Back To Zero

May we suggest a windowless cement cube? At last week's press conference announcing that plans for the 1,776 foot-tall Freedom Tower were finally being scrapped, our incredible shrinking governor said the following:

"I have no doubt that [tower architect] David Childs will come up with yet another magnificent design that will once again inspire the nation and serve as a fitting tribute to freedom."

Leaving aside the magnificent design part, our guess is that it's a little late to "inspire the nation" with our resolve and determination. The road to rebuilding Ground Zero-that is, the road to nowhere-has so far been defined largely by greed, infighting, corruption, bumbling incompetence and massive, clashing egos.

But we're even more interested in Pataki's "fitting tribute to freedom" crack.

The name "Freedom Tower" has always made us cringe, but the scrapping of the project brought home how utterly ludicrous it's always been, both as a name and a concept. By definition, a symbol of freedom cannot be designed according to unrealistic security concerns. If you want a "freedom tower," you want something that takes risks; that shows no fear; that realizes there's no such thing as true security, yet stands there anyway. By going back to the drawing board to make sure the building is protected against any conceivable attack, we're jumping at shadows. And if 9/11 taught us anything, it's that if a small group of dedicated nut-jobs really want to take down a building in lower Manhattan, you aren't going to stop them by moving it back another 25 feet from the street and replacing glass windows with plastic ones. (Is the next hijacked plane supposed to bounce off the thing?)

We always hesitate to bring up Mr. Orwell, but sometimes it just fits. The Freedom Tower and the office buildings around it, if ever built, will undoubtedly be the most tightly secured, most monitored, most un-free buildings in New York City

They are also on track to be some of the emptiest. So far only one tenant has signed on to occupy space in the new 7 WTC. That client's name? Silverstein Properties.

Is it too late to just convert those 16-acres into a giant park? How about a football stadium?