The Rebirth of Lower Manhattan

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg delivered a speech on Tuesday, September 6, at a breakfast in Lower Manhattan regarding the rebirth of the World Trade Center and the area surrounding it, ten years after the 9/11 tragedy. The following are excerpts from that speech:

“This Sunday, on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on America, each of us will reflect on where we were, what we were doing, who we were with, and most of all, who we lost: husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and colleagues, people we loved deeply and people we knew just casually, people whose stories we knew only from the news, people who gave their lives to save complete strangers.

“Sunday morning, we will remember each one of them in a ceremony at the World Trade Center site, where a beautiful new memorial designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker will open. In 2006, when I became chair of the Memorial foundation, we committed to opening the memorial on the 10th anniversary – and thanks to so many people who worked hard to make it happen, we’re delivering on that commitment.

“But as important as the memorial is, and I believe it could not be more important, we owe the victims much more than ceremonies and symbolism...

"Their spirit inspired all of us – and I believe we owe it to them to keep their spirit alive, not only in our own hearts, not only at the World Trade Center site, but on every street they walked here in Lower Manhattan. Now I have to tell you, nothing makes me prouder as Mayor of this great City to know that we are accomplishing that in spectacular fashion.

“This morning, we gather just a few blocks from the World Trade Center site to reflect on the decade that has passed since that bright blue September sky turned dark and ashen, surrounding our city in grief.

"Back then, we did not know what the next hour held – no less the next 10 years. We didn’t know if we would be attacked again. And we didn’t know whether or not our city would ever recover. The sense of shock we felt hung heavy in the air for months – and so did the sense of worry we felt about whether our city’s best days were behind us.

“As a matter of fact, that December, a New York Times columnist wrote, ‘There are ominous signs, as the economy has deteriorated and the police have been diverted to terror-related tasks, that the bad old days are coming back.’ That was the fear then – that the bad old days were coming back. That crime would return.  Residents would move out.  Businesses would flee to the suburbs. And the city would go to seed. As we know, I’m happy to say, none of that happened. In fact, it has been just the opposite.

“In the wake of the attacks, New Yorkers united first in grief – and then in resolve. We understood that the hijackers did more than attack two buildings; they attacked the freedom that defines our city and country: The freedom to think and speak and worship and love as we wish.

"We understood that without those freedoms there was no New York City, no United States of America, no democratic society anywhere – only tyranny and terror. And we understood that we could not expect our men and women in uniform abroad to defend those values alone. We had to do our part right here at home.

“We had to show the world that – in everyday lives – terror could not diminish our tolerance.  Hate could not defeat our hope. And fanaticism could not destroy our freedom. Each of us did that in a million little ways – in the flags we waved and the blood we gave and the donations we made. We did it in time by volunteering – as rescue and recovery workers, social workers and medical professionals, as caterers and caregivers.

"We did it in the way we treated each other – with a new-found sense of solidarity. People of every color, of every country, speaking every language, practicing every religion, holding every belief, and yet we were all New Yorkers first – proud of our city, and determined to bring it back...

“This Sunday, as we reflect back on the past, let us remember not only the agony and anguish of the attacks but how we channeled our pain into something positive and powerful. Let us remember not only the day that time stood still – but the decade we have spent recovering, rebuilding, and renewing.

"Let us remember not only how the Towers fell, but how we rose up – determined to defend our freedoms. And let us remember that when we unite as Americans, and when we put patriotism ahead of partisanship, there is no challenge that this country can’t meet. That – that is the ultimate lesson of our past decade. 

“And I believe the ultimate way we can honor those we lost is to apply that lesson to all the challenges our nation faces. So that the legacy of 9/11 will be felt not just here in Lower Manhattan but across each and every one of our 50 states for decades and centuries to come.

“Thank you, and God bless our great City.”