BAYONNE, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A 9/11 memorial in New Jersey gifted by Russian President Vladimir Putin underwent a noticeable change in the midst of his country's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
The teardrop Sept. 11th memorial in Bayonne was dedicated by Putin in 2005, bearing his name in English and Cyrillic. It was later covered by officials with gaffer's tape and, as of Monday, has been replaced with a permanent acrylic board.
"It's definitely satisfaction, but I don't want to take away from the monument," Tom Cotter, the city's Department of Public Works director, told NBC 4. "It’s unfortunate Putin’s name's on the monument, but I don’t want this to be a Putin thing. I still want this to be a 9/11 monument."
Cotter climbed a ladder to get to the bronze plaque bearing Putin's name, calling his sanctioned invasion "like a form of terrorism."
From now on, city officials believe the gift will just be from the Russian people — not Putin, who came to the city to lay the memorial's cornerstone four years after nearly a dozen residents died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Mayor Jimmy Davis said that just because the Russian leader's name was on the memorial doesn't make it complicit in Putin's actions.
"Anybody who said this is tarnished because it came from Russia — not tarnished. This monument is going nowhere. We just removed Vladimir," he said. "I don't ever want to hear someone say that this monument has to come down, because they're going to have to go through me to take this monument down."
Davis, who was the city's police chief during Putin's 2005 visit, said that the 69-year-old is "probably the coldest human being [he's] ever met."
City officials will eventually have to determine an effective way to permanently remove his name that does not damage the memorial stone or the bronze plaque.
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