, who died in the north tower. Henry R. Kravis. Founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, an investment firm. Ira M. Millstein. Senior partner at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Brian Mulroney. Former prime minister of Canada. Richard D. Parsons. Chairman and chief executive of Time Warner. Peter G. Peterson. Chairman and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, an investment firm. Kevin M. Rampe. President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Thomas A. Renyi. Chairman and chief executive of the Bank of New York Company. David Rockefeller. Tom Rogér. One of the founders of Families of September 11. Father of Jean Rogér, flight attendant on the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the north tower. E. John Rosenwald Jr. Vice chairman of Bear, Stearns & Company. Jerry I. Speyer. Chairman and chief executive of Tishman Speyer Properties. Anne M. Tatlock. Chairman and chief executive of Fiduciary Trust. Barbara Walters. ABC News correspondent. John C. Whitehead. Chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. John E. Zuccotti. Co-chairman of Brookfield Properties Corporation, which owns the World Financial Center.

New Board Of Directors Chosen For WTC MemorialDecember 1, 2004

A new board of directors was chosen Wednesday to build, own and operate the World Trade Center memorial. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki were on hand for the announcement at 3 World Financial Center. Among the 31 board members of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation are business leaders, philanthropists and victims’ families. The list includes Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, actor Robert De Niro, broadcaster Barbara Walters, and Monica Iken, who lost her husband Michael in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the WTC. “I just really feel that Michael is looking down on me now and is honored that I’m here for him and all those who are not here anymore,” said Iken. The four living former U.S. presidents – Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford - will serve as honorary members of the board. “Generations from now, people not just from around America but from around the globe will come here, and they will want to have that same feeling of what happened and the ability to appreciate and understand the magnitude of the sacrifice and the loss,” said Pataki. “There isn't a more noble task before us than to honor the [more than] 2,700 souls who lost their lives on September 11,” said Bloomberg. It took months to put the board together, and it still doesn't have a leader. Several big names turned down the job, so John Whitehead of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will be in charge for now. Officials insist they aren't having problems finding a permanent chair. “It's not a matter of picking somebody who can raise the most money and is the biggest philanthropist. The key here is the individual who is going to lead this foundation is going to have a real moral responsibility,” said the LMDC’s Kevin Rampe. The board is responsible for raising $500 million for the memorial and cultural institution at the site. The memorial, called “Reflecting Absence,” will include reflecting pools and sunken voids around the footprints of the twin towers. The site will also serve as a final resting place for all unidentified remains of those killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and February 26, 1993.

