www.nyccan.org

On Wednesday, June 24, 2009, the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now filed a petition containing 52,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the creation of a New York City independent commission to investigate the events of September 11, 2001.

9/11 Family Members Maureen Hunt and Manny Badillo, and First Responders Charlie Giles of the Feal Good Foundation and Bill Gleason of the World Trade Center Rescuers Foundation, arrived at the City Clerk’s office to deliver the petition and speak in behalf of all the proud and concerned citizens who deserve an unbiased, nonpolitical investigation of the tragedy that has affected us so deeply.

Thank you for getting us this far! City Council now has until August 24 to approve the placement of the referendum on the November 3 ballot. As hundreds more 9/11 family members, first responders and survivors join NYC CAN’s campaign for a new investigation, lobbying their council members to support the petition, our chances grow.

Dear Friends Around the World,

We, the 9/11 Family Members, First Responders and Survivors who make up the Executive Council of the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now, would like to announce our profound dedication to establishing an independent, impartial, subpoena-powered investigation into the events of September 11, 2001. We stand together with you, our fellow citizens, to place this important referendum on the New York City ballot on November 3, 2009.

Each one of us has a different story and a different reason for becoming part of this journey, but we have united for this purpose and this purpose alone: to establish an independent, impartial, subpoena-powered investigation into the events of September 11, 2001.

As 9/11 Family Members, First Responders and Survivors of those tragic moments, our lives were irreversibly devastated. Below, we describe our pain and our quest for closure. We hope you will join us in this quest – it is of paramount importance for our personal and collective healing, and for the betterment of our world.

Donna Marsh O’Connor, Mother of Vanessa Lang Langer:

As the world moves further and further away from the actual events of 9/11/2001 both in time and spirit, and as 9/11 effaces into yet another simple story cast in history, as the parent of Vanessa Lang Langer lost as the towers fell, I want to let it go. I want to stop talking about 9/11. I am tired of the questions unasked and unanswered. I am tired of the effort to burst yet another happiness bubble in our collective American psyche. And, too, I am tired of talking about Vanessa's death. Better for my family, in the immediacy of trying to live out our present days, to focus on Vanessa's life. To laugh at her memories and revel in pictures of her beautiful face. If it were only for the present and the joys I can still share with my children, my family and my fellow citizens, not just of this country but the world, I would let it go. I would so let it go.

But there is, after all literally, the future. And the future never relied so heavily on redress of questions unanswered in the present. To first ask and then answer what happened that day. Who committed this crime? Who should be held accountable? That is why I support the NYC CAN Ballot Initiative, and I ask for your support as well. It is beyond time for an investigation. It is beyond time.

By William F. Pepper
April 18, 2009

Many deeply concerned citizens of this Republic and the world have been engaged in tireless, multifaceted research and investigation about the events surrounding the 9/11 tragedy. These patriots have produced articles, essays, books and films that seek answers to the multitude of unanswered questions about this atrocity. Not having researched these questions myself and having no answers, when I have appeared before them I have encouraged the continuation of their valuable work as citizens of the Republic.

In their numbers are distinguished scientists, engineers, architects, professional people from all walks of life and families of victims who seek closure -- people for whose courage, determination, intelligence and steadfastness, I have boundless admiration. It was largely as a result of their efforts that a 9/11 Commission was established in the first place over the initial opposition of the Bush administration.

(The NYC Ballot Initiative has been reorganized, placing the further gathering of signatures for the petition in the hands of Ted Walter, one of the lead petition workers involved with the first phase of this project. He is joined by Frank Morales, who will safeguard funds for NYCCAN.org - Behind Walter and Morales are some familiar names; Donna Marsh O’Connor, Bob McIlvaine, Bill Doyle, Janette MacKinlay and William Rodriguez, who have formed an interim Executive Council for the coalition. This reorganization is the result of feedback that has effected change in the handling of the petition. NYCCAN also offers a new email address for further feedback, that will be accessible by the Executive Council. This could include opinions on the current membership of the commission, which can be changed once the commission has been established. Please feel free to distribute the Press Release below far and wide, and donate if you can. - rep.)

Press Release from NYCCAN.org:

April 9, 2009

Dear Friends around the World,

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW

To place a public referendum for an impartial, independent and subpoena powered investigation of 9/11 on the New York City Ballot for the November General Election.

The 9/11 Commission was set up in 2002 to “provide the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11”. What we got instead, in the words of Commission Chairs Governor Thomas Kean and Representative Lee Hamilton, was a Commission “Set up to fail”. A joint statement from both sides of the aisle is a rarity. This one speaks volumes.

AMERICA DESERVES BETTER

Today, over 66% of New York City residents support a new 9/11 investigation. Millions now know that critical questions were left unaddressed. Only an objective, independent, subpoena powered investigation can ask the right people the relevant questions the 9/11 Commission certainly did not. Only an impartial investigation, free from intervention and powered by subpoena, can deliver the answers that every American deserves.