During an interview on yesterday’s “Capital Tonight”, GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino suggested Ground Zero should not be redeveloped at all – even though building at the site is already well underway – and should be turned into a “lawn” or “park” instead.

“My God, what do we do with our cemeteries? Do we build monuments at our cemeteries? We worship those that have fallen,” Paladino told me.

“It should be a quiet place in the middle of all that hubbub and business down in New York City. It should be a quiet place of of remembrance…Maybe they should just leave the building that’s underground and put a lawn on top of it, you know? That might be the best way.”

Simliar ideas may have well been floated way back in the day before redevelopment got started in earnest at Ground Zero. But I haven’t heard anyone recently suggest simply halting the whole project and sodding over the entire site – an idea I found extra baffling coming from someone like Paladino, who made his money in real estate development (primarily in WNY).

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