Donations Slow for Memorial at Ground Zero

By Glenn Collins, The New York Times, February 27, 2006

Two years after the designs for a memorial at the World Trade Center were unveiled with great fanfare, the nonprofit group charged with raising $500 million to pay for it is far from its goal, and has announced no significant contributions for the last three months. The memorial fund-raising campaign — born of a drawn-out, emotionally charged design process — appears to have been hindered by a lengthy quest for the group's chief executive, the political battle over a cultural center on the site, a money-raising hiatus in deference to Hurricane Katrina relief, and a long search for a 21-person staff. The group, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, will not permit naming rights — donations made in exchange for the prominent display of a person's or company's name — and this could further impede large gifts, officials acknowledge. The effort also faces recriminations from some victims' family members over the memorial — the sort that stymied other components of the rebuilding plans for Lower Manhattan — which have reached new intensity because construction is scheduled to begin next month. Last week, the memorial foundation said it had raised $102.3 million on its own — the same figure it offered in November. Earlier, it received $200 million in federal money from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. The foundation says it hopes to collect the total $500 million by Sept. 11, 2009, when it is scheduled to open the memorial, which will feature twin 176-foot-square pools, a landscaped plaza and galleries honoring the dead. Gretchen Dykstra, the foundation's president and chief executive, said that she was comfortable with the amount of money raised so far, and that the construction start of the memorial "is important to donors, so they will know that the work is actually happening." The foundation is preparing an ambitious worldwide marketing campaign to raise the remaining $197.7 million to cover the costs, at a time when many groups are continuing to solicit donations to aid victims of the Asian tsunami, two Gulf Coast hurricanes, the Pakistani earthquake, the Philippine mudslide and other disasters far more recent than the 2001 terrorist attacks. "I would say this is a challenging goal, because the foundation can't now rely on the shock value of the original tragedy," said Leo P. Arnoult, a fund-raising consultant not connected with the memorial. "But given the magnitude of the event, perhaps the fund-raising could be presented as something very affirming." The difficulties faced by the project recall the uproar that has attended other major components of the site plan. The International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center were forced off the site after protests from victims' relatives and others who complained, among other things, that the centers might be used to present anti-American views of 9/11. And construction of the Freedom Tower, the skyscraper planned as the site's centerpiece, was delayed nine months after New York Police Department's counterterrorism experts rejected its initial design. The memorial plans now also face challenges from a coalition of victims' relatives who question the site's security, and preservationists concerned about construction plans. Some family members argue that the site will be a target for new terrorist attacks, and that its underground location makes it difficult to escape in an emergency. "We know from 1993, and from 2001, that the terrorists love that site, and it will be a very attractive target again," said Debra Burlingame, a memorial foundation board member, whose brother, Charles F. Burlingame, was the captain of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. "I believe in the memorial and I support the memorial process, but right now I wouldn't go into the memorial," said Monica Iken, another memorial foundation board member, whose husband, Michael, died in the south tower. "Even if you have enough egress and exit points, it's so far below ground. If there is an emergency, most people will just run back the way they came in." Some security officials have said the memorial has passed their inspection. James K. Kallstrom, the state's top antiterror official, has been reviewing ground zero security and said in an interview that "the overall plan is fine; there is nothing in our view that would delay the start of construction." William H. Goldstein, the foundation's executive vice president for construction, said that the memorial and museum would be safe, adding that they would conform to building safety codes of both the city and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site. According to the development corporation, the memorial will have eight exits — two ramps and six emergency staircases. At the museum there are to be seven emergency exit stairs. But the concerns raised by family members, even if they prove to be unfounded, could create a public relations headache for the memorial officials. A day after the 13th anniversary of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, whose victims would also be honored in the memorial, family members and others plan to rally at ground zero today to oppose the current design plans. Such protests are unlikely to aid the fund-raising efforts. Some preservationists also are concerned about the possible partial obliteration of historic perimeter-column remnants and concrete footings from the twin towers. Robert J. Kornfeld, an architect on the board of directors of the Historic Districts Council, has estimated that more than 50 percent of those footprints will be affected by construction. The footprints are a powerful symbol to many families, since remains of 42 percent of the victims have not been identified. But, officials argue, the public process is long over, and now is not the time to revisit design issues: more than 100 people have been working for a year and a half to prepare the intricate plans for the construction of the $330 million memorial and the $160 million underground museum. "The jury made a selection years ago, and now we begin to build," Ms. Dykstra said. "I hate to think anyone will not be happy with it, but I think we will move ahead." Officials expect that potential donors will draw a patriotic distinction between natural disasters and the horrors of the terrorist attack. A Zogby poll taken 10 days before Hurricane Katrina found that 87 percent of Americans believed 9/11 was the most significant historical event in their lifetime. So far, donations have come primarily from foundations, corporations and deep-pocket private donors. Ms. Dykstra declined to say what percentage had come from smaller contributors and members of the general public, or to estimate the average donation size, but the foundation has publicly reported a $25 million gift from the Starr Foundation, $15 million from Deutsche Bank and $10 million from the Bank of New York. In the future, a majority of contributions is expected to come from similar large corporate, foundation and private donors, which the memorial foundation has continued to solicit in recent months. Mr. Arnoult, the fund-raising consultant, who has no knowledge of the internal workings of the foundation, said it was likely that the foundation staff had recently been focusing on the preparation of its national public advertising campaign, which is to be rolled out in late March or April. "They will have to hit it hard now," he said, adding that to begin the public phase of a campaign, "you want to have 60 to 70 percent committed, and they're close to that." To Ms. Burlingame, the board member, the public campaign is crucial. "If everyone in the country donated just a dollar, we'd be there," she said. For the first time this year, New York State residents will be able to check off a memorial donation of any size on their tax returns. Beyond this, the foundation is planning a cornucopia of special events, direct marketing, and Internet advertising campaigns, and is planning to take aim at 75,000 donors on its e-mail list by the end of March. Ms. Dykstra will visit victims' family groups in England as part of an outreach effort to the 92 home countries of Sept. 11 victims. The urgent push to build the memorial by the 2009 target date is the key, officials say, to future construction and development at ground zero. "The debates are over," said Gov. George E. Pataki in an interview earlier this month. "Now it's time to build. It is a moral obligation."

