Governor Pataki's move yesterday to ban the Freedom Center from the World Trade Center site has partisans on both sides taking pen in hand this morning. There's the obligatory Post editorial ("And, if you don't mind, we'll indulge in a little back-patting, too — of ourselves"), and a more sober analysis from blogger Jeff Jarvis, who calls the victory "bittersweet... This was a populist movement that worked." Oppositely, blogger Greg Allen slams the whole process:
"Memorial quadrant"?? If only the limits of this farce were as clearly delineated. How is that quadrant any more "hallowed" than the other eight-plus acres of the site? It seems like only yesterday that the "footprints" were the sacred squares that had to be defended at all costs... Are we done, then? Is this enough hallow now? The last three years' of machinations around the WTC site have reduced hallowedness to a negotiable, political commodity, apparently measured in square feet.Now, the question: what happens to the Snohetta-desinged copier/fax/printer (above) that's slated to occupy the "memorial quadrant" of the site? The answer, of course: who knows?
· The Freedom Center: Good Riddance [NYPost]
· They Will Not Build It [BuzzMachine]
· Hallowed-er Than Thou [greg.org]
· Governor Bars Freedom Center at Ground Zero [NYTimes]