High Rise Safety Initiative Reaches Milestone

Representatives of the High-Rise Safety Initiative — Ted Walter, NYC CAN Executive Director (left) and 9/11 family members Valerie Lucznikowska, aunt of Adam Arias, and Bob McIlvaine, father of Bobby McIlvaine — stand in front of the City Clerk's office on July 3, 2014, before submitting 67,192 signatures.Representatives of the High-Rise Safety Initiative submitted over 67,000 petition signatures on July 3rd to the New York City Clerk's office, the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN) announced. This is 37,000 more than the 30,000 signatures needed for a charter amendment to be submitted to NYC voters at the November 4 election. If passed by the voters, the charter amendment contained in the petition would require New York City's Department of Buildings to investigate the destruction of World Trade Center Building 7 — which collapsed into its own footprint at 5:20 PM on September 11, 2001 — as well as any other future high-rise collapses.

The next step for the Initiative is to gather an additional 33,000 signatures (the requisite number is 15,000) to submit to the Clerk on September 4th, according to NYC CAN. That move will place the proposed charter amendment onto the ballot in the event that New York's City Council fails to take action on the petition or votes against the proposed charter amendment. Meanwhile, the City has until August 4th to review the petition and indicate whether or not at least 30,000 of the 67,192 signatures submitted are valid signatures, as well as whether the petition complies with all the requirements of the New York's Municipal Home Rule law, pursuant to which the Initiative was undertaken.

Based on the assessment of top New York election attorneys who drafted the petition, NYC CAN is confident it will be able to withstand any legal challenge offered by the City. If the City does challenge the petition (NYC CAN said there's a possibility it won't), a lawsuit will be brought to force the City to place the proposed charter amendment on the ballot. NYC CAN predicted that the litigation would likely run into late August or early September, at which time the courts will determine whether the proposed charter amendment can be brought to the NYC electorate.

To gather the additional 33,000 signatures needed to clear the 15,000-voter signature hurdle, NYC CAN must raise the final $60,000 of its $250,000 fundraising goal, which was set at the start of the High Rise Safety Initiative campaign. Although September 4th is the deadline to submit this second round of signatures, NYC CAN plans to finish petitioning by the end of July to avoid incurring additional costs, before submitting the signatures on September 4th. Thus, the goal is to raise the final $60,000 by July 20th.

To contribute to what is being perceived as the very best and perhaps only chance of having a truly objective investigation into the collapse of Building 7 on 9/11, go here.