Local residents who think the proposed “Empty Sky” statewide 9/11 memorial will block too much of the views from Liberty State Park became even more irate earlier this month when Gov. Jon Corzine gave his public approval for it to be built there.
Now, the Friends of Liberty State Park (FOLSP), a local volunteer group that has helped oversee the preservation of the park since 1988, plan to bring a lawsuit to stop construction of the 30-foot-high memorial until other designs and new locations in the park are considered.
In addition, state Assemblyman Louis Manzo will introduce a bill Monday that could stop future memorials from being built without a more public process.
A jury including victims’ relatives chose the memorial out of 320 entries submitted in 2004 as part of the New Jersey Memorial Design Competition, which former Gov. James McGreevey initiated.
However, there were no public hearings at the time.
Corzine at first had been reticent to state his stance on the $12 million memorial, instead deferring to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the operation of the park.
But after many recent letters and a public hearing spurred by activists in July, Corzine had to comment.
The state received bids from construction companies by its Oct. 11 deadline, and recently leveled the mound of the dirt at the memorial site to create the memorial’s base.Defending his creation
“Empty Sky” is slated to be have two 30-foot high, 200-foot long stainless steel walls perched on a 10-foot high grassy knoll.
The memorial will be placed at the northeast end of Liberty State Park, in the plaza area near the old Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal.
The designer of the memorial is New York City architect Frederic Schwartz. Schwartz is also the designer of another 9/11 memorial in Westchester County, as well as the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
Assemblyman Manzo recently complained that the memorial is not a “tribute to victims of 9/11 but to the artist,” but in an interview last week, Schwartz disagreed, saying it is “a fitting tribute.”
“I am doing this project not for the governor,” he said, “but for those who lost loved ones on 9/11 – the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children.” Manzo’s bills
Manzo on Monday will introduce, in front of the State Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste Committee, a bill requiring the state to hold a local public hearing prior to any major development in a state park.
Manzo said the bill came about as a result of the 9/11 memorial being placed at its current location. The only hearing was held recently after activists complained.
“Governor McGreevey signed an executive order that pushed the project through with very little public notice,” he said, “creating the problems we have now.”
The bill will be introduced, then go before the state Assembly and Senate. Friends becoming legal foes
Sam Pesin, of the FOLSP, said last week. “It is a sad failure of Governor Corzine’s leadership that he did not listen to the heartfelt opposition. He’s sending a terrible message about the democratic process.”
He said the lawsuit will be filed either at the end of the month or in mid-November, but he couldn’t offer any further details until it is filed.
Pesin said he still “urges people to continue to write their local officials” about their opposition. Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com