By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — Community Board 1 chair and NBC talk show host Julie Menin has launched campaign directed at local community boards to galvanize efforts to move the 9/11 terror trials out of Manhattan
Her first stop was in Greenwich Village on Thursday night for a full board meeting of Community Board 2, which spans SoHo, NoLIta, Little Italy and the Village. She said she plans to hit all the Manhattan neighborhood full board meetings or approach board chairs directly.
Menin's mission is to encourage local leaders to pass a resolution suggesting Governors Island or other alternate venues host the trial of Mohammed and four other alleged Sept. 11 terrorists. The resolution has already received overwhelming support from locals in Chinatown and lower Manhattan and was sent to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Jan. 27.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to hold this trial in New York City,” said Menin, at the full board meeting in the Village. “This is not just a not-in-my-backyard issue. It’s a Manhattan issue.”
Her crusade comes in response to recent comments by Vice President Joe Biden that questioned the costs of the 9/11 trials estimated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's. Menin called Biden's remarks "backtracking and insulting."
“The mayor came along and said the cost of providing security is [$200] million dollars, which I think is more than will be needed,” Biden said "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Bloomberg punched back at Biden’s claims stating the estimates costs were “reasonable” on Tuesday.
Residents in Chinatown and around Manhattan are outraged that they would have to endure years of street closures and armed guards in a tight security zone surrounding the courts if New York holds the 9/11 trials.
Menin said she plans to approach Community Board 3 next, but could not go to its full board meeting due to a scheduling conflict.
Borough President Scott Stringer said he is placing the resolution on the agenda of the borough board — comprised of all Manhattan Council members and community board chairs — for a vote in mid-March. The passing of the resolution would add broader support to resolution, but would not directly render policy changes.
“If you look at the entire picture of what it would mean to hold the trials downtown — the cost estimates, the impacts on residents and businesses — you can see why the Chinatown and Lower Manhattan communities have been so diligent in their opposition to this proposal,” he said. “I am fully in support of Community Board 1’s resolution.”
Jo Hamilton, chair of Community Board 2, said her committee would vote on the resolution at next month’s full board meeting.
