Time to power down on Ground Zero. Cover the whole thing with a giant tarp. Or maybe build a pitch-and- putt golf course.
It’s just not worth it anymore.
Port Authority officials on Thursday curtly informed America that marketing considerations had led them to rename the centerpiece of its Ground Zero rebuilding project.
The 1776-foot Freedom Tower — once billed as an unmistakable symbol of national resolve — will henceforth be known as “One World Trade Center.”
But wait.
As former Gov. George Pataki notes on the opposite page, that name was taken — by the North Tower of the former World Trade Center, destroyed on 9/11.
Next thing you know, the PA will be referring to those attacks as “that regrettable aircraft incident.”
To be clear, we’ve long had reservations about the project — mostly related to repeated rebuilding delays.
But to strip the Freedom Tower of its iconic name is to degrade the true intent of the project — to mark enduring resistance to terrorism.
The name-change is also par for the (pitch-and-putt?) course.
Consider: For seven years now, the city has suffered patiently as obstructionist bureaucrats and grandstanding designers have turned what was supposed to be the centerpiece of a resurgent Lower Manhattan into a civic embarrassment.
Now that some real progress is being made, along comes this: The Freedom Tower is to become . . . just another office building?
Yes, the PA has dusted off its Shakespeare — arguing basically that a tower by any other name will smell as sweet.
“If ‘Freedom Tower’ is the popular name, that will be the choice of the people as to how they think of Downtown,” said Executive Director Chris Ward.
We thought Ward was a builder — not a BS-er. Wrong again.
Apparently, he too can’t grasp the true weight of the project.
Neither can Gov. Paterson, who could put a stop to the renaming if he wanted.
Of course, he never does.
Drop the tarp.