Community Board Mulls How to Memorialize the 9/11 Survivors Who No Longer Survive
The annual observance of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted a discussion over the summer among Community Board 1 (CB1) members about how to honor the memory of Lower Manhattan residents exposed to toxic air and debris in the weeks and months after the destruction of the World Trade Center, who were then stricken with lethal diseases in the years that followed.
Justine Cuccia began the June 6 meeting of the Battery Park City Committee by enumerating a partial list of those known to have succumbed to illnesses that have been certified as being caused by September 11 contaminants: “Percy Corcoran. Linda Belfer. Anthony Notaro. Ruth Ohman. Tom Goodkind. Kathy Gupta. Bob Schneck.” She added, “and those are just the people who once served on this committee. There are many, many others. They helped build the schools and libraries and parks, and fought for affordable housing and many other improvements that this community now takes for granted.”
“I think it’s time we make something that’s beautiful, that recognizes them,” Ms. Cuccia, the committee chair, continued. “Not just members of CB1, but people who came back to Lower Manhattan, or moved here to help rebuild.”
The concept is supported by downtowners from the East River to the Hudson. Mariama James, a CB1 member who lives in the South Street Seaport neighborhood, says, “I believe that Lower Manhattan survivors share a separate September 11 experience from ‘victim families’ and ‘responders.’ We do warrant our own recognition.”
“We have all lost all so many beautiful friends,” says Tribeca resident Wendy Chapman. “More people are sick right now with September 11-related illnesses than actually died on September 11. That’s a sobering statistic, and it’s just going to continue. Our families and our friends are going to continue to get sick.”
“The people who stayed and rebuilt have never really been acknowledged,” she adds.
A remembrance garden has been considered, but no specific locations for a memorial have been discussed. “I am hoping the Battery Park City Authority will partner with us by working this idea into some of the resiliency plans that are coming up, whether in Wagner Park or the North/West resiliency area,” Ms. Cuccia told the committee.
Co-chair Jeff Galloway said, “I’m in favor of this idea, but I think we also have to remember that many in the community are memorial-ed out.” This was a reference to a controversial spate of monument building in Lower Manhattan in recent years that created memorials to persons and events, some with little discernible connection to the area.
“The kind of remembrance I would be in favor of would use one of the contemplative spaces in Battery Park City,” he said, “which could have a plaque or some other way of acknowledging those we’ve lost, in a garden that would still otherwise be there, without taking away any space. I would avoid creating a new memorial space.”
Maryanne Braverman, a public member of CB1, cautioned, “we need to remember that the list will grow. So if there are going to be names on this memorial, there has to be a way to continue adding them.” She continued, “we’ve had memorials imposed on the area that really don’t mean much to us living here. But this could mean a lot to those of us who live here and will come to visit in the future.”
Committee member Dr. Betty Kay said, “put it down in south Battery Park City, because they are much more sentimental about this, and it will fade with time anyway.” She added, “it was very political after September 11. All of a sudden, we had September 11 diseases, as if there would be zero cases of cancer in this area—the only place in the world—if September 11 hadn’t occurred. Some of them are the most common cancers in all parts of the country, not unique to September 11.”
“This has become a decades-long disaster, which has devastated our community,” says Tricia Joyce, a Tribeca resident. “One thing we can do, in addition to honoring those we lost on September 11, is to acknowledge those we have lost since from September 11-related illnesses. I fully support not only bringing awareness to how many we have lost, but acknowledgement and solace to their loved ones.”