Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 14:58:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #369:Weekend Meetings,News Catchup,POLL! Lots of things to catch up on. THERE IS A WEB POLL RIGHT NOW at http://www.nydailynews.com/ and Towers are leading 5-1...VOTE AND PAD THAT MARGIN! In the politicking over budget priorities, the Daily News has an editorial http://www.nydailynews.com/05-21-2005/news/ideas_opinions/story/311514p-266556c.html about Speaker Silver's campaign for more aid to Downtown http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/46921.htm Of course we want anything necessary to direct development and occupancy to giant new Towers downtoan done...but don't want anyone renting space in symbols of surrender. Silver is at speaker@assembly.state.ny.us (he's not just the Speaker, but the assemblyman for the district that includes the site) and it's always a good idea to keep him aware that our views are strong and unchanging. Other Daily News items since I last emailed the list... Three letter columns: http://www.nydailynews.com/05-21-2005/news/story/311516p-266558c.html has one good letter,one unfair to Trump; http://www.nydailynews.com/05-22-2005/news/story/311731p-266729c.html closes with a few good ones;and http://www.nydailynews.com/05-23-2005/news/ideas_opinions/story/312059p-266968c.html leads with Gary Taustine and some good ones. And today,a news story about Mayoral helpful Fernando Ferrer saying that the idea of new Twins as backed by Trump is "very interesting and should be considered". http://nydailynews.com/front/story/312253p-267077c.html The story notes that this represents a change in attitude for BOTH Trump and Ferrer since the last election in 2001. Naturally,we can't just endorse Ferrer on this basis but whatever we think of him in general we can send letters saying he's right about this and urging other candidates to hop in this bandwagon! voicers@edit.nydailynews.com demands postal address and phone number to be considered for publication but they are not printed in the paper. In the Post letters column,rebuilding the Towers was the subject of ALL of yesterday's letters. http://nypost.com/postopinion/letters/44369.htm leads off with an anti-Towers letter from a victim's family member calling the Towers an abomination...of course her son-in-law was slaughtered precisely because the killers regarded the Towers as an abomination for what they represented, so why is she speaking with their voice to preserve their power? Her letter deserves to be slammed on either of two grounds, that issue of the killers' preference and the claim she makes that new Towers would not be safe when they would in fact be far safer than any proposed alternative structures.Let's cover both bases! All other letters were pro-Towers except for last,for a 6-2 balance. Today it was one section and the letters were evenly mixed: http://nypost.com/postopinion/letters/44493.htm AGAIN there's a nobody-would-work-there whiner, let's make sure letters@nypost.com knows we'd LOVE to! John Lictro told me that a NY1 TELEPHONE poll (presumably scientific,not a web poll of the self-selected) had backed the Towers as well,I have no details and didn't see a story on their site.(Pro-rebuilders STILL have not been invited to the Schiumo show). On Saturday,I attended the Coalition to Save West Street's victory party,hosted by John and Lisa Dellaportas and their dog.They have an apartment in a riverfront tower in Battery Park City,small but with room for good views of the river and a fine book collection. At this event I met a number of people of interest.These included a candidate for the now-vacant chairmanship of Community Board 1,which is soon to be filled.State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick was there, and was well aware of what a fraud Pataki's "public" planning process was.And Gene Russianoff,the Straphangers' Campaign counsel,opined that new "Leave Manhattan Destroyed Committee" president Stefan Pryor is even worse than Rampe,and has a track record of deception. I also learned that the West Side Stadium can not host the Olympics as a football stadium because that makes it too short for a track oval; it would have to be cantilevered over the highway and into the Hudson River Park,and then that part of it demolished after 2012 and rebuilt to a smaller size,at the cost of hundreds of millions. I showed some people pictures of the Shen plan and Project Excelsior, could have shown other plans if I had pictures with me.Some of those who fought the tunnel are with us and others are not. Brian Daroff intended to meet me there but got sidetracked "witnessing" for the rebuilding cause to people from elsewhere,I hope his missionary efforts swell our ranks. The next day I met Dave Kelly,Steve Eiselen,Cherie Fernandez*, Victor Marchese of The Towers Return,and Joy Goldberg for a meal and to discuss rebuilding efforts. *Rayden Tron of Project Avatar Marchese told us that his website is back up,now at thetowersreturn.org because thetowersreturn.com was swiped when it expired...it turns out,by domain name speculators from Kenya!He handed us all brief presentations on his plan,which is now linked again from the WTCRM site (under "Groups and Advocates" rather than "Proposals" because he established an organization with his fundraiser). Steve also had some artwork with him for his "WTC Spirit Towers" (not to be confused with Larry Russo's American Spirit Tower). We discussed how rebuilders of all stripes can best work together for shared goals,proposals which may mature into something concrete soon.I would like to know more of the "Coalition for New Twin Towers" which was not represented at the meeting,to see how it and any other efforts not represented may fit in. I mentioned before that columnists Ellis Henican wrote a negative piece at http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-nyhen204267958may20,0,4816382.column that knocked new Twins as part of knocking Trump, while rhapsodizing over the weirdness of the proposed museum the officials plan for the site. While contrary letters should be sent to letters@newsday.com I found out that when Regan McBannon wrote him directly at henican@newsday.com he responded not very satisfyingly with a message that mentioned his own site henican.com at which he maintains a blog and COMMENTS ON HIS ARTICLES CAN GET POSTED. Pick out his anti-Towers column and give him big earfuls of pro-Towers comments for all his future visitors to see!! We can make his comment column just as strongly ours as the one at http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/2857.html has become.WE ARE THE MAJORITY AND MUST RAISE OUR VOICES PROUDLY UNTIL OUR OPPONENTS YIELD! In less than six months there is the chance to elect a new Mayor who will choose half the LMDC board and a new Governor of New Jersey who will choose half the Port Authority board. LOTS OF ANTI-TOWERS BUREAUCRATS CAN BE SENT PACKING. Who's up for planning a July 4 rally again? That should be about when the latest Fraud'em Tower design is ripe for unfavorable contrasting with new Twins... and I just bet Pataki will leave that out of the press release! 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.