This coming Sunday, November 23rd, Governors George Pataki of New York and James McGreevey of New Jersey will re-open the World Trade Center Port Authority Trans-Hudson, more commonly known as the "PATH" train station linking New York and New Jersey. They will "commemorate" this "historic" event by riding into the newly re-built station on the same PATH train that was the last to carry people to safety from the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001.

The temporary station, which was completed a month ahead of schedule at a price tag of $323 million, will allow 280 PATH trains to travel into the station to service approximately 67,000 passengers each day. When the permanent station is complete in 2006, it will be called the "World Trade Center Transportation Hub" and will cost $2 billion to complete. Unlike its temporary counterpart, it will include underground pedestrian connections to New York City subway stations on the 1/9, N/R and E lines, as well as connections to the 2, 3, 4, 5, J, M, Z, A and C lines. It will also include many of the customer amenities that existed in the World Trade Center PATH station prior to September 11, 2001, such as heating and air conditioning, as well as commercial shops and eateries.

While most of New York will be celebrating this "historic" event this Sunday - I will not. I am outright disgusted that any rebuilding is taking place at the site where so many people lost their lives so tragically and so publicly. Allowing busy commuters to board trains that will rumble through the site of the September 11th attacks is to me - the equivalent of driving a Hummer through Arlington National Cemetery. The reason for my very strong feelings on this matter is because of the 2,948 people that died on the 16-acre site that tragic day - hundreds of victim's remains were never recovered - among them a 33-year-old man named Douglas Farnum. Although we did have a memorial service for Doug, the only thing we were able to bury was an empty box - because due to the fact that he was so close to the window where the first plane hit - his final resting place will forever be on that sacred ground - that will now be trampled on by thousands of hurried commuters each and every day.

And what about when the completed Transportation Hub is erected? Will PATH commuters be able to buy a large double latte from Starbucks and grab the latest issue of People Magazine before catching their train? Will sushi lunch boxes and deli wraps be available for riders that want to eat on the road? And can people miss their train so they can cruise the shops and eateries that will be selling everything from "I Love New York" key chains to the latest DVDs? Unfortunately, the answer to those questions will probably be yes. So if that is the case - can I erect a lemonade stand on the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing?

I will never, ever be swayed from my view and certainly never attend any Grand Re-Openings or ribbon cuttings over the site that will forever house so many innocent lost souls. I also know all too well that the majority of New Yorkers disagree with my views and believe that rebuilding what the terrorists took away from us is a slap in the face of evil. But I will always agree with the small number of people like myself who believe that it is the faces of the victims and their families that will be slapped when anything is re-built there. People who hope that the eventual memorial at the World Trade Center site will not include construction - as current plans call for - on the bedrock of the Twin Towers, which they consider sacred ground. People like Thelma Stuart, who on that fateful day - lost her husband, Port Authority Officer Walwyn Stuart, Jr.. And who, at a recent memorial service in Brooklyn, was asked by New York 1 about her views on rebuilding on the World Trade Center site - and said, "For someone like myself, who hasn't gotten any remains back from my husband, that was truly his burial ground. So to have buildings built on top of someone's cemetery, that's unheard of."

Something tells me she, like me - won't be taking that PATH train - God bless progress.