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Ground Zero
Firefighters Add To Lazio Pile-On
Aug 19th - 5:17 pm
Uniformed Fire Officers Association, which represents 2,500 lieutenants, captains, battalion chiefs,
deputy chiefs, supervising fire marshals and medical officers of the FDNY, has joined the Sergeants Benevolent Association in calling for Rick Lazio to take down any ads using 9/11 footage.
“We have always been opposed to the use of images from the attack on the World Trade Center in political advertising,” UFOA President Alexander Hagan wrote. “Virtually every candidate for public office has honored that sentiment to date.”
“So it was with a mix of surprise and disappointment to see your new video that seeks to capture the attention of the viewer with graphic images of Ground Zero that day.”
“We respectfully request that you take down your video and make clear your political positions without using 9/11/01 as a backdrop for your message. We would hate to see that long-standing compact with political candidates go by the boards.”
Giuliani: Mosque A Question Of ‘Sensitivity’
Aug 19th - 9:51 am
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the man most closely associated with 9/11, appeared on the “Today” show this morning for his first extended TV interview about the mosque proposed for construction near Ground Zero said the developers might have a right to build, but to do so would be insensitive to 9/11 victims’ families.
Giuliani said the mosque/community center is an “as of right project” and probably didn’t even need to seek the limited approval it has already received. He insisted: “If you are a healer, you don’t go forward with this project. If you’re a warrior you do.”
“The question here is a question of sensitivity and people’s feelings and are you really what you pretend to be,” the former mayor and 2008 presidential contender said.
“As I understand this Cordoba House, the idea is about healing…if you’re going to so horribly offend the people that were most directly offended by this, most directly affected by this, the families of the September 11 victims, who I happen to know and have gotten to know really well, then how are you healing? All this is doing is creating more division, more anger, more hatred.”
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Nadler Weighs In
Aug 14th - 8:36 pm
Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose district includes Lower Manhattan, and, more specifically, Ground Zero, released a statement today praising President Obama for his speech on the mosque last night and reiterating his support for allowing the project to move forward.
“As the Member of Congress who represents Lower Manhattan and Ground Zero, I commend President Obama’s statement on the Cordoba House and his support of our First Amendment rights of freedom of religion and separation of church and state,” Nadler said.
“As I previously stated, government has no business deciding whether there should or should not be a Muslim house of worship near Ground Zero. The United States was founded on the principle of religious liberty and tolerance, and it is equally important 234 years later that we uphold this principle. Hate should have no place in America.”
PBA Accuses Lazio Of ‘Exploiting’ 9/11
Jul 9th - 12:22 pm
The Port Authority Police Benevolent Association issued a statement taking GOP gubernatorial designee Rick Lazio to task for holding a press conference with 9/11 victims’ family members who joined him in calling on AG Andrew Cuomo to investigate the mosque that is slated for construction near Ground Zero.
The union’s president, Paul Nunziato, noted 37 members of the Port Authority PBA were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. He said he has heard from some of its 9/11 families and they are “opposed to using the events of September 11, 2001 for political gain.
“Rick Lazio should stop exploiting the worst day in New York history for the sake of his campaign,” Nunziato said.
“For any candidate for public office to politicize Ground Zero shows a lack of respect to the families, who will forever live with the terrible memory of that dark day.”
” It seems to me, that for the sake of politics, Rick Lazio is willing to use scare tactics. This conduct forsakes the memory of all those who lost their lives on September 11th.”
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Pataki Doesn’t (Much) Begrudge Cuomo ‘Stupid’ ’02 Remark
May 7th - 4:43 pm
Former Gov. George Pataki, who might very well be the most disciplined New York pol in recent memory when it comes to staying on message, largely declined to take the bait this morning when asked by radio host Curtis Sliwa if he’s still angry with AG Andrew Cuomo for his “hold the coat” remark during the 2002 campaign.
The comment, in which Cuomo accused Pataki of playing a bit part in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, serving as little more than a coat-holder for Mayor Rudy Giuliani, came during a wide-ranging interview with reporters during an upstate campaign bus tour. It was widely viewed as a major gaffe by Cuomo, who was at the time making a long-shot run for governor against Pataki and the Democratic Party’s preferred candidate, then-state Comptroller H. Carl McCall. (Cuomo ended up dropping out one week before the primary).
“You know Curtis, you can’t take it personally,” Pataki said. “Politics is rough in general, and it’s certainly even rougher when it comes to New York. And, you know, people say stupid things, and if they say them twice, then you react a little differently. But, you know, if I got angry at everybody who said something that I didn’t agree with or that I could have taken as a personal insult in the course of the campaign there would be a lot of people on a list.”
Pataki also dodged questions about his former LG, Betsy McCaughey, whom he dumped unceremoniously off the ticket in favor of Mary Donohue in advance of his second re-election bid. McCaughey returned the favor by switching parties and trying to run against him as a Democrat. She lost the primary to then-NYC Council Speaker Peter Vallone, but ran on the Liberal Party line in the general election, which she and Vallone both lost to Pataki.
The former governor was far less reticent when it came to criticizing the Obama administration’s anti-terrorism policies in the wake of the foiled Times Square car bomb. He’s been doing a lot of that lately.
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