Memorial Park

The Brief History of Memorial ParkSince the early hours following the attacks of September 11th, providing for the identification and safekeeping of the victims' remains has been the responsibility of the Medical Examiner's office.

The Purpose of the ParkMemorial Park is maintained by the Medical Examiner's office and will be in place until the identification process is complete. You will not see any remains while at Memorial Park.

Visiting Memorial ParkFamilies and their invited guests can visit Memorial Park - it is not open to the general public. To schedule a visit, please call 212-447-7884 from 9 am to 9 pm seven days a week. Scheduled visits are available from 8:00 am - 9:00 am, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm, and 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Up to 20 people may visit per hour. When scheduling an appointment, you will be asked to provide the names of all of those people who will accompany you. Children 12 and younger can visit Memorial Park on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Why People VisitMemorial Park, located on 30th street adjacent to the Medical Examiner's Office, is the temporary resting place for the victims of September 11th. It was built and is maintained by people from many callings and places. It is a place of peace where many have come to pay their respects, and a place of honor for all of those lost. It is a hollowed space where dignity reigns and a grieving nation honors its heroes. Most importantly, it is the place from which this nation returns to families the remains of their loved ones, with the deepest of sympathy, respect, honor and dignity.

What's InsideHoused inside Memorial Park (a large white tent) are a series of refrigerated units holding the remains of all of those lost in the attacks. The remains are kept here until they are identified and returned to the family. The remains are cooled to preserve DNA and to slow decomposition. All of the remains are kept separate with their own unique identification number.

During Your VisitWhen you arrive at the Medical Examiner's Office please check in at the lobby. Please be mindful that while Memorial Park remains a working facility, we also consider it a sacred place. Therefore, unscheduled visits are not available and scheduled visits must end on time. If you are late for your appointment, you will be able to visit, but only until the scheduled end of that visit. The first time you visit our facility, you will be asked to show a photo ID. At that time (if you choose) you will be issued a photo ID which you can use to visit Memorial Park in the future. Any family member can obtain a photo ID. All family members and guests must bring photo identification whenever they visit Memorial Park. The Mayor's Office of Community Affairs has adopted this ID as the universal family ID for all future WTC events. Staff members of Project Liberty will escort family members from our lobby to Memorial Park. Project Liberty is a FEMA funded disaster-recovery program created by the NY State Office of Mental Health to provide free crisis counseling and referrals to people affected by the WTC disaster. They can be reached at (800)-LIFENET or online at www.projectliberty.state.ny.us. You are welcome to bring photographs, flowers or other mementos, which can be left at Memorial Park.

Getting to Memorial ParkMemorial Park is located at the Medical Examiner's Office at 520 First Avenue (at 30th Street) in Manhattan. Subway Take the six train to either 28th street or 33rd street and then proceed east to First Avenue and 30th street. Driving Take FDR drive to the 23rd street exit to First Avenue. At First Avenue, make a right and go to 30th street. Parking is available at NYU (29th and First) or at other nearby lots. There is metered parking on Second Avenue. If you have any questions, please call us at 212-447-7884, 9am-9pm seven days a week.

