16 Acres

All of New York City united in grief right after 9/11, but when the time came to resurrect the Ground Zero site of the destroyed World Trade Center complex, unseemly squabbling quickly ensued. Lease-holder Larry Silverstein, here perceived as a greedy developer (had to be, says one interviewee, since locals didn't know any other kind), needed a big insurance payout and a commercial structure to supplant billions in lost revenue, so out went any thoughts of solemn green space. Architectural competitions jubilantly announced winners for skyscraper and memorial designs, which were then arbitrarily scrapped/revised on the whims of top officials and Gov. George Pataki (“winning” architect Daniel Libeskind, son of Holocaust survivors, remained as a convenient figurehead). Another pressure group, families of FDNY casualties, also demanded their say, citing the Oklahoma City bombing as their precedent. Filmmaker Richard Hankin's 16 Acres serves up a riveting and gossipy slice of recent history and special-interest civics, a tale that would even be funny were it not for the monumentally tragic trigger event. Besides Pataki, Libeskind, and Michael Bloomberg, the film also features pithy input from authors/scenesters Philip Nobel and Scott Raab. And the optimistic conclusion? Business and power games as usual meant that New York had indeed returned to normal. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)