{"id":296556,"date":"2021-07-12T02:33:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-11T23:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/local-pols-slam-cuomos-new-essential-worker-memorial-site\/"},"modified":"2021-07-12T02:33:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T23:33:03","slug":"local-pols-slam-cuomos-new-essential-worker-memorial-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/local-pols-slam-cuomos-new-essential-worker-memorial-site\/","title":{"rendered":"#Local pols slam Cuomo’s new essential worker memorial site"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Local pols slam Cuomo’s new essential worker memorial site<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s haphazard plan to build an essential worker memorial in Battery Park City keeps hitting a wall of resistance from local politicians who call the most recent options for a site \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cuomo\u2019s ambitious goal to have the memorial erected by Labor Day comes after the governor nixed the initial blueprint following fierce backlash from residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth sites under consideration are unacceptable,\u201d said a spokesman for Rep. Jerry Nadler (D), whose district includes Battery Park City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fighting for the community.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nadler believes the location for the Essential Workers Memorial should be at the COVID-19\u2019s epicenter, in a neighborhood like Elmhurst, Queens, the spokesman, Rob Gottheim, told The Post.<\/p>\n

He claimed the current design for the memorial would need to be scaled back to fit inside Battery Park City. <\/p>\n

Nadler will join other politicians and fed-up locals at the proposed site near the Irish Hunger Memorial Monday, to speak out against the most recent plan. <\/p>\n

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, as well as Councilmen Robert Holden and Daniel Dromm are among city politicians who have also spoken out against the new possible locations for the monument following the governor\u2019s reversal. <\/p>\n

\"House
Rep. Jerry Nadler believes the location for the memorial should be at the COVID-19 epicenter.<\/figcaption>
Drew Angerer\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brewer, who will attend the anti-Cuomo site selection show of force, said the governor fomented opposition by failing to consult with Batter Park City residents from the outset of the planning process, rushing to ram through the memorial ahead of Sept. 6. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout community input, we can\u2019t do it,\u201d Brewer told The Post Sunday. \u201cIf the governor had done so in the beginning, there might have been a different outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, there are two potential spots for the memorial. The most likely home to the \u201cCircle of Heroes\u201d \u2014 which would consist of 20 Maple trees, which would represent various essential workers, and an eternal flame \u2014 is next to Irish Famine Memorial,\u00a0at Vesey Street\u00a0and North End Avenue. Another, less likely option would be next to the Esplanade Plaza Volleyball Court at \u00a0Liberty Street\u00a0at\u00a0South End Avenue. <\/p>\n

Dromm (D- Elmhurst), who represents parts of Queens that were particularly hard hit by the pandemic, believes building it in his district would be more app<\/a>ropriate than erecting an essential workers memorial proximate to one commemorating the Irish Potato Famine. <\/p>\n

\"Children
Children make signs to save the park during a rally in Rockefeller Park to protest Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s plans for a COVID-19 memorial in the park on July 5, 2021 in New York City.<\/figcaption>
Ron Adar \/ M10s \/ MEGA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPutting Essential Workers Memorial next to Irish Hunger Memorial is a bad idea. Both deserve dignity & respect & this proposed site doesn\u2019t accomplish that,\u201d he tweeted <\/a>Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the Essential Workers Memorial should be put in my district near Elmhurst Hospital, the epicenter of the epicenter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holden (D-Maspeth) claimed the process for the essential worker remembrance has been \u201crushed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur essential workers deserve a lasting monument to their dedication that is well planned and well placed, not one that is rushed and might take away from another nearby memorial,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. \u201cThis needs to be planned with input and engagement from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Children
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer speaks during a rally in Rockefeller Park to protest Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s plans for a COVID-19 memorial on July 5, 2021.<\/figcaption>
Ron Adar \/ M10s \/ MEGA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In response, George Tsunis, Chairman of the Battery Park City Authority, said the group is \u201cexcited to celebrate and memorialize\u201d front-line workers and talked up the \u201cfeedback\u201d it\u2019s received since the initial uproar about the monument. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs planned, last week the governor\u2019s office and Battery Park City Authority continued to hear from the community, take in feedback and make changes based on that feedback\u00a0regarding the new essential worker monument scheduled for completion later this year,\u201d Tsunis said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter many long and\u00a0productive conversations, we are still so excited to celebrate and memorialize the essential workers here in Battery Park City,\u201d he added. \u201cWe look forward to sharing the updated plans for the monument.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest development in the \u201cCircle of Heroes\u201d saga comes more than two weeks after Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, first announced his intention to honor front-line workers at the end of summer. <\/p>\n

\"Local
Local residents gather near trees that would be removed for a proposed COVID memorial gather on Monday, July 5, 2021 in New York.<\/figcaption>
James Keivom<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe \u201cCircle of Heroes\u201d monument in NYC will open this Labor Day, honoring the essential workers who carried us through this pandemic,\u201d he said <\/a>in a tweet on June 23. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a permanent tribute to their heroism & service. These workers have *always* been essential & we are eternally grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of resident feedback shortly after aroused fierce opposition. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis memorial requires bulldozing a local community park with natural grass and trees where many friends and family members gathered safely outdoors during the pandemic, and where many children run and play,\u201d fumed Battery Park City resident Adrian Mak on June 29. <\/p>\n

\"New
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s goal is to have the memorial erected by Labor Day.<\/figcaption>
Carlo Allegri\/Pool Photo via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cuomo chose a task force made up exclusively of union leaders to recommend a site for the concrete structure, which would have taken away green space, and did not include any residents of Battery Park City in the site selection operations, critics have charged.<\/p>\n

Following the cascading complaints from some vocal local residents and lawmakers, the governor on July 2 withdrew the initial version of the \u201cCircle of Heroes,\u201d which would have been built at Rockefeller Park. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Cuomo-controlled Battery Park City Authority floated a pair of new potential sites on the state-owned property. <\/p>\n

Batter Park City is currently home to several memorials, including tributes dedicated to the Holocaust, 9\/11, Mother Cabrini and Hurricane Maria. The outcry about the latest memorial put forward comes as a politically weakened, scandal-scarred Cuomo faces probes into alleged sexual harassment, his more than $5 million book deal, and his shielding of nursing homes from COVID-19-related lawsuits.\n <\/p><\/div>\n