New York Times article on recovery commemoration

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

staniag to read ibe list of names? You know, he’s not an elected official now, but he was there and he carried the city and 1 think it’s very aj^rqpriate to have him read the names.... I tried to poll the city together. Because people came from all five boroughs ... Reading the names and having the fam­ ilies walk down the ramp — this is toe morning — is about toe deceased. Who they were, why they died, how we're going to remember them. The evening, you light a flame, j-ou say thank you to toe whole world. You’ve got delegations from all toe coun­ tries that are either coming to toe General Assembly or who lost citizens here. And lightb^ a flame and talking about toe fu­ ture. And the music at toe gatherings in all five boroughs — 1 wanted to use local cultur­ al institutions at each <A the five boroughs. They're all basically doing the same pro­ gram, which starts out with serious, more formal music and ends up more looking forward — light, there’s a new world, an­ other world you have to go on. My job in the end is to balance that — toe memorializing with getting people to look ahead. And most people who live in New York City want that 1 am sure there are some family members that say, “No, no, 1 lost my loved one and 1 don’t ever want anybody to look ahead.” But that’s not what most people want and that’s not what 1 am here to do. Q How did you pick the three readings?

A ... We lodced at a whole bunch and rl then, yes, I did pick them. And I called Pataki and invited him to participate and told him what he’d be reading and I called McGreevey and told him what he’d be read­ ing. 1 picked the Fair Freedoms myself. And they’re all short Pataki’s speech will be two minutes, two and a half. If Abraham Lincoln can do it in two and half, he can do it in two and a half. The excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, that McGree­ vey is going to read. And the Four Freedoms excerpts that 1 am going to read are aboit 50 seconds, less than a minute Yoi have to balance the responsibilities that govern­ ment officials have to be there, and partici­ pate, and show empathy and leadership, with what’s appropriate. 1 have no second thou^ts about that Can you give me any example that shows you that the city IS pulling thrash and lookir^ to the future? A Yeah, 1 think this morning as much as Mk anything. I went to an elemeitary school up in Harlem. Principal was out there, and the teachers and the parents and the kids. I had the chancellor, I had the new district superintendent ... Everything was lotting forward. Not one person was looking back. These are parents. They want an education for their kids that they know toeir kids have not been getting. And kids this age, they don’t know the suffering, toey don’t know the pain, they don’t know the loss.... For them, the whole world is the future. ... People do believe that toe best day in New York’s life—and I toink the best day in toeir lives -- is tomorrow. ... Most petite are optimists, particularly in New York....

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