Calls Mount To Return Sphere Sculpture To World Trade Center Site
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- After years of controversy, there still has been no decision made on what to do with a popular sculpture that stood on the plaza at the old World Trade Center.
As WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported, the Koenig Sphere was dented, battered and pierced, but remained intact after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that destroyed the Twin Towers. It was installed at the old World Trade Center plaza when the towers opened in 1971, around a ring of fountains.
"It was a survivor of the attacks – stood there for 30 years as a symbol of world peace," said Michael Burke, whose brother, William Burke, was an FDNY captain killed in the 9/11 attacks.
Burke wants the National Park Service to validate the significance.
"I'm hoping to get it designated as a national historic landmark," he said.
Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, agreed the sphere is an important artifact.
"We support it coming back to the 16-acre World Trade Center," he said. "We think there are places around here."
But he said it should not be on the plaza.
The sphere is now in Battery Park, obscured by construction fencing, according to a published report.
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