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The Record, North Jersey Online, www.northjersey.com

Thursday, February 28, 2008

The brains behind the use of salvaged World Trade Center steel in a new Navy warship is a Rutherford volunteer firefighter excited about seeing his vision christened this weekend as the USS New York.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN / SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

Rutherford native Scott Koen championed the use of steel from Ground Zero for the warship.

Her name is New York, but to Scott Koen, she is a phoenix.

The christening will take place Saturday at a Louisiana shipyard with a bottle of champagne smashed across her bow, which contains 24 tons of steel that once towered over Lower Manhattan.

Armed with air-defense missiles and two 30mm guns for close combat, the USS New York is designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It can carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines who can reach shore by helicopter and assault craft.

“Eventually, the idea would have occurred to a lot of people,” Koen said. “I just happened to be at the right spot at the right time.”

FAST FACTS

• The ship’s motto is “Never Forget.”
• Commissioning will happen in New York City next year.
• Top speed is 22 knots.
• It’s two football fields long.

The right spot was the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, where Koen had worked as director of operations. And the right man was Bill White, the museum’s president.

“He had asked, ‘What do you think about taking steel from the World Trade Center and actually pouring it into the foundation of ships?’ ” said White, recalling a conversation with Koen from March 2002. “And I said, ‘Oh, my God. That would be unbelievable.’ ”

While enthusiastic about the concept, White said he had some reservations and wondered if the government wanted to keep the steel as evidence. But he fired off an e-mail anyway to Adm. Vern Clark, then-chief of naval operations in the Pentagon.

Several months later, the military tasked Koen with finding the World Trade Center steel.

Koen said he recalled an awkward and now-humorous conversation with a Newark recycler, who had a hard time understanding why a guy from Rutherford wanted WTC scrap. The recycler cooperated once Koen explained the military part.

Then-New York Gov. George Pataki also helped find World Trade Center steel, and asked the Navy to commemorate the terrorist attack by reviving the name New York for a ship whose role would include fighting terrorism.

The $700 million ship that would become USS New York was already on the drawing board on Sept. 11, 2001, but had not been assigned a name.

It’s the fifth in a class of amphibious transport dock ships, which are designed to bring troops into a war zone and then deploy them via helicopters and boats.

Future ships in the class will also carry names commemorating places struck by the Sept. 11 hijackers — USS Arlington, the location of the Pentagon; and USS Somerset, the Pennsylvania county where United Flight 93 crashed after its passengers fought off hijackers.

The last navy ship christened New York was a battleship whose construction began on Sept. 11, 1911 — 90 years to the day that terrorists struck the towers.

For USS New York, construction using the World Trade Center steel happened in September 2003, when steelworkers in Amite, La., poured molds for the bow stem, the first part of the ship to cut through the water.

Koen said the steel will lead the way for USS New York, which will cruise into waters around Manhattan for a commissioning sometime next year.

“To add the steel, it makes a phoenix out of it,” Koen said.

E-mail: clunn@northjersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/news/newyorkmetro/WTC_steel_lives_on_in_naval_warship.html

The Road to the USS New York By Scott Koen

The concept of the USS New York all started with the World Trade Center Memorial Competition. I developed a proposal named “Freedom Plaza” which was a huge North American Bald Eagle made entirely of recycled steel and aluminum from Ground Zero. Another idea I had was to use some of that same steel in a new ship called the USS New York City. What better way to honor the thousands that lost their lives than to have a ship built from Ground Zero. I worked at the Intrepid Museum at the time,  spoke to Bill White the CEO and explained my idea . Bill emailed CNO Vern Clark who responded “Love the idea and I will pass to our folks soonest” and thanked us. The Navys enthusiastic response was only tempered by the question of structural strength. Once that was satisfied my next task was to find the steel that could be used. I contacted Hugo Neu, a WTC steel processor and after the initial “You want what? for what??” conversation they provided us with 24 tons. The steel left on the 27^th of December 2002 bound for the Northrop Grumman Shipyard in Pascagoula, MS. Upon it’s arrival, 7 tons were selected for the bow piece. On August 4th 2005, the LPD 21’s bow stem, with its World Trade Center steel, was erected into the main hull and will forever lead the future USS New York.

More info on Freedom Plaza availible at www.ussnewyork.com/freedomplaza