Tear Drop Monument - Russian Gift to the United States

Summary:
Email claims that attached photographs show a monument donated by Russia as a memorial for the victims of 9/11 (Full commentary below).

Status:
True

Example:(Submitted, March 2009)

Subject: Fw: Did anyone hear about this??? I didn't!

Did anyone hear about this??? I didn't! Russian gift to the U.S.

I had never heard of this before receiving an e-mail. Wonder why the press didn't report it? > This is the "TEAR DROP" made and installed by the Russians to honor those who died in 9 11 and a statement against terrorism. It is very impressive. The tear drop is lined up with the Statue of Liberty.

Gift from the people of Russia......."Monument to the struggle against world terrorism, artist Zurab Tesereteii" ....it is an impressive memorial and statement against terrorism. The walkway is made of stones.

Names of the persons killed on 9 11 are inscribed on the base. The base like the Vietnam Memorial wall. It was a cold and windy day but well worth the drive to see. It is down in the shipping yards across from "The Lady".

Commentary:
According to this email forward, attached photographs show a spectacular monument that was a gift to the United States from Russia. The information in the message is true.

The monument, which features a 40 foot steel teardrop suspended within a large bronze-clad tower, is a memorial to the victims of 9/ll and the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. As noted in the message, it is indeed a gift from the Russian people. Information about the memorial published in a brochure available on the memorial website notes:

Time cures everything, but there are things we cannot and must not forget. Standing more than 100 feet tall, "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" honors victims of 9/11 and the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and serves as a symbol of solidarity in the fight against world terrorism. Created by Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, the memorial was a gift from the Russian people. Dedicated on September 11, 2006, it stands in direct view of the Statue of Liberty and the former World Trade Center

The memorial is located at The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, New Jersey. A 2006 entry on the "Milestones" Page of The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor website records the unveiling of the memorial:

On September 11, 2006, the 100-foot monument, "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism," is unveiled at a dedication ceremony featuring former President Clinton, Governor Corzine, Senators Menendez and Lautenberg and other dignitaries. The monument was created and donated by artist Zurab Tsereteli and the people of Russia to memorialize the victims of the Sept. 11 and the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. The memorial is the centerpiece of Harbor View Park located on the northeast corner of The Peninsula. Two weeks after the dedication ceremony, the first mile of greenway on The Peninsula is open to the public for the first time in a generation. The community is invited for a celebration and tour.

A June 2007 article in the New Yorker also discusses the memorial:

France gave us the Statue of Liberty. Now Russia has given us "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism," another XXL, in-a-class-of-its-own monument. If you have not seen it, that may be because you haven’t recently approached New York City by ship. For those coming in from the Atlantic, through the Narrows, the Russian gift now heaves into view well before Lady Liberty. That is intentional, according to Zurab Tsereteli, the Moscow-based sculptor who created the monument. "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" stands at the end of a long, man-made peninsula in Bayonne, New Jersey, and it looks from a distance like a giant tea biscuit. As you get closer, however, you will begin to make out an immense, stainless-steel teardrop—the Tear of Grief—hanging in a jagged crack that runs down the middle of the main slab.

Zurab Tsereteli is a well respected, multi-talented artist whose works appear in many cities around the world.

comments powered by Disqus

References:
The Memorial at Harbor View Park
To the Struggle Against World Terrorism
Milestones of the Authority
The New Yorker - Monument
Zurab Tsereteli - Biography

Last updated: 27th March 2009
First published: 27th March 2009

Write-up by Brett M. Christensen