NEW YORK CITY – Before the dust had even settled at Ground Zero in New York City, a battle was waging over the future of the World Trade Center site.
While commercial interests rushed to redevelop the high-value Manhattan land, one woman with deep ties to Tampa Bay took on the challenge to ensure the 16-acre site became sacred ground.
It’s one of many stories FOX13 News is covering as we reach the 25th Anniversary of the terror attacks.
A vow born from tragedy
The backstory:
The couple met on September 11, 1999, exactly two years before the attacks. On the morning of 9/11, Michael called her twice from inside Tower Two to tell her what was happening before going to help others.
“Thank God he called me twice. He says, ‘Monica listen. People are jumping out of the windows, I have to go.’ That’s when the nightmare began,” she said.
Without remains or physical items to bury, Iken-Murphy struggled to process the devastating loss, describing the immediate aftermath as unlivable without a clear purpose.
“When you don’t have anything, and you’re happily married to someone, and they go to work, and you have nothing—not a ring, not a card, not nothing—it’s very hard to accept that and think that you could just live,” she explained.
Fighting Commercial Interests at Ground Zero
What we know:
As conversations quickly turned to rebuilding commercial real estate in Lower Manhattan, Iken-Murphy emerged as a leading voice against development on the footprint where so many had died.
She became a central figure in protests at the site, advocating fiercely for the creation of a permanent, dedicated memorial on the land itself:
Standing Firm Against Development: While developers pushed to rebuild on prime real estate, Iken-Murphy insisted that commercial interests take a backseat to honoring human life.
Extreme Commitment: She was prepared to put her life on the line if developers moved to pave over the site. “I was gonna chain myself. Bulldoze me,” she recalled. “I was 34, I had nothing to live for.”
Advocating for Moral Honor: She publicly challenged city officials and developers, emphasizing that resilience shouldn’t mean replacing sacred ground with office towers.
Building “September’s Mission”
Why you should care:
To give her fight structure and impact, Iken-Murphy founded September’s Mission, a non-profit foundation dedicated to advocating for a living memorial at Ground Zero. Through the organization, she secured a pivotal role in the site’s future:
Creation of the Memorial: September’s Mission advocated for preserving the original footprints of the Twin Towers as a sanctuary for families who had no remains to lay to rest.
Family Representation: She was appointed to the World Trade Center Site Memorial Advisory Committee, serving as a primary voice for 9/11 families in direct discussions with project planners, architects, and government agencies.
Input on Final Design: Through her advocacy, September’s Mission helped shape every key aspect of the final memorial design—leading to what is now the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The 9/11 Memorial was dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the attacks in 2011, fulfilling the promise Iken-Murphy made to her husband in the days following the disaster.
9/11 Widow Wins Battle Over WTC Memorial: “We don’t Build Over Dead People”
