Iran Case Shows Ground Zero Access Tight

NEW YORK -- Almost everyone agrees Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn't belong at ground zero. So who gets access these days to the 16-acre pit where the World Trade Center once anchored the Manhattan skyline, a slice of the city that many regard as hallowed ground?

Construction workers. The families of victims. The occasional journalist. And not too many others, in stark contrast to the days immediately after Sept. 11 when the smoldering site was overrun with celebrities, politicians and even Playboy playmates.

Amid the chaos after the twin towers fell, rescue workers and cleanup crews mingled with a parade of well known visitors: Muhammad Ali, Robert De Niro, cast members from "The Sopranos," Martha Stewart.

Miss America Katie Harman signed body ID tags for grateful workers. Boxing promoter Don King toured the site, as did U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other world leaders. Almost half of the Senate arrived en masse.

The vast majority came to offer support and condolences, although critics suggested others viewed a trip to the devastation as a photo op.

"It was like you had celebrity status only if you got in at ground zero," recalled Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest who spent long hours in lower Manhattan in the weeks after two hijacked planes struck the towers.

Within a month, the city was turning down hundreds of requests to visit the site and began asking celebrities to avoid the area as the treacherous search for remains continued.

Six years later, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said a proposed ground zero visit by Ahmadinejad during next week's U.N. General Assembly had no chance. Police cited ongoing construction and security concerns, and the Iranian president, who is under Secret Service protection while in the U.S., was told to steer clear.

"We have communicated our concerns to the Iranian Mission," Kelly said. "I am sure they will abide by our statement ... Our position is that he will not be permitted to go."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would provide protection for all guests of the United Nations without requiring that they pass a "litmus test for views." He said of Ahmadinejad: "I personally find what this guy has said abhorrent, and I think it would be inappropriate to have him visit."

Some objected to Ahmedinejad's visit on political grounds.

"To have the leader of the greatest state sponsor of terrorism in the world visit the site of the most heinous terrorist attack on America would be an affront to the victims and families of 9/11 and to all who lived through that day," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.