Monday, January 01, 2007 For Immediate Release:

Contact: Frank Shafroth 703-228-3116(voice), 703-228-4743 (TTY)
Navy ship commemorates heroes and victims of the 9/11 Pentagon attack

The Arlington County Board today made appointments to the Commissioning Committee for the USS Arlington, a new U.S. Navy ship (San Antonio Class) currently under construction. The USS Arlington is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011, and is being built to honor the heroes and victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon in 2001.

“Our community will never forget the tragic events of September 11^th,” said Paul Ferguson, Chairman of the Arlington County Board. “The USS Arlington will stand as a living tribute to those brave men and women who risked their lives to save others and we are grateful to the Commissioning Committee for their leadership.”

The Committee will be responsible for fundraising and maintenance of a long-term relationship between the ship, its crew, and Arlington County and will also address a timeline, fundraising issues, and a recommended process for the commissioning of the USS Arlington, including an assessment of the financial implications for the County.

As part of its charge, the committee shall make its final recommendations to the Board by no later than December 1, 2007.

The USS Arlington Commissioning Committee
The Arlington County Board appointed the following members to the Commissioning Committee:

• Rosemary Dillard, whose husband was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11
• Pat Hymel Lipinski, whose former husband was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11 and former principal at Hoffman-Boston Elementary School
• Lisa Dolan, whose husband, Navy Captain Bob Dolan, was killed at the Pentagon on 9/11
• Rodney White – Arlington County Fire Department firefighter/paramedic
• Wilbur R. Gray – Arlington County Fire Department Battalion Chief
• Admiral Stansfield Turner, former Director of Central Intelligence Agency
• Nancy Gorell – President of the No. Va. Council of Navy League
• Admiral John Foley – Vice President, Business Development/Strategic Planning, Northrup Grumman

Additional members will be appointed at a later time.

Background:
In September 2005, the Navy held a ceremony at the Pentagon to name the USS Arlington and the USS Somerset in honor of the heroes and victims of the Pentagon attack and the flight downed in Pennsylvania. The ceremony also honored the sacrifices of those who provided critical assistance both during and after the attack of 9/11, including the emergency, fire, and rescue personnel of Arlington County.

The Arlington and Somerset are the latest additions to the San Antonio Class of amphibious transport dock ships–the first to be designed from the keel up. This class is set to replace 27 amphibious ships from the three classes of amphibious ships now in service. An earlier ship of the same class, the USS New York, was named for the World Trade Center victims in New York. With an overall length of 684 feet, the San Antonio Class ships are designed to accommodate 1,200 sailors and Marines and their equipment.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR-421-07 November 18, 2007

The following is the text of Mayor Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, November 18, 2007

“Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.”  On Friday, I attended the National League of Cities Conference in New Orleans. The organizers chose New Orleans to host this year’s conference to give local leaders from across the nation an opportunity to see a city that has dealt with an enormous catastrophe and is now coming back stronger and better than ever.”It’s a story that New Yorkers know well. And as I walked the streets of the Crescent City, and met with the people who call it home, I was struck by the same spirit of resilience that I saw in New York in the months following 9/11. One of the most powerful symbols of that resilience is the U.S.S. New York, a Navy warship currently under construction in New Orleans. The ship, which is being built from steel recovered from the World Trade Center, was in a shipyard on the banks of the Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina hit. And despite the devastation that occurred all around it, the ship survived the storm and remained intact.”It was heartening to see. Equally heartening are the signs of progress throughout the city of New Orleans: homes being rebuilt, new businesses and restaurants going up, and a population that is now increasing at a pace of nearly 5,000 new residents a month. It’s not easy to rebuild communities in the wake of a tragedy, but it is possible, and Lower Manhattan is a shining example of that. The neighborhood’s comeback as a residential community is one of our city’s greatest success stories.”Over the past six years, Lower Manhattan’s population has grown by some 20,000 people – and more than 10,000 units of housing have opened. Not surprisingly, the school-age population in this area is also booming. To meet the growing need for classroom space, last week I stood with State leaders to announce plans to build a new, nine-story public school in Battery Park City. The school will include students from pre-kindergarten through the 8th grade. It will create nearly 40 new classrooms and 950 new seats, and serve as the City’s first ‘Green School.’”The resurgence that Lower Manhattan is experiencing right now is just incredible. It’s exactly what we hoped for when we outlined our “Vision for Lower Manhattan” in 2002. Over the past five years, we’ve focused as much on making the area a good place to live as we have on encouraging the growth of business. We’ve done that by spurring the development of new housing – including affordable housing, by driving crime to new lows, by creating parks and waterfront areas that improve neighborhood quality of life, and by investing in the good public schools that are the backbone of any thriving residential community.”For New York – and for cities across the nation – these are the ingredients for success. But they can only be realized when government holds itself accountable for results. That was the message I brought to the National League of Cities Conference in New Orleans last week. New York has come a long way over a short period of time, and we’re not about to ease up. To ensure our city’s future, we’re going to keep thinking big, investing strategically and measuring our progress every step of the way.”This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Thanks for listening.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Stu Loeser   (212) 788-2958

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