Airport May Be Renamed in Honor of 9/11 Victims
The governors of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday proposed changing the name of Newark International Airport to Liberty International Airport at Newark in honor of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The events of Sept. 11 shattered our domestic tranquillity and threatened us all,” New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey said, appearing with New York Gov. George Pataki at a news conference at the site of the fallen World Trade Center.
“It would be appropriate to commemorate the memory of the heroes of that day by this proposed name change for Newark International Airport.”
Officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees airports in the New York metropolitan region that includes Newark, N.J., said they welcomed the proposed name change.
“The name Liberty International Airport at Newark would be a powerful and permanent way to honor the countless Americans who have given their lives defending liberty at home and abroad,” Port Authority Chairman Jack Sinagra and Vice Chairman Charles Gargano said in a statement.
“The port authority will work with Govs. McGreevey and Pataki, our board of commissioners and the city of Newark to see that this fitting tribute becomes a reality.”
The governors made their suggestion while announcing plans to erect a viewing wall at the trade center site that will bear the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when two hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers Sept. 11.
A third plane struck the Pentagon, while a fourth hijacked jet, which took off from Newark, crashed in Pennsylvania.
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