Press Release - The International Freedom Center

July 14, 2005

What's the fuss at Ground Zero? - Culture dispute wastes time, money

The effort to dragoon Ground Zero into the culture wars is gaining momentum fast. If it succeeds, the results could be disastrous for plans to redevelop the 16-acre site into a gracious amenity that honors the dead as it celebrates life.

As John Whitehead, chairman of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, admitted recently, the brouhaha over a culture center near the planned 9/11 memorial has harmed fund-raising. What a pity. The fuss is thoroughly gratuitous.

Despite the claims of some conservatives and the families of some 9/11 victims, there's no evidence that Ground Zero's planners will put a cultural center partial to anti-American propaganda next to a memorial to the 9/11 dead.

But never mind. Opponents of the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center, two cultural organizations at the heart of the controversy, continue to stoke such fears.

Several points are worth making here.

If the push to "take back the memorial" aims to drive the cultural buildings off Ground Zero, it's misguided. As a group of organizations led by the Civic Alliance reminded Gov. George Pataki this week, the reason master planners situated cultural activities near the memorial was to create a space that would engage the living as it honors the dead. The idea was to build a place that addresses the resurgence of life in the face of mass death. This is still a worthy goal.

The organizations also pointed out that the cultural uses on the site were intended as a necessary buffer between the commercial activities at Ground Zero and the memorial.

It's a mistake for Pataki to imply, as he did, that the state stands ready to monitor the work of the cultural institutions for ideas that someone - anyone - might deem offensive. That's precisely what America is not about.

At some point Pataki must take a deep breath and ensure that the carefully considered master plan for Ground Zero is not undermined by a tiny group of vocal dissidents with a major supply of fears and a meager supply of facts.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

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