If we do, here's a fantastic reminder created by National Geographic and made available to the public through www.video.google.com :



I agree with the National Trust for Historic Preservation : Don't build anything until all details for preservation are sorted out. [via New York Daily News - Home - Daily News Exclusive: Preservation group: Delay WTC memorial]:

"Just like the strafing marks in the concrete that still remain at Pearl Harbor, these tangible physical remains of the twin towers are a direct, irreplaceable and authentic link to the historic events of September 11, 2001," the organization wrote the agency in a Feb. 24 letter obtained yesterday by the Daily News. The protest - echoed in a separate letter from local preservation groups - is the latest twist in an increasingly tense and crowded debate over the future of Ground Zero. Mayor Bloomberg is trying to limit developer Larry Silverstein's role in the process and wants some housing on the site. Silverstein is under pressure from Gov. Pataki to resolve his differences with the Port Authority by March 16. And on Monday, Sen. Chuck Schumer declared the rebuilding effort had "moved from consensus to cacophony." The National Trust's plea to call off the bulldozers comes with work on the memorial's foundation due to start March 13.

Here's a recap of the mess : before Governor Pataki's innards basically exploded, he royally decreed his allegiance to Larry Silverstein, even though Mayor Bloomberg has been on a warpath to yank the project from the him, alleging Silverstein will not finish the project but still walk away with hundreds of millions in his pockets. Enter Senator Schumer who now wants to put Silvertein on a stopwatch even though, if Silverstein indeed has to forfeit ownership he still walks away with millions. Meanwhile, survivors and families of the dead are furious because the whole mess disrespects the dead. But how could it not if the disrespect starts with the very non-profit organization that can't raise money for the memorial because marketing the tragedy has become harder after the tsunami and Hurracaine Katrina? This is what happens when a city like New York has no blueprint for human -scalable development. This is what happens when greed is so fashionable it's no longer looked as a character flaw but a necessity for surviving in New York City.