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I learned about the Russian memorial to the victims of 9/11 (and of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center) from a post by Conrad Hake. The monument is officially named To the Struggle Against World Terrorism, but it is also known as the Tear of Grief or Teardrop Monument.
Conrad’s post shows pictures of the memorial that have been going around the internet with the sentiment
I never knew about this before. Why wasn’t it covered by the media?
I spent a lot of time this week pondering that question and poking around to see if I could find the answer.
I think the simple answer is it was built in an industrial area of Bayonne, New Jersey. Bayonne was chosen because
- it had been an arrival point for many of the 9/11 evacuees,
- It had been a staging area for the rescue efforts, and
- It offered a good view of the Statue of Liberty and of the former World Trade Center site.
The monument was erected for the fifth anniversary of 9/11, and I find it very attractive, especially in this spectacular picture. But understandably, the news of the anniversary was mostly focused on New York.
Even more importantly, it appears the memorial wasn’t open to the general public at that time. According to the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority
The Memorial was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, in a ceremony attended by President Bill Clinton, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Governor Jon Corzine, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Senator Robert Menendez and family members of World Trade Center victims. Grammy award winner, Leann Rimes, sang the National Anthem.
Harbor View Park, where the monument is located, was not officially opened until October 23.
Location, Location, Location
But why haven’t more people become aware of the memorial since the park has been opened? My guess is it’s the old saying, “Location, location, location!” It’s not easy to get there by car, and it is in an industrial area.
This picture shows the view of the monument looking away from the harbor:
As it turns out the mural is painted on the back wall of the Bayonne Drydock & Repair Corporation building. Notice the monument on the right.
jag9889. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
The relative location of the two buildings can be seen more clearly in this picture. Notice the ship being repaired and the ample parking space for the monument.
This picture shows more of the industrial area and why the monument is not easy to get to by car. Visitors to the site have written that the way is not well-marked, and there doesn’t seem to have been much effort to advertise it to road travelers.
On the other hand, some cruise ships seem to know about it. This picture shows one next to the memorial:
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The home port for some of the Royal Carribean Cruises is close to the monument. So presumably some people are becoming aware that the monument exists. Notice also the two buses in the parking lot in the above picture. Maybe that means some bus tours are including the memorial?
The area is scheduled for redevelopment so things could change for automobile tourists in the future.
So Why Didn’t We Hear About This Before?
Because we never took a cruise from Bayonne. 😉
I am trying to get permission to use this photo of the To The Struggle Against World Terrorism monument for a post on my personal blog this Friday. I need to get Mr. Tsereteli’s permission. Could you please help me? I would give him full credit and say he reserves all rights. Some of us are trying to get more publicity for the monument. It is not widely known here in the US and we would like to help rectify the matter.
I will let you know if I ever get a response. 😉
I suppose that it is a measure of the times that we live in, that something as important as this does not get visited because it is difficult to reach by car!
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Jean,
What a marvelous piece of investigation! I feel impressed, gratified and inspired to by what can be accomplished with this kind of effort.
I lift a toast to all of us raising the level of our games in the pursuit and expression of things that matter in our world.
Thank you.
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rummuser,
I’m more impressed that we can get this much information from the comfort of our home. 🙂
Conrad,
Thanks! As you can imagine, it did take some digging.
rummuser,
“I suppose that it is a measure of the times that we live in, that something as important as this does not get visited because it is difficult to reach by car!”
In fact it’s even more difficult to get to by walking or mass transit. Or swimming for that matter. 😉
I phoned the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority a couple of days ago and received a phone call this morning. I ended up spending about a half an hour talking to two very friendly ladies there. I had known that whole peninsula is scheduled to be redeveloped and that the memorial was the first step. As I mentioned above, it was dedicated for the anniversary of 9/11, even thought the park hadn’t been completed yet.
One lady made a point I hadn’t thought of. I knew the peninsula had been a former military base which had been decommissioned and was in the long process of being redeveloped, but I had missed the significance of a gift from the Russian people being placed on the site of a base that had been closed because of the end of the Cold War:
Conrad,
On your site we discussed that it had first been planned for Jersey City. One of the gals I talked to this morning had actually worked there at the time. She said it was the right decision not to place it there…it was too big and overpowering for the area. The second place they considered in Jersey City was a pier…but it turned out the pier wasn’t strong enough. How embarrassing that would have been. 😉
In the post I say the problem was “Location, location, location!” Actually it was also “Timing, timing, timing!” As I said the dedication occurred before the park was completed. One of the gals said about 100 people attended, which means they tore up the recently planted grass and it had to be reseeded. Big projects take time and there are bound to be complications. 😉
Jean, all the more reason that this should have got far more publicity than it did and is receiving now.
rummusers last blog post..Earrings? Try Hearings!
rummuser,
One of the women I talked to disagreed with you. She said with all the 9/11 monuments in the area she thought they received their fair share of publicity. And it appears that Tsereteli and his staff aren’t interested in publicizing it more, since they didn’t bother to respond.
The monument is getting a lot of attention from people interested in 9/11 monuments. When tourists visit some of them they ask if there are others in the area, and the BLRA gets phone calls from across the nation asking about it. One concierge from a hotel in Manhattan asked how their guests could get there via mass transit.
And, of course, the monument is so large because it’s really meant to be seen from the harbor. When ships come in the people on it see it before they see the Statue of Liberty. And it’s very noticeable by air.
I get the impression that you think it should get national coverage because of the Cold War. That ended a long time ago and the world has moved on. 15 years after World War II we were friends with Germany and Japan.
So I’m a bit confused. Are you simply responding from your old views of U. S.-Russian relationships or have I misread your sense of humor again? A few weeks ago over at Cheerful Monk you wrote, “Jean, bless you. You took me seriously. You must be the only one on this planet who still does.” I clearly took this question of the monument seriously enough to do a lot of research and to give it a lot of thought. Was it supposed to be just another joke? 😉
Just a quick “Thank you” for writing about this. I can tell that you put a great deal of effort into it! Great job!
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Square Peg Guy,
Thank you!
No Jean, I am serious on this issue. I have just posted an elaborate comment on your other blog cheerfulmonk. There are too many wheels within wheels in this world. In any case, there is little that can be done apart from what all of us are trying to do with this memorial. My comments on your other blog will clarify my thinking on this issue.
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I think it is a remarkable gesture on the part of the Russion government and the Russion Academy of Arts. There was news coverage only not much of it:
Applebone, Peter. “A Jersey City Teardrop for 9/11, Or a 10-Story Embarrassment?” The New York Times. 30 June 2004.
Finnegan, William. “Monument.” The New Yorker. 25 June 2007.
Associated Press. “Bogus Names Feared on New Jersey Sept. 11 Monument.” FOX News. 28 July 2006.
Associated Press. “9/11 Memorial in New Jersey Honors 40 People Too Many.” The New York Times. 10 September 2006.
CNN. “Controversial 9/11 Memorial.” 21 July 2004.
You will find additional information at http://hubpages.com/hub/TEAR-DROP
Thanks for coming by.