In this photo taken July 14, 2009, ironworker Carlos Gelbi lifts a steel bar into place on the construction site of 1 World Trade Center in New York. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is building the 1,776-foot (541-meter) skyscraper, commonly known as the Freedom Tower. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A 20-ton block of granite once envisioned as the cornerstone for New York’s Freedom Tower is getting a new home on Long Island.
Although dedicated at the ground zero site in 2004, the stone was quietly removed in 2006 to allow for other construction and returned to the company where it was inscribed.
Innovative Stone CEO Karen Pearse says it’s not clear whether the 5 1/2-foot-tall stone will ever return to New York City. Rather than keep it in storage, Pearse says the company wants to give it a place of honor.
Giant cranes moved the stone Tuesday to a garden in front of the company’s Hauppaugue facility. It will be rededicated Friday, the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Associated Press
