Village Voice writer Wayne Barrett wrote a scathing biography of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani a few months before the 9/11 attacks. Giuliani became a hero after the attacks and has maintained that image ever since. But Barrett has just co-written a new book that questions his handling of the situation. In Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani, Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins argue that Giuliani's leadership may have exacerbated the crisis. Plus, the Fringe Festival turns 10.

- bill 8-22-2006 7:20 pm

In "Grand Illusion," Hauer blames Giuliani for forcing him to build the center near City Hall. But it was Hauer who finally picked the location and then stumped for it. (When I broke the story of the command center plans in a June 13, 1998, article in the New York Times, which Barrett and Collins cite, Hauer expressed no reservations — on or off the record — about putting it on the 23rd floor of a building across the street from terrorists' 1993 target. In fact, Hauer said the site was ideal, that the city needed "a facility that is survivable" and "that is this facility.") The building housing the command center collapsed along with the twin towers that morning, contributing to many of the problems on the ground.

- bill 8-22-2006 7:26 pm





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