Construction Begins on WTC Memorial

NEW YORK (AP) - Without political ceremony, construction began on the World Trade Center memorial Monday morning, while relatives of some of the Sept. 11 victims headed to court to fight plans to build over the twin towers' historic footprints.

Trucks rolled down a ramp into the site with lumber and equipment, and about a dozen construction workers began cleaning the memorial area and installing protective wooden coverings over parts of the original foundation.
After six to eight weeks of preliminary work, concrete will be poured to create footings to support the "Reflecting Absence" design.

Gov. George Pataki last week called the event "a very important milestone," but no groundbreaking ceremony was planned for the next several weeks. Officials said they wanted to meet a schedule to build the memorial by 2009.

Sept. 11 families that oppose the underground memorial design are trying to stop the work before it is set in concrete.

The Coalition of 9/11 Families last week filed a lawsuit charging that the memorial would damage the historic footprints. Preservation groups have made similar arguments in letters to rebuilding officials. A court hearing was scheduled Monday, and other family members planned a protest rally.

"There is always opportunity until concrete is poured," said Rosaleen Tallon, the sister of a firefighter killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Tallon began sleeping outside her brother Sean's firehouse across from the trade center site last week, and said Monday's construction work wouldn't stop her protest.

The "Reflecting Absence" design, by architect Michael Arad, was chosen two years ago out of more than 5,200 competition entries. It marks the fallen towers near their footprints with two stone reflecting pools at street level, surrounded by trees. The pools go 70 feet below ground, where visitors find surrounding each pool the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 trade center bombing.

Families have said the memorial would dishonor the dead by placing their names below street level and might be difficult to evacuate quickly.

Stefan Pryor, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency in charge of ground zero rebuilding, said the design would "fulfill the highest standards of both safety and beauty." He said the agency would continue to hear family members' concerns.

A private foundation still has hundreds of millions of dollars to raise to build the memorial and a museum. A $490 million budget will be reevaluated by the project's contractor over the next few months.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has raised just over $100 million of a $500 million goal; it still has not calculated the costs of operating the facility.

Foundation president Gretchen Dykstra said the beginning of construction should jump-start fundraising and quiet skeptics who thought no plans would be realized at the site.

Work Starts on World Trade Center Memorial

NEW YORK (AP) -- There's no groundbreaking planned for several weeks, but prep work is to begin today for the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center, as opponents head to court to try to stop it.Ten workers will begin cleaning the site today, checking the World Trade Center footprints for damage and installing protective coverings over parts of the original foundation.Some 9/11 families that oppose the underground memorial design are trying to stop the construction before it is set in concrete. The Coalition of Nine-Eleven Families has filed a lawsuit charging that the memorial would damage the historic footprints. Preservation groups have made similar arguments in letters to rebuilding officials. A court hearing is scheduled today and other family members plan a protest rally. Officials have said they want to build the memorial by 2009.

Work to Commence on 9/11 memorial

By Laura Trevelyan BBC News, New York

Arad's design is centred around two shallow pools
Enlarge ImageConstruction finally begins on Monday at Ground Zero in New York of the memorial and museum remembering the 2,900 victims of the 9/11 attacks.
The design, Reflecting Absence, by architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker is controversial and attracting protests from some of the bereaved.
At 0800 (1300 GMT) 10 workers will quietly arrive to begin work on the memorial, due to open in 2009.

There will be no public ceremony - a low-key start after a fraught build-up. Deadline
The memorial to be sited in the footprints of the Twin Towers and the underground museum face complaints from some relatives of those who died.
They say the design is inappropriate and unsafe.
A protest rally is planned for Monday.

The president of the memorial foundation says while she respects the feelings of those who object, family members were consulted and it is time to begin work.

The 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site is beset with difficulties.

Tuesday is the deadline for owners, the port authority and the developers to resolve their differences over when the office space gets built.

Next month work is due to begin on the Freedom Tower, the skyscraper intended to fill the void in Lower Manhattan's skyline.