The dispute over where to lay to rest thousands of remains of unidentified September 11 victims is going back to court.
The group 9/11 Parents And Families of Firefighters And World Trade Center Victims has sued the city for not releasing a list of all victims’ families.
The families said they want the remains in an above-ground memorial, not seven stories underground as is planned now.
Jim Riches with 9/11 Parents And Families of Firefighters And World Trade Center Victims said the families should decide where the remains are laid to rest.
“We didn’t want to go to court. We have no other recourse rather than just sit by and watch my son get buried in a basement of a museum. We were hoping that the city would just poll the families. This is a democracy, they should go with what the majority feel,” Riches told 1010 WINS’ Glenn Schuck.
A judge had previously ruled to block the families from accessing personal information of other victims’ families.
“Mayor Bloomberg has already given the names and addresses to the 9/11 Memorial Foundation. That’s a private non-profit organization which raises money and continually solicits me and my family every three months for money,” Riches told WCBS 880′s Monica Miller.
Riches said the World Trade Center site is a burial plot for many families.
“I’ll fight it as long as I can because I don’t feel my son and the others, you know, they died down there as American heroes…no one deserved to be put in a museum in the basement. We want them buried respectfully above-grade like the Tombs of the Unknowns to bring some respect and dignity to that site down there,” Riches told Schuck.
The city has not released victims’ families names, citing privacy concerns.
The case will not be heard in court until at least November.
