Sept. 11 Steel & Debris Find New Memorial Homes

On this Friday, in New York, cities, and towns across the nation, people will, once again, gather to remember that remarkable and painful page of the American history, the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. 

Local New York coverage will be available here: at 8:30 AM, EST.

Since Sept.11, 2001, there has been a plethora of books, studies, investigations, analytical committee reports, documentary films, videos, and photographs that recorded events on that dark day in the city of New York, Shanksville, PA., and the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. 

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Presumably, there would be more to come as the pages of history roll forward along with the fading of memory.  

For now, there is one subject that receives little attention from an at-large public, except those citizens living in far-flung towns, cities, and even other countries whose interests focus solely in preserving the mangled steel, charred to the point of unrecognizable debris found in the aftermath of  the Sept. 11 attacks. 

These towns, cities, counties, states, corporations, and foreign countries want to honor the memory of lost lives with physical symbols of reminder.  

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the pieces of steel structures of the World Trade Center (WTC), NYFD trucks and ambulances, NYPD cars, and a myriad of other debris found at the WTC site.  

The pieces, once considered as evidence for wrongful death lawsuits, are now available to find new homes across the nation and in other countries.  

The pieces are currently stored at the 80,000 square-foot Hangar 17 at Kennedy Airport.  They are stored in controlled temperature and humidity to prevent any rust over these years.

The offered pieces would not include the iconic and familiar 200 pieces, which have been claimed by the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.  The requests are open only to organizations, counties, cities, towns, and countries.

According to the Port Authority, there have been numerous requests arriving from across the nation and France asking for a piece of steel to commemorate Sept. 11.   

The Port Authority and the September 11 Families' Association are tasked to review the written requests.  

Each request for a piece of the steel provides detailed explanation of the intended display.  Once a request has been approved by the Port Authority and September 11 officials, it will then be sent to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Federal District Court for the final approval to release the artifact.  Judge Hellerstein determines whether or not the pieces of steel would be used as evidence.  

The examples of these requests provided some glimpses of the details and deference shown toward the Sept. 11 victims.

Currently, there are other towns and cities across the nation waiting to come to pick up their piece of history or for the pieces to be sent to them, dependent on the approval of their requests.  The steel is offered freely, but the recipients are expected to pay for the costs of transport.

The Port Authority hopes to generate more interest in the steel by advertising in various trade magazines before the public memory fades.  

To most local New Yorkers, the events of Sept. 11 have left both physical scars to the cityscape and hidden emotional pain that will unlikely be forgotten. 

This Friday marks the 8th year anniversary.

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Note: The author had contributed to and participated in various local and national photography and video documentaries of Sept. 11, 2001, including the Museum of New York in 2007 Exhibit. Some of the author's works were reviewed and approved to be included in the permanent collections in New York and Washington D.C.