As you may have heard, Governor Spitzer changed his mind about letting the public be heard on the names issue after only hearing from Mayor Bloomberg. We hope that after he hears from all of us, he will change it back. It is urgent that as many people write to the Governor as possible. Please contact the Governor and forward this letter to your lists.
Please copy and paste the following letter into either New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s contact form (http://161.11.121.121/govemail) or into a word processing document and mail it to: Eliot Spitzer, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224.
Dear Governor Spitzer:
Do you have the courage to save America’s 9/11 memorial? We ask you that because it took a mere two days before you went from having your “own opinion� about the names listing on the memorial to announcing you discovered “greater clarity� about Mayor Bloomberg’s plan and will not oppose it.
Mayor Bloomberg alleges, “This is a memorial for America,� and that, “We found a way to display the names in a way that I think will show the enormity of the tragedy.� Yet the “we� he cites are the few members of the Executive committee of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation (which the Mayor chairs and controls), a handful of intellectuals, and a few 9/11 family members who seem to be appointed to every board and to head “advisory committees� the Mayor wishes to have an influence on.
Mayor Bloomberg removed the last veil from his true intentions when he added, “and at the same time show that everybody was equal.� 350 million dollars of the 21 billion dollars America gave New York will help build a memorial about two attacks upon our nation yet Mayor Bloomberg’s memorial is about “tragedy� and ‘equality.’ He and his cohorts seek to imbue their own values on America’s memorial at Ground Zero, values lacking all historical perspective.
What every American knows is any of them could have been one of those murdered and any of those 8 children aboard American Airlines Flight 77 and United Airlines Flight 175 could have been their children, grandchildren, brothers, or sisters. Those soldiers and sailors were America’s sons and daughters in the Pentagon serving our country. Those were America’s firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and medics running downtown and coming running from across our nation. We read thousands of personal stories about those who died and vowed to “Never Forget.�
Should Mayor Bloomberg prevail, Americans will not recognize the memorial at the World Trade Center when it opens in September 2009. They will find 2,979 names listed randomly and without further identification around two pools in a park, yet – at ground level at Ground Zero – they will find no artifacts, no mention of February 26, 1993, or September 11, 2001, no history. Will that memorial “show the enormity of a tragedy� or be about “their lives remembered, their deeds recognized� as the memorial’s charter words prescribed?
Sixty-five percent of voters elected you as the Governor of New York and, as such, you now have both the authority and influence to prevent a real tragedy from occurring. We ask that you begin to use that influence by visiting www.savethe911memorial.com, viewing our proposal in comparison to Mayor Bloomberg’s plan, and then publicly announcing that you have signed our petition, alongside the 3,000 9/11 family members who have already signed it.
America needs another hero. Do you have the courage to save its 9/11 memorial?
Very truly yours,
Name: ________________________
Address: ____________________________
City/State:_____________________
Phone: ___________________