USS New York

Sometime tomorrow, some of the last scrap steel from the World Trade Center will be removed from the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island and trucked south to a Northrop Grumman shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. There it will be forged into the prow of a new American warship, the United States Ship New York. The Associated Press dispatch on the steel filled us with a tingle of pride, for we can't imagine a better use that could be made of that metal. A Navy release says the ship will carry a Navy crew of 363, and 699 Marines. The ship will be used, the Pentagon says, "to transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies … in amphibious assault, special operations, or expeditionary warfare missions." Governor Pataki was quoted by the AP as saying, "We're very proud that the twisted steel from the World Trade Center towers will soon be used to forge an even stronger national defense. The USS New York will soon be defending freedom and combating terrorism around the globe." The Navy secretary described the ship's mission as to "project American power to the far corners of the earth and support the cause of freedom." Amid all the talk of extravagant memorial parks at ground zero, it's hard to think of a better way than this to demonstrate America's — and New York's — firm resolve.