Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 01:36:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Louis Epstein 
Subject: WTC Rebuilding #209:Fighting "Libeskind Malaise"


"The Libeskind site plan is a done deal,the most we can hope
for is to shoehorn taller twin towers into it."

That is the attitude we need to be talking people OUT of,
not falling into ourselves!

From the beginning the only thing our opponents have had going
for them has been their ability to convince us that resisting them
is useless.John Whitehead wanted that when he said 50 stories was
the way to go in January 2002...all our progress since then has been
the result of our refusing to listen.

We can not ruin everything by starting to listen now.

Yes,modification of Libeskind is ONE avenue to address,
but it must not be our only avenue.Our spring rally must
focus on identifying the Libeskind site plan as a problem
rather than a solution,and derailing Pataki's efforts at
putting enough momentum behind that no one will ever have a
chance to undo his mistakes.

Monday evening I was at the Skyscraper Museum event and saw Cesar
Pelli,architect of the World Financial Center,the Petronas Towers,
and a new WTC-size tower in Hong Kong,and William Pedersen,architect
of two even taller towers in Hong Kong and Shanghai,present their
bold designs.Afterward Alex Garvin,organizer of the official
process determined to stick us with Libeskind's eyesore,asked them
questions,but as it turned out did NOT take questions from the
audience.He made a show of being willing to do so at the end,
but would have faced questions from the pro-rebuilders there as to
how in the face of awe-inspiring buildings such as now rising in
Asia one could possibly settle for Libeskind's flimsy sham here.

Other pro-rebuilders in attendance included Ron DeVito,Andrew Oliff,
Jonathan Hakala,Cherie Fernandez,Amiad Finkelthal,and Tal Barzilai...
apologies to any I missed.The event was well oversubscribed,and some
apparently were unable to get in.

Present and recognized in the audience was Twin Towers structural
engineer Leslie Robertson,who I spoke to afterward before speaking
to Pelli and Pedersen(I didn't bother with Garvin after past exchanges;
he praises public participation in the process but never respects public
input denouncing his preferences).I was pleased that Robertson was
interested in seeing the program for the WTCRM architectural competition
(I told the architects about it also,I don't expect them to enter!).

Hakala was also speaking to the guests,and in no mood to compromise with
Libeskind's plan...he has continued to press the phoniness of the "Wedge
of Light" as highlighted in recent press coverage.

The NY Times only printed pro-Libeskind letters in response to its
article,but the issue is not dead,and we need to make sure official
declarations that this is just sour grapes don't get believed.

Nicole Gelinas has told me of a New York Sun article that says
Bloomberg is not concurring with Pataki's desire to see Kevin Rampe
named Lou Tomson's permanent replacement at the "Leave Manhattan
Destroyed Committee" unless Patakl agrees to accept Bloomberg's
miserable "vision" for downtown's future...downgrading the financial
district and increasing housing and parks and so forth.

NY1 is running a poll on the memorials this month...the official
preference not to recognize the identities of the rescue personnel
as rescue personnel is currently leading,but has fallen back a bit
today.OUR VOTES CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.Go to http://www.ny1.com/Polls/
and vote "Yes" and you're helping frustrate the process denying us
the tall towers we must have.

It's been suggested that we write to ny1-webmaster@ny1.com
with the subject "ONLINE POLL SUGGESTION" in order to get a
question that could help us...there have also been suggestions
that we get something asked at vote.com (only Yes/No questions
there).

The proposal that there be a straight Libeskind vs. The Twins
question is I think not the best for us...rather,we need something
that all advocates of something better than Libeskind,whether just
like the old Twins or not,can gang up on Libeskind in answering.
I'm open to input on exact wording.

Over the weekend a great landmark of New Hampshire,the "Old Man
of the Mountain" rock formation celebrated by Daniel Webster and
Nathaniel Hawthorne and depicted onthe commemorative quarter for
that state,collapsed.The governor spoke of rebuilding it,but has
retreated...certainly the responsibility for natural landmarks
is not the same as for manmade things,but the impulse is clear.
The loss of a symbol is painful,and allowing the loss to stand
more painful.

Bernhard Goetz has written to pro-rebuilders of the modified
Twin Tower plan at his www.bernieformayor.com site...it has
memorials on high floors,and optional skybridges at several
levels.We won't link it at http://www.put.com/wtc/ because
it's part of a campaign for political office.

My parents recently met the former Windows on the World manager
of their acquaintance who told them a year and a half ago that
he would not go back if the restaurant were rebuilt...now he and
his wife want something more inspirational than presently proposed
to rise there.

See you on the 111th floor on 9-11-11!

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.