By Dave Stanke
This is your last chance. Take action now, or your chance at history will vanish in a cloud of construction dust. The political stars have aligned in your favor. The path to success is well worn. And I am personally available to advise you on the path to World Trade Center immortality . . . for a nominal fee, although the money is not important.
Almost every piece of the original W.T.C. complex is gone as construction progresses across the site. But the less there is, the more it’s worth. One patch of original plaza still remains where Tower 2 is planned, on the northeast corner of the site. It must be saved. If you’re smart and quick, it will be saved in your name.
The timing is perfect. The Port Authority and Silverstein Properties are locked in a battle over what to build and how to fund it. The Port wants to stick it to Silverstein. What better cause for derailing a building than preserving history? No matter how extravagant and expensive, the Port cannot say no. Now, they don’t even want to!
The governor badly needs victories before his election campaign. The financial and logistical mess at the W.T.C. is so extreme that no real victory is possible. If you don’t have billions to accomplish something real, spend hundreds of millions on a Pyrrhic victory. Taxpayer money is cheap and return on investment is just crass.
The last artifact is the actual surface of the plaza. It was used by workers, tourists, and residents whenever they set foot on W.T.C. property. Anyone could claim it as their personal artifact, a symbolic tour de force awaiting definition.
The path to success is well defined. I’ve watched it executed to perfection many times. I’ve fought it and lost. Executed properly, your success is as certain as death and the taxes that will pay for it.
Here’s the Reader’s Digest version. First, develop a deep emotional attachment to the W.T.C., which has now left a hole in your life from which you will never recover. Link your pain to the artifact. Prepare to share your pain . . . with tears on demand.
The press needs victims to feed the self-righteous indignation of its readers. Use the press. They don’t ask tough questions. No sane columnist will risk insensitivity on 9/11 issues. The press will be your unfiltered megaphone straight into the ears of pandering politicians.
Soon, you’ll do regular interviews (expertise unimportant), hold rallies (minimal attendance required), send out press releases (facts optional), and write op-eds (opinion is cheap). The P.A. will feign reluctance to pay big bucks, but will bury the cost in their huge capital budgets. You will have a commuter-funded artifact with no meaning whatsoever to anyone but you. Start foundations, raise funds and bring your kids, your grand kids, and your support groups on spiritual pilgrimages to the W.T.C.
The preservationist lobby will level brownstones to get behind you. They crave high profile causes that stop growth and cost other people money. Subverting W.T.C. redevelopment has been their most dedicated and successful efforts. It is their Super Bowl. By now, they are aching to relive the glory days of their obstructionist past. Every rhetoric weapon from the last seven years will be redeployed for this powerful piece of pavement. It was damaged on 9/11. It’s the highest and lowest piece of the W.T.C. remaining. It’s the most eastern and most northern part of the W.T.C. It’s uglier than the Lollipop building at Columbus Circle. It looks like hell. Authenticity is dripping from this juicy artifact.
Together, we can brand, market, and lobby this artifact. Take a stroll down Church St. Gaze through the construction fence. Let your eyes linger on the exposed surface. Wait for the emotions to surface from deep within your subconscious. Feel the passion. Accept it. Don’t question it. You deserve it.
We’ll need a catchy phrase to express the meaning of the artifact. Alliteration is always advantageous. Here’s a few to prime the pump: Coughers Court, Paramedics Pavement, Looters’ Lane, or my personal favorite, the Residents’ Rectangle.
Shield yourself from criticism. Religious connections are particularly useful. The cause can never be about you directly, but about how you feel about someone else. Do it for future generations. You are a giver, a spiritual pilgrim for a greater cause, a humble servant in search of human betterment, a martyr on a mission. You’ll never have to support claims or numbers. You are on a sacred mission. And I am here for you.
Send your plan with a check to authenticate your sincerity. If you’ve done your job, we can make arrangements that will be rewarding (on a spiritual level, of course) for both of us. Oh, and did I mention, it is NEVER, EVER about the money . . . no matter how much it costs.
Dave Stanke lives and writes Downtown. His email is destanke@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter.
