A radical review of the proposed memorial at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center began on Friday after it emerged that the current plans could cost US$1 billion to complete.
The projected price -- double the estimate given in January by New York Governor George Pataki -- was received with disbelief in the city. It prompted Mayor Michael Bloomberg to step in to try to limit the cost.
"There's just not an unlimited amount of money that we can spend on a memorial," Bloomberg said.
The New York Daily News condemned the US$1 billion figure as "unaffordable, impractical [and] rather shocking." The New York Times, which obtained a confidential memo revealing the estimate, called it "breathtaking."
Even at its original estimated cost of US$490 million, the design -- Reflecting Absence, by the architect Michael Arad -- was by far the most expensive memorial in US history. Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a black granite wall in Washington, cost US$7 million. Taking inflation into account, US$1 billion would be more than a quarter of the original cost of the twin towers that were destroyed in 2001.
Arad's proposal, which beat 5,200 other entries in an international competition, calls for two sunken pools on the footprints of the towers, with ramps leading underground to lists of victims and ultimately down to the bedrock on which the skyscrapers were built.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is thought to have raised only US$130 million. Along with an injection of state and city funds, that would put the maximum feasible budget at about US$500 million.
Bloomberg said that he had reached agreement with the governor and New Jersey -- the state co-owning the site -- that US$500 million was the sum "they're going to have to learn to figure out how to deal with."
The broader process of redevelopment at Ground Zero appeared to have reached a more hopeful stage last week when city and state authorities reached a deal with Larry Silverstein, who owned the lease on the destroyed towers, allowing construction of Daniel Libeskind's Freedom Tower to begin there.
A coalition of bereaved families, however, has been suing the foundation in an effort to halt Arad's design, arguing that the plan does not do enough to honor their relatives.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
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