Today's installment of "breathtaking inanity" (the "irrational exuberance" of the two-thousand-oughts) is once again inspired by the redevelopment process at the World Trade Center site. The hard-working Charlie Bagli of the Times has a piece about how the next five weeks will prove crucial in the rebuilding efforts. The city is trying to open up the site to builders other than Larry Silverstein, developer of the monumentum horibilis. Yes, it would be good to include other developers. But honestly, that's not enough. If Silverstein is allowed to build that f**king Freedom Tower, it will cast a shadow over the entire site for a century (assuming it doesn't get hit in another terrorist attack). I've said it before and I'll say it again: Condemn the site in the public interest and start over. If it takes a dozen more years, so be it. But nothing would be worse than a horrible, bunker-like piece of design-by-committee architecture sticking up like a giagantic sore thumb. Are we really that stupid?
