Letter: WTC Memorial

[DMCKEON]

To The Editor,
Thanks to The DN for your editorial on 7/12, 'Put WTC memorial first.' It is yet another reminder that the current design is a failure on numerous levels. It fails to mention the affiliations of those killed along with their names (no mention of FDNY, NYPD, PAPD, Cantor Fitzgerald, et al.). It fails to list the ranks of the first responders and military personnel or the age and floor number of the civilians. And it fails in it's obscenely expensive and patently unsafe labyrinthine design. The majority of family members have requested for years that the aforementioned aspects of the memorial be addressed and our petitioning and polling have shown that most Americans agree with them. Unfortunately, heretofore the decisions have been made by a nebulous coterie of power-brokers. New York and America deserve better. The fallen deserve nothing less. Getting it done expeditiously is of scant importance if it is not first done right.

James McCaffrey
LT/FDNY

Co-chair, Advocates for a 9/11 Fallen Heroes Memorial