March 23rd - March 29th, 2007

Family Members Request That City Search Landfill

Saturday, March 24^th: Family members of 9/11 victims have filed papers asking that the city search tons of debris at the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island for human remains, the New York Times reported. A letter from the city medical examiner and an affidavit from a recycling supervisor included in the filing both claim that remains are present in the landfill. The family members would like the city to separate them from the landfill and create a formal burial place, the paper added.

Buildings Install First NYC Employee Tracking System

Wednesday, March 28^th: The World Financial Center is one of several major office buildings in New York City to roll out a new program to track employees, the New York Post reported. A little-known city law in effect since September 11, 2001, requires corporate tenants to know the whereabouts of every worker.

"A message can go out in a split second to thousands of people as fast as it can be spoken," Bruce DeBond, a security director at Henry Bros. Electronics, which developed the system, told the Post. The system is called Workspeed and will be installed by 30 city landlords at a price of about $20 per employee. The system is meant to alert workers instantly of any crisis situation and can be hooked up to an employee's cell phone, blackberry, or trio, the Post continued.

Should a cell phone or device registered with the system ever be trapped beneath rubble or in workplace hostage situations, it can be tracked by global satellites. "It's not only for security, but also a valuable human resource tool," DeBond told the paper. "It can contact people instantly on 20 separate systems."

Signature Theater Finds New Home at Fiterman Hall

Wednesday, March 28^th: The performing arts center at Ground Zero to be designed by Frank Gehry will not include the Signature Theater Company because of the cost and complicated logistics of having the company share the space with the Joyce Theater, the New York Times reported. "The city said it was going to be too costly to do it, and I think they're right," James Houghton, artistic director of the Signature, told the paper. "Frankly, it's refreshing to get this straight talk about it. I don't think anyone wants to build a $700 million performing arts center."

The new plan calls for Signature to inhabit space in Fiterman Hall, which would bring the cost for the center and new Signature Theater down to $350 million combined. Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff told the Times that the decision would "result in substantial savings and hopefully improved facilities for both institutions."