Phony 9/11 coins
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to immediately shut down the National Collector’s Mint, which is selling fake September 11 commemorative coins.
The company, which has a history of fraud, is offering a new 10th anniversary 9/11 coin that they falsely claim has been authorized by the government and made with silver from the ashes at Ground Zero.
“National Collector’s Mint has no shame. By deceiving consumers into buying these worthless ‘9/11 commemorative coins,’ this company is preying on the memories of that tragic day, generating millions in profits, and diverting potential funds to finance the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero,” said Schumer in a statement.
In July 2010, Schumer and Nadler passed a law to create an official 9/11 medal that would raise funds for the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero. Under a matching program, $10 would be donated to the memorial for each coin sold.
Every dollar spent on the phony coins, the politicians say, is two dollars that could have gone toward the memorial.
“We must act now — and act with force — to make it crystal clear that we will not tolerate 9/11 scams, and will prosecute swindlers to the fullest extent of the law,” said Nadler.
P.E.P. okays Green move to 26 Broadway
The Panel for Educational Policy decided to grant the vacant classroom space on the first two floors of 26 Broadway to the Richard R. Green School, a high school currently located on the Upper East Side.
The vote, held last Wednesday, was unanimously in favor of Richard R. Greene as opposed to a second Millennium High School, which Downtown parents were lobbying for.
Councilmember Margaret Chin, who was backing the parents in their wish for a new Millennium to be sited at 26 Broadway, said the vote denies access to 400 public school students to “the top-notch education Millennium is known for.” The high school’s selective program, she said, is in high demand among the Downtown community.
The main campus, at 75 Broadway, has been forced to accept more students than it can handle for years, she said, and has worked hard to raise funds to be able to expand.
“The D.O.E. has repeatedly underestimated the influx of families into Lower Manhattan and has failed to provide adequate space to serve Downtown students.”
State Senator Daniel Squadron was equally disappointed by the outcome of the P.E.P. vote.
It’s “disappointing,” he said, that the D.O.E. decided against allowing Millennium to expand into 26 Broadway, “when there were options that would have allowed a solution for both schools.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver called the decision a “slap in the face” to Lower Manhattan families.
“My School Overcrowding Task Force,” he said, “helped convince the D.O.E. to lease that space with the understanding that it would be used to serve Downtown families. “I will continue to press the D.O.E to open new classroom space in Lower Manhattan and I will continue to fight for Millennium High School.”
