Some Bayonne residents are very upset about the proposed relocation of the “Tear Drop” memorial in Bayonne, a 100-foot high monument to the victims of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.
“We don’t know where it is going to be moved,” said Frank Perrucci, chairman of the September 11th …Bayonne Remembers Committee, which is the group partly responsible for bringing the monument to Bayonne.
“To Struggle Against World Terrorism” is a 100-foot monument by world-renowned artist Zurab Tsereteli and a gift to the United States from the people of Russia, featuring a single silver tear which – according to Tsereteli – is shed perpetually for the victims of the terrorists’ attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Then-Russian President Vladimir Putin came to Bayonne in 2005 for the groundbreaking; Former U.S. President Bill Clinton – a personal friend of the artist – attended the unveiling ceremony in 2006.
“I’ve been getting calls from a lot of people,” Perrucci said. “I don’t know what to tell them because no one has told me yet where they intend to move the monument.”
On July 27, the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority voted to approve the sale of three development districts at the former Military Ocean Terminal of Bayonne (MOTBY), in which Harbor View Park is located. The 100-foot monument is the centerpiece of the park, a gift from the people of Russia in memory of the nearly 3,000 people who died as a result of the terrorists’ attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Located at the northeasternmost point of MOTBY, Harbor View Park is a key part of the Port Authority’s future plans for a container port, and BLRA officials said the monument will be relocated, although they gave no indication as to where. Theories abound, but information is hard to come by.
One report suggested the monument might be moved to Pennsylvania.
“It is not going to Pennsylvania,” Perrucci said. “But I’ll be meeting with the committee soon. So far no one has reached out to us.”
Where is it going?
Although some suggested the monument might be relocated to Rutkowski Park – a city-owned park on Newark Bay – Perrucci said that is not an option either.
The most credible reports suggest that the monument will be relocated on another portion of the former Military Ocean Terminal on property still owned by the city.
Officials who asked not to be named said moving the park and the monument poses some legal issues, since the construction and development made use of state Green Acre grants, Hudson County Open Space grants, and other state and federal money.
“Green Acres requires the city to go through a process before it can sell the land,” said this official. “But the city has not gone through that process.”
Relocating the monument poses yet another problem because it was designed to be within view of the attack zone, the spot where the World Trade Center once stood.
Petition has begun
Robert “Captain Bob” Terzi, a local cab driver, said he has started a petition against moving the monument, saying this is one of the key stops in a tour of Bayonne he offers.
“It’s in a perfect location,” he said. “You had a president come here to put it where it is, and that’s where it should stay.”
Terzi said he’s already gathered more than 100 signatures in a few days.
“My sister-in-law nearly died in both attacks on the World Trade Center,” he said. “This is a monument New York didn’t want, Jersey City didn’t want, but we wanted it here in Bayonne. It shouldn’t be touched. If I have to, I’ll call Russia to tell them what they have planned for the monument Russia gave us.”
Since its opening, the monument has become one of Bayonne’s best kept secrets. Matthew Dorans of the Bayonne Chamber of Commerce said the most frequent question asked in communications generated from the chamber’s Web site is whether or not the monument is real.
But Harbor View Park is also host to a smaller memorial to the 12 Bayonne victims of both the 2001 and 1994 terrorist attacks, and this would also have to be relocated, as would the hundreds of pavers local residents paid to have placed around the monuments with personal messages and the names of loved ones.
“It is a real problem,” Perrucci said.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.