Calls for completion and better maintenance of Empty Sky 9/11 memorial in Jersey City
Click here for updates on this story
New York (WCBS) — As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, there is an ongoing fight to repair Jersey City’s memorial for the victims.
For years, there have been annual ceremonies at the Empty Sky memorial at Liberty State Park, but advocates say it’s in poor condition and unfinished.
Any empty feeling at Empty Sky
Caution tape clings to a fence outside the memorial, which honors the 749 New Jersey residents killed on 9/11.
It’s a place of remembrance that stirs up heartache for many.
Kathe Conlon, who is advocating for better 9/11 memorial care, helped search for victims on ground zero nearly 25 years ago. She now feels like a promise to never forget has been broken.
“We had to pick through a lot of rubble. We were looking for victims,” Conlon said. “I think, as New Jerseyans, we should be embarrassed about the state of this memorial. There are a lot of people from New Jersey that never made it back that day.”
Empty Sky opened in 2011.
“Nothing substantial has happened in the intervening 15 years,” said Mike Donatos, who lost his brother-in-law on 9/11 and was one of the 12 original committee members appointed to help select the memorial.
Donatos said the memorial is missing names of other identified victims and design elements, including cherry trees, specialty lighting, and a stainless-steel wall.
“It was always meant as a place of honor and consolation, sacred ground. What’s happened instead at the hands of the DEP is it has become a monument to bureaucratic corruption, disrepair, and deliberate neglect,” Donatos said.
N.J. DEP, Gov. Sherrill say they have Empty Sky’s back
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said significant repairs and maintenance falls on the DEP and the state government.
“Park staff maintain the grounds around the memorial … and oversee periodic cleaning,” the DEP said, adding, “Improvements to lighting, landscaping and other elements must undergo a design process before implementation.”
Currently, dozens of lights line the memorial but only one appears to be working.
“These memorials are remembrances of people who died, people who are still dying, and they deserve to be kept up so that we can go there and reflect and keep your past alive,” Conlon said.
CBS News New York reached out to the office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, which said her administration is committed to the memorial.
Currently, signs are posted notifying visitors that the interior of the memorial is closed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for maintenance through Aug. 29. We inquired about the maintenance but have not heard back. When we asked about a potential 9/11 ceremony this year, we were told by the DEP that it’s currently under discussion.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.