A Fitting 9/11 Memorial

After the songs, the speeches, the prayers, and the bagpipes, something more concrete must be done to honor our fellow citizens who died in the terrorist attacks on 9/11. And I do mean "concrete." Concrete, steel, glass and stone. At a mass meeting in July, some 5,000 selected citizens of New York City rightly rejected the six ugly and cowardly designs officially submitted to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation for rebuilding the World Trade Center site. The Twin Towers were destroyed because they were symbols of America. If terrorists had succeeded in ramming an airplane into the Capitol, we would now not be talking about replacing it with a modest bomb proof building constructed underground. The 9/11 atrocities call for triumphant defiance, not sniveling trepidation.

Fortunately, we do not lack for dazzling proposals. The New York Times Magazine cover article this week assembled some inspired schemes for rebuilding downtown New York and the World Trade Center site, including two towers at least as tall as those destroyed and a broadcast tower that would soar 2100 feet into the air. Philosopher and novelist Fred Turner proposed that the towers be replaced by a memorial arch topped by a garden of remembrance. A personal favorite remains the Liberty Square concept.

The best and finest way to honor the spirits of those we lost is to heal the gapping wound in New York's skyline and restore its downtown to vibrant life.