Mob at Ground Zero

In today's Daily News follow-up to its blockbuster expose of waste and favoritism at Ground Zero the paper focuses on how mob-connected firms weaseled their way into the reconstruction effort. In addition, the paper is reporting that Congressman Peter King, the head of the House's Homeland Security Committee, is calling for a Federal probe of the entire fiasco.

All of which brings to mind the mayor's role, or should we say acquiescence to Governor Pataki, in the oversight of the entire reconstruction project. We simply can't believe that Rudy would have given the Governor carte blanche here and it was clearly the mayor's novitiate status that kept him from asserting the city's prerogatives.

That being said, it is now incumbent on the mayor, poised on the verge of "greatness," to take charge and straighten the mess out. The entire thing is a disgrace. The Alliance's main concern, however, are the small businesses that were given the shaft. Some of these small firms are on the verge of being eminent domained out of the area altogether and that is an outrage that must be halted immediately!