Remembering 9/11 and Rebuilding Ground Zero

0:00 Speaker 1 A week after 9-11, and what a week it was. What is today is Governor George Pataki. And, well, Governor, congratulations on having a great remembrance. I mean, because you were there. Governor, you were there. You helped save New York.

0:19 You helped save the state and the city. And not only do you help save it that day, We saw your documentary, which we’re going to be showing many times over, and we’re going to show it again and again. You helped bring New York back. Tell us how you feel a week after.

0:40 Speaker 2 Well, first, John, thank you for your kind words. And yeah, I was there and helped bring New York back. But there are so many people who did that, as you know, John. And there are just so many who deserve credit. And one of the things I talked about last week were the thousands of people. on that pile when it was

1:01 smoking and burning and the air was still polluted who are going through health issues. And we just pray for them and want to make sure that they who are true heroes get the health support from the federal government they deserve. But it was a wonderful week. Friday night we had the tremendous event that you and Margo put

1:19 together and thank Margo as well for the spectacular job she did. And it was just something that was an appropriate way to end the commemoration of 25 years since those horrible attacks.

1:36 Speaker 1 I mean, it’s still, it’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years. And, you know, New York, you were there to help make sure New York made a tremendous comeback. And that documentary, tell New Yorkers about the documentary, which we’re going to make available in some special theaters in New York.

1:58 Speaker 2 Well, thank you so much, John. It was something we wanted to tell for the people. You go to lower Manhattan now and you see a very vibrant community, a tremendous, exciting place. But where the tower stood, where the memorial is, we can tell. the story of what happened there for future generations. And that was an enormous challenge. I don’t

2:22 think there’s ever been a site as more emotionally charged as Ground Zero after those attacks. The families all cared about it. The firefighters all cared about it. And the millions of people who saw that happen cared about what was going to happen there. So it was a real challenge to come up with something that the people broadly

2:41 could get behind. And our movie, our documentary, Out of the Darkness, tells how that came about and shows how we went from this smoking rubble, just this horrible sight, to what we have today, which is a truly appropriate memorial, a thriving lower Manhattan community, and the Freedom Tower rising right next to it, 1,776 feet tall. It’s an incredible story,

3:08 and that’s what the documentary tells people.

3:11 Speaker 1 Well, I look forward, I saw it once already, and I look forward to seeing it again. What else would you like? The future of New York. There’s a lot of, you know, there’s a lot of confidence. I went to a bank meeting the other day, one of the major banks in New York, and there were 12 or 15

3:32 New Yorkers were I would say the minimum net worth in that room was $ 5 billion. That really, really concerned about New York. Give us your pulse of the situation.

3:51 Speaker 2 You know, John, I’m very concerned about New York, too. This is the greatest city and the greatest state. And we’ve gone through some enormous challenges. Obviously, September 11th was probably the biggest. But we’ve always faced crises and we’ve always come through them well. What I fear we have now is people like, as you mentioned at the board meeting,

4:14 taking a look and saying, this is not a place I can do business anymore. This is a place where the regulations are too great, the energy costs are too high, the taxes are too high. And now they’re looking and considering things like imposing a tax on people who are successful here. And all it does is drive people out

4:34 of New York and out of New York State. There are, I think now, 11 or 12 states that have no income tax, and New York every year seems to raise them. They’re almost twice what they were when I left office, and it’s not like all of a sudden we’re getting much better services. We’re paying almost twice as much. But

4:55 if anything, the services are not getting any better. So we need a change. We need people in New York to have confidence in the future. We need people to be willing to invest in the future. This is still the greatest city in the world, but we can’t take anything for granted. We have to struggle every day to

5:11 make this a better place, and that requires better leadership, better government, so that people can have that confidence.

5:20 Speaker 1 Well... Governor George Pataki, thank you so much for coming on and thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to speak out for our city and our state and our country. And let’s catch up again real soon.

5:33 Speaker 2 Well, thank you, John. There’s no more loyal or patriotic person in New York City than John Katsimatidis. And thank you for having me on.

5:41 Speaker 1 God bless you and God bless America. Thank you so much. Amen. Amen.