Forget "Freedom." Just "1 WTC"

The Port Authority declared yesterday that the new building going at Ground Zero that has been called The Freedom Tower will not officially be called that, and it will be called by what they call it's legal name: 1 World Trade Center.

1 World Trade Center was the North Tower of the Twin Towers, the first building struck by the terrorists on September 11 (and where my late friend Joyce worked). That address, along with the addresses of the other fallen buildings, should be retired in memory of those fallen on 9/11. But the "renaming" is drawing lots of criticism from many circles.

The PA is having a tough time leasing space to the new building to new tenants, but it has leased six floors to a company called Vantone Industrial Co., a Chinese company with close ties to the Chinese communist government. Is it a coincidence that the name "Freedom Tower" has suddenly disappeared?

Debra Burlingame, who lost her brother on 9/11 who was the pilot of Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, had this to say to the New York Post:

"I understand the decision from a marketing point of view. But it saddens me that it's no longer economically viable to declare who we are. If we can't say the word freedom out loud, God help us."

Amen to that.