Officials: S.I. 9/11 Memorial Not Vandalized
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Staten Island's Borough President issued an apology to 9/11 families Wednesday saying that five missing plaques on a local memorial were not the result of vandalism but were removed by the city for repairs.
Officials had originally believed that the memorial had been vandalized for third time in four years, but this was not the case.
Borough President James Molinaro said he was told today that the plaques were removed for repairs sometime last week but that his office was not notified.
"I jumped the gun," Molinaro told the Staten Island Advance. "We all thought it was vandalism."
The "Postcards" Memorial on the St. George Waterfront contains 274 plaques in honor of Staten Islanders who perished in the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks on the trade center.
Five panels were removed last week by the Economic Development Corp. to fix cracks and other damage ahead of this year's 9/11 anniversary.
Included were two panels that were allegedly cracked with a pipe by a homeless woman just days before the eighth anniversary of 9/11 .
Julie Wood, a spokesperson for the city Economic Development Corp. (EDC), apologized for the "confusion."
The EDC is responsible for the maintenance of the monument.
