On 9/11 Anniversary, Ground Zero Controversies Cause PR Embarrassment

With today marking the 11th anniversary of 9/11, there was much sadness as people thought back to the horrors of that day.

To make matters worse, a series of PR blunders, controversies, political in-fighting and religion-based protests have only served to compound the agony for the families and friends of the victims and for anyone else looking for closure.

One World Trade Center—once known as the Freedom Tower—is now New York City’s tallest building, and scheduled to be completed in 2014. Below it, the memorial that features fountains and groves of trees has attracted nearly five million visitors since it opened in 2011. Still, controversy has dogged the site for years, and the lack of development has been nothing but a PR disaster for the City of New York, the State of New York and the Port Authority of New Jersey.

It doesn’t let up. Today CNN reported on a lawsuit filed by a group called American Atheists to halt the display of a cross made of one of the twin tower’s T-beams that became a national symbol after the 2001 attacks. The group says the cross is a religious symbol that has no place in a memorial created by public funds.

“No place” is right, because up until Monday, Sept. 10, there was no agreement to continue constructing the museum in which the cross would be housed. Political squabbling had brought construction of the museum on the site of ground zero in Manhattan to a screeching halt, according to CBS News. 

The inability of the three parties to come to an agreement to get the museum finished was a PR blight, especially to the victims' families, who in July wrote a letter to Governors Cuomo and Christie, calling the halted work "a betrayal of those who died on 9/11."
It doesn’t let up. Today CNN reported on a lawsuit filed by a group called American Atheists to halt the display of a cross made of one of the twin tower’s T-beams that became a national symbol after the 2001 attacks. The group says the cross is a religious symbol that has no place in a memorial created by public funds.

While it's positive news that construction will resume on the museum, the damage caused by the nearly decade-long delays is irreparable.

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