More than a year has gone by since Jersey City began planning for a second, more elaborate memorial to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, and progress is moving slowly.
According to Gary Nye, vice chairman of the Jersey City 9/11 Memorial Committee, the project is in its earliest stages.

"It's in limbo," said Nye during an interview on Wednesday. Nye, who is also the assistant director of the Tenant-Landlord Compliance Department for the city, said a number of bills have diverted funds away from efforts to get the second and larger 9/11 memorial off the ground.

Jersey City currently has a smaller memorial to the residents of Jersey City killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The memorial, in the Exchange Place area by the waterfront, has two parts. One is a metal sculpture fashioned from steel donated from the 9/11 site, and the second is a marble slab with the names of the residents carved on the front.

The marble memorial, located on the riverside portion of Grand Street near Exchange Place and first shown to the public as part of the one-year commemoration of the attacks held by the city, has been a point of contention between the memorial committee and its creator, John Burns.

Burns Brothers Memorial, located on Tonnelle Avenue in Jersey City, was contracted by the committee to create the marble memorial. According to John Burns, one of the firm's owners, he has only recently received payments for his services. "As of two weeks ago, I have only been paid $2,800," said Burns. "The cost of the job was $10,800. If I knew things were going to be like this, I would have done things differently."

Burns said his firm made an extra effort to finish and deliver the marble portion of the Grand Street monument the weekend before its unveiling. Burns claims he did so without prior payment by the committee and did not receive any remuneration until last October.

"I received $800 in October," Burns stated. "I made a lot of calls and got a lot of stories. I've done work for municipalities all over the county and outside, and everyone else paid."

Nye explained that the reason that the committee has been slow to pay Burns and get work moving forward on the large 9/11 memorial has been a problem with fundraising.

"Many of the people are donating to the memorial fund, but not a lot," Nye said, adding that the Jersey City 9/11 Memorial Committee has increased its fundraising efforts.

"We have been reaching out to the waterfront financial center for help and have begun a letter writing campaign," said John Guarini, a code inspector for the city and the chairman of the 9/11 Committee. "We have added six volunteers to make follow-up calls to the letters we sent out previously."



Bills need to be paid



Jersey City began work on its 9/11 memorials in the late spring of last year. A series of meetings were held at City Hall, where input was taken from both the public and local businesses about what shape the memorials should take.

At one meeting, members from the Polish community of Jersey City spoke out against rumors that the committee planned to move the Kaman monument at Exchange Place. The landmark statue memorializes the murder of Polish soldiers by the Russian secret police at the end of World War II. The committee denied any plans to move the statue.

Since the dedication of the Grand Street memorial, however, there has been little word on the larger monument. Nye stated the committee had to pay for the costs of the one-year commemoration and continue its fundraising efforts. "We decided not to do anything with the larger 9/11 memorial until we have paid all our other bills," said Nye.

Guarini estimates the committee still owes between $7,500 and $8,000 on the Grand Street memorial. Burns places the figure at exactly $8,000. "I did that project for just under cost," Burns said. "A job like that usually costs between $18,000 and $20,000."

Burns added the memorial is made of jet-black marble, imported from India.

"The tablet with the names on it alone weighs 5,000 pounds," Burns added. "The whole thing is more than 10,000 in weight."

Nye said the committee hopes to finish paying its bills, including the one for Burns Bros. Memorial, by the end of May.

As to the larger 9/11 Memorial, Nye could not comment very much. He said the committee had received many proposals from local Jersey City artists and from artists in other countries.

"I don't want to comment on any of the entries we have received until the committee has some idea of what it wants to work with," said Nye. "When we make our choice, it and the other entries will be on display at the Jersey City Library."

Nye could not say for certain when the second memorial will be done and where it will be located.

"We have looked at a number of locations and nothing has been chosen for certain yet," said Nye. "We want to build a world-class memorial for all those who died on Sept. 11."