This Is My New Jersey

At the end of August, the weather and the sky begin to change. I don’t know how to describe it, but the clouds don’t look as puffy or plentiful as they are in June or July. It just feels different. For kids, it means it is almost time to go back to school. For those of us who were alive in 2001, our minds return to that fateful day 25 years ago.

I’ve shared my memories about that day several times over the years. It is etched in my mind and never goes away. Since then, people everywhere have found their own ways to mark the day. Over 700 New Jerseyans lost their lives on 9/11 and we promised to never forget. Although that hasn’t always been the case.

After the rubble was removed and “the pile” became “the hole,” many towns in New Jersey received girders to incorporate into their memorials. In Jersey City, however, they had more. They had Empty Sky.

New Jersey’s 9/11 Memorial

The official New Jersey 9/11 memorial was designed by Jessica Jamroz and Frederic Schwartz. The unfinished monument was dedicated on Saturday, September 10, 2011, a day before the tenth anniversary of the attacks. Next month is the 25th anniversary and it is still unfinished. This is a state and national embarrassment.

Funding for the memorial was provided by the state, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New Jersey Building Association. However, due to rising costs and changes to the original design, it remains incomplete and is now crumbling.

As I have said repeatedly over the years, I work hard to avoid politics on my blog, but every politician of this state should be ashamed.

Since its dedication, the money dried up and it was forgotten – exactly what we said we would never do. Our beloved state wastes obscene amounts of money every year. The state budget for fiscal year 2027 is almost $61 billion – that’s with a “B.” Here are just a few of the programs included in the budget:

• $1.1 million for the New Jersey Community Capital Foreclosure Mitigation Program
• $1.5 million for the Greater Mount Zion Community Development Corporation in Trenton (you’re shocked, I know)
• $1 million for the Maria Magda Hispanic Multi-Purpose Service Center in Paterson
• $40 million to promote the FIFA World Cup – now call me crazy, but I think the entire world knew about it
• $5 million to Rutgers University for events attraction and marketing
• $1.25 million for Memorial Park in Rutherford
• $5 million for the Highland Avenue Recreation Center in Wood-Ridge
• $1 million for the Newark Community Street Team
• And a $107 million dollar loan to Jersey City – yes, where the memorial is located

In total, Trenton added almost $359 million in pork to its supplemental spending bill. You mean to tell me out of all that money, they couldn’t put aside some of it, especially that loan to Jersey City, to complete the memorial? Again, they should all be ashamed.

Gary Sinise to the Rescue

Thankfully, there are still good and decent men in the world. Men like Gary Sinise. The Gary Sinise Foundation is donating $40,000 to “deep clean” New Jersey’s unfinished Empty Sky memorial. This generous donation will help ensure the memorial is clean and presentable for the upcoming quarter-century mark.

Mr. Sinise has gone above and beyond to help ensure the phrase “never forget” actually means something. The foundation brought local New York and New Jersey students born after 9/11 to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, connecting them with first responders and service members who lived through the attack to ensure their stories aren’t forgotten.

September 11 is Nearing

As the weather begins to change, I once again, begin to hear the planes overhead a little more often. I notice the clear skies. And I feel the profound loss we all felt on that terrible day.

I urge everyone who made the promise to never forget to contact your representatives in Trenton. Tell them 25 years is long enough. They found hundreds of millions for wasteful spending. They can find the money to complete this important memorial.

I also urge you to contact your child’s teacher and offer to come in to school that day and talk to the children. Explain what we felt and what we saw. Share the unity and resolve we felt as a nation. We owe it to those we lost and to those who weren’t here to keep their memory alive.