BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | After it was recently reported that the 9/11 tiles at Greenwich Ave. and Seventh Ave. South would be moved to temporary storage in Albany while the M.T.A. builds a new exhaust-fan facility at the Village intersection, local protectors of the Village memorial leapt into action. In a stunning whirlwind of events, they have secured a nearby vacant building to serve as a gallery for the beloved ceramic tiles.
“The M.T.A. sprang it on us so quickly, we’re forming our concepts as we go,” said Dusty Berke, a leader of the team that tends the tiles.
Berke said that Sasha Muniak, the owner of Gusto restaurant, has offered the group the use of the neighboring small building he owns at 62 Greenwich Ave. It will be a three-story gallery for the tiles, she said.
“We’re not calling it a museum — we’re calling it a gallery,” she said.
Details and terms of the lease were being worked out on Wednesday night.
“We hope to sign the lease tonight,” Berke said, speaking earlier on Wednesday.
According to Berke, Muniak will offer them the building for free, at least at first, allowing them time to fundraise in order to pay rent in the future.
Muniak could not be reached for comment, and Berke said they didn’t want him to talk to the media anyway until the deal is sealed.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had intended to incorporate some of the tiles into its planned “faux-cade” building at the Mulry Square intersection, while the other tiles would eventually find a home somewhere else — hopefully. But that didn’t sit well with the “Tile Team,” who worked with Muniak to come up with the gallery plan.
“This is the gateway to the Village. This is the heart of the West Village,” Berke said. “We don’t think putting it in a box for three years will be good for the memorial.”
According to Berke, they have obtained possession of the tiles under the name Tiles for America Preservation Project.
“Ownership has been transferred to Tiles of America Preservation Project,” she said. She didn’t offer more specifics. The tiles were created after the 9/11 attack, crafted at the Our Name is Mud pottery studio, which used to be located nearby.
The tiles, fastened to the chain-link fence surrounding the M.T.A.-owned lot, are the city’s last remaining grassroots, spontaneous 9/11 memorial. But the subway exhaust-fan project put the iconic memorial’s future in jeopardy.
Last year, before Tropical Storm Irene hit town, Berke and her team, along with neighborhood residents and merchants, worked diligently to take down all the tiles from the fence and store them until the danger passed. Then, they hung them back up on the fence, when possible, having family members of 9/11 victims and first-responders do the honors.
The colorful corner also has a “Love Bench” created by a local artist, called so because last year, for the attack’s 10th anniversary, everyone left flowers on it, showing their love.
Berke said they also would like the M.T.A. to incorporate a mural along the new fan structure’s top edge and even on its roof, to make it visually appealing and to better reflect the spot’s significance.
As for the street corner and the tiles’ new gallery, “lots of celebrations” are planned, Berke said. Berke didn’t give expressly say so, but from the sound of it, the tiles will remain on the fence until after the 9/11 anniversary next month, after which they will at some point be relocated across the street to their new home.
