Words of Support
“There’s a magic to the project. That the task is daunting makes it worthy of the man it honors, who guided the nation through the Depression, the New Deal and a world war.”
-The New York Times, Editorial, November 5, 2007
“On this site, a monument, dedicated to the memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt, will rise within view of the United Nations, the organization for World Peace, of which he was the master architect.”
-Mayor John Lindsay, September 24, 1973
“The Four Freedoms will forever be enshrined and where a later generation may pay homage to this great man who responded so courageously to the needs of the people of the United States and the world.”
-Four Freedoms Dinner, Mr. Joseph S. Robinson President of the Four Freedoms Foundation, April 12, 1972.
“It would face the sea he loved, the Atlantic he bridged, the Europe he helped to save, the United Nations he inspired. It is long past time for the country and his city to remind new generations of this President who responded to the people.”
-The New York Times, Editorial, April 12, 1970
“And what could be more fitting than a tree-shaded plaza at the south end of the island, containing a modest memorial to F.D.R. in full view of the United Nations, which he did so much to create, and looking…out to that broad expanse of ocean which he viewed as a bridge rather than a barrier to Western Europe?”
-The New York Times, Editorial, January 30, 1972
“I had this thought that a memorial should be a room and a garden…. The garden is somehow a personal nature…a gathering of nature. And the room was the beginning of architecture.”
-Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974)
“A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.”
-Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974)
“The time in now…it’s a perfect place to build a memorial dedicated to a great New Yorker and one of our country’s finest presidents.”
-Councilmember Jessica S. Lappin
“I can’t imagine a more fitting tribute than building this monument on what will be one of our city’s next great parks.”
-Councilmember Jessica S. Lappin
“I can’t think of a more fitting location for a memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of the greatest leaders our country has ever known.”
-Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
“It’s now or never. We must seize this opportunity and finally build this forgotten memorial.”
-Assembly Member Micah Kellner
