Memorial need not
be in place tomorrow

Things seem to be moving very quickly to put a memorial to the victims of the World Trade Center attacks on Sandy Hook. Perhaps a little too quickly.

Considering the many families in Monmouth County devastated by the attacks, a memorial is certainly warranted, and Sandy Hook, which has views of lower Manhattan, surely qualifies as an appropriate location, but there is nothing to be lost through greater deliberation about what such a memorial should be.

With the physical and emotional wounds inflicted by the WTC attack still smarting in so many lives, we are all quick to give support to things directed at addressing the trauma, but such support does not have to occur without reflection.

Those who want to move ahead with this project have said they want to involve the community, allowing them to watch and participate in workshops, but that dismisses a greater involvement — and potentially healing exercise — of allowing more of the community to envision and express their feelings on what such a monument should be.

The suggested memorial is the vision of an artist with local roots, but it seems callous to move forward with any work without giving those directly affected — and the entire community has been — a chance to participate more in the process.

Public art projects, and putting a memorial in a national park is certainly that, like all public projects require community participation. There is nothing to be lost by slowing down this process, which will have to include an act of Congress.

The Municipal Art Society of New York recently held a workshop at the Red Bank Library to gather thoughts for the future of the WTC.

If there are going to be deliberations about what gets placed at the site of the devastation, there can be deliberations about how those in Monmouth County will be remembered.