GREENWICH VILLAGE — Some Greenwich Village residents are unhappy they weren’t consulted on the design chosen for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire memorial, the local district leader said.
The design for the memorial, in honor of the 146 workers who perished in a massive blaze in 1911, was selected in 2013 by “a renowned panel of jurists” after an international design competition that brought in more than 170 submissions from more than 30 countries, said Joel Sosinsky of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, the organization that started pushing for a formal tribute at the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street years ago.
“Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member under FDR, who witnessed the fire, basically said that the New Deal started at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire,” Sosinsky said. “People walk past that building every day and have no idea.”
Terri Cude, the female District Leader for the 66th Assembly District Part B, agreed that the fire marked a pivotal point in American history, particularly in the role it played giving rise to the workers’ union movement.
But she said locals are upset that they were not consulted on the selection of the winning design, and have particular concerns about the 8-story-high mirrored piece that could reflect light into people’s windows.
So she organized a town hall to take place this Tuesday evening. The coalition will present the design, and the community will be allowed to speak as well.
“Basically we’re going to try to start a conversation in the ‘better late than never’ thought that perhaps some of the community’s concerns can be expressed to the coalition, who then maybe can modify the design,” Cude said at a recent meeting of Community Board 2’s executive leadership. (Cude is the First Vice Chair.)
Sosinsky said any changes would be at the discretion of the designers, who aim to be present at the meeting.
“They won the design competition, it’s their design,” Sosinsky said.
After years of fighting for funds, the coalition made a huge step forward this year when Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted them $1.5 million to complete the memorial. But they still need to raise “probably $1 million,” Sosinsky said, because part of the deal struck with New York University requires establishing an endowment for the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial. (The building the memorial will be mounted on is owned by NYU.) The coalition also wants to start a scholarship fund in memory of the victims.
As yet, the city has not put forward any funding.
“We are presently exploring funding options from the city and raising money from all sorts of donors,” Sosinsky said.
The town hall meeting on the memorial design will take place at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion at 1 West 4th St., conference room 3 (CL level), at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23. Attendees must present government-issued photo ID at the door in order to gain entry to the building.
