left arrow BackNext right arrow
< BACK TO Fresh Intelligence

1,100 WTC Victims to Never Be Buried

  • "WTC Families For A Proper Burial" v. NYC was thrown out of court today. The grim, grim, grim lawsuit concerned the non-remains of "approximately 1,100" victims of the World Trade Center attacks who were "utterly consumed into incorporeality." The plaintiffs (they have a website if you're interested) sued the city to "reclaim the finely-sifted residue of the World Trade Center debris at the City's Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island" and to create a cemetery in some "more suitable" location. (No one likes Staten Island.) The City offered a memorial. The plaintiffs said their Constitutional rights to bury their family members were being violated. Off to court! The 22-page complaint is the grimmest thing you will ever read. Did we say "grim" enough yet? It is. (And, for the interested, the Constitutional complaint was that the City was infringing upon people's right to a religiously appropriate burial. That argument did not work out.) At the risk of outraged hate mail, may I suggest that our culture's obsession with the placement and proper treatment of no-longer-used bodies is, at best, a little weird? (No? I may not?) Even the Judge ends up saying that perhaps this body-reclamation lawsuit, years in the making, might be a misuse of energy and time. Also: he sounds really bummed out by the whole thing. Go figure. GRIM.

    In the conclusion, Alvin Hellerstein, U.S. District Judge, wrote in today's decision:

    The City has a plan for a beautiful nature preserve and park at the Fresh Kills site. There is room for a memorial on a height with a view of where the Twin Towers stood. The energy applied to this lawsuit might well be transferred to participating in the planning of the park and memorial. What better reverence could there be than a memorial that both recalls those who died, even without leaving a trace, and points to the tenacity and beauty of life that must go on?
    Hellerstein even went so far as to say that while the case is now, thank God, over, "the Court will remain open to assist the parties in working towards a suitable solution."

    • By Choire Sicha   07/07/08 4:50 PM
    File Under: Horrible Things, Lawsuits, On the Docket, World Trade Center
    Comments (4) | Print | E-mail | Recommend It (6) | Share It

    Like this article? Click here to buzz it up on Yahoo!

    Comments

    I agree with you about the cultural burial obsession. I feel for the families, but the debris they are suing over is not the bodies of their loved ones. Also, wasn't much of it toxic?

    A few more "grims" would not be out of line here.

    Posted by: brilliantmistake on July 7, 2008 7:24 PM

    "the Fresh Kills site." now that is grim

    Posted by: jackito on July 8, 2008 1:39 AM

    If I may inhere this with more grimitude: I've represented families killed in plane crashes. The long and short: you don't want to know what they'd like to be able to bury. But they do.

    I don't understand it, either. But they do, and cling to that with--grim--obsession.

    Posted by: KarenUhOh on July 8, 2008 9:02 AM

    "Familes of people killed in plane crashes," and I apologize for that ghastly grim sentence.

    Posted by: KarenUhOh on July 8, 2008 9:05 AM

    Advertisement


    Post a comment

    Your comment will not be visible for about a minute. If you don't see your comment when the page reloads, do not post it again. Reload the page in a minute, and you'll see it.

    		  


    Stormy Handsy Sober Weekend Ahead!

    Bear Busts Pot Farm

    RNC Convention: The Final Chapter

    Manhunting For Public Health

    David Cho Introduces You To The Seductive Arts Of The Donk

    America Hoping Condi's Sex Appeal Will Make Gaddafi Forget All About That Lockerbie Stuff

    Yigal Azrouel Overrun by Youth, Andre Leon Talley

    When Politicians Make Bad Choices

    Fashion Week Begins

    'NYT' Shrinks Radically


    EXECUTIVE EDITOR:


    MANAGING EDITOR:


    EDITOR AT LARGE:


    STAFF WRITER:


     CONTRIBUTORS:



    and others


    Email us at:
    tips@radaronline.com
    or IM: TipRadar







    Making Number Two
    A brief history of disastrous vice presidential choices

    Radlibs: Convention Edition
    Create a magic, base-stirring moment with Radar's nomination acceptance speech generator

    Full Court Press
    Charles Kaiser on McCain's McGovern Moment

    Friends Without Benefits
    For some celebrities, pals are found on the payroll

    Gridiron Bars
    Previewing the NFL season through the police blotter





    Bristol's Mom
    She's got it going on

    Andrea Mitchell Battles Republican Balloons
    She loses

    The Best Political Pundit In The Entire World
    Someone give this man a show

    They Don't Call Her Sarah Baracuda For Nothing
    How John McCain Picked Sarah Palin

    An Exclusive Preview From The Forthcoming Feature Film "Choke"
    Here's A First Look At The Film Adaptation Of Chuck Palahniuk's Choke