Many fed-up 9/11 families are hopeful as President Trump explores a federal takeover of the embattled museum and memorial at Ground Zero.

“I am delighted,” said Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son Christian Regenhard, in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the Twin Towers. “This is answered prayers.”

“It’s a godsend that the Trump administration – that Donald Trump – has heard the cries of the families,” continued Regenhard, who leads a group advocating for families of 9/11 firefighters.

A White House spokesperson told The Post preliminary exploratory discussions of a takeover are ongoing.

Trump pledged to make the site a federally-protected national monument on the campaign trail last year.

“I am announcing tonight that as president, I will officially make the Ground Zero site at the World Trade Center a national monument protected and maintained by the United States government,” Trump said at a Long Island rally in September.

He said the move would ensure the “hallowed ground and the memory of those who perished there will be preserved for all time – preserved forever.”

The proposal is gaining steam after The Post’s front page expose last month revealed skyrocketing salaries for execs of the nonprofit that runs the museum, even as its finances have been in the red for years.

Many frustrated 9/11 families have long pushed for the National Park Service to take control of the complex.

One of the families’ central demands has been to move the remains of 1,100 unidentified victims from the museum’s basement, and to include names of those who have since been identified by the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

“In the future, especially the parents of the victims, they’re not going to be here to tell the stories,” said Regenhard, as she started crying. “No one will know that my son was a firefighter and that he perished in the death trap of Ground Zero.”

Elizabeth Hillman, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, has rebuffed the idea of a federal takeover.

“At a time when the federal government is working to cut costs, assuming the full operating expenses for the site makes no sense,” she told The Post.

“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively.”

https://nypost.com/2025/09/06/us-news/trump-takeover-of-9-11-memorial-amp-museum-back-by-victims-families-prayers-answered/

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The CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum has a track record of raking in hefty raises — even as the nonprofits she led floundered, The Post has learned.

Before she took the helm of the Manhattan nonprofit in July 2022, Elizabeth Hillman was president for six years of Mills College, a women’s liberal arts school in Oakland, CA.

College trustees sued her in 2021 for allegedly withholding financial documents from them, and hindering their fiduciary duties as Mills merged with Northeastern University in Boston.

Hillman backed the merger, but many trustees did not.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the trustees, compelling Mills College to provide the requested financial information, but it wasn’t enough to stop the merger.

Mills College was struggling financially due to declining enrollment and mounting operational costs, and the merger with Northeastern University was intended to stabilize finances by providing additional resources and institutional support.

Mills eventually shut down as an independent institution when the merger was completed in 2022 — posting a $38 million deficit — while Hillman walked off with a $580,067 payday, a 18% hike from the previous year.

A front-page expose in The Post revealed the skyrocketing salaries of Hillman and other execs at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, even as the organization hemorrhages money and ignores families’ pleas to have victims remains stored anywhere other than the basement.

Hillman pocketed $856,216 in 2024 — a 63% raise in just two years since joining the organization, which was nearly $20 million in the red the same year.

A tone-deaf Hillman defended the nonprofit’s exorbitant salaries, claiming executive compensation lagged “well behind” that of peer institutions, without citing specific examples.

“I was just like, ‘That rat is at it again,'” said Michelle Sherman, a Mills College alum.

“Disgusted. I mean, ashes in the basement? I don’t know how to say this without just being crass, but there’s a special place in hell for people like that.”

Sherman was among alumni who actively opposed Mills College’s merger, which was painted as the only way to save the school.

They felt the institution was being mismanaged and didn’t need to merge with any other school, pointing to its healthy $226 million endowment in 2022, which that had grown by $40 million, or 20%, from the year before.

The college faculty passed a no-confidence vote in Hillman in May 2021, after years of frustration over leadership and the handling of finances, calling for an overhaul of the administration.

It did little to stop Hillman and other executives from pushing full steam ahead with the merger.

“For an institution that’s over 100 years old, it’s just a shame that nothing was really done to save it,” said Sherman. “We’ve always just felt in the back of our minds that this woman got a payout. She exited right before school started that fall.”

https://nypost.com/2025/09/06/us-news/ceo-of-embattled-9-11-memorial-amp-museum-has-track-record-of-hefty-raises-amid-controversial-moves-at-struggling-nonprofits/

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grifters keep grifting

Garfield Mayor Everett E. Garnto, Jr. has turned his back on the Democratic Party after years of affiliation, announcing his switch to Republican and his endorsement of Jack Ciattarelli for New Jersey governor. The decision unfolded at a lively rally in Garfield, where Garnto laid out his frustrations with the direction of the state under Democratic control.

A retired police officer who spent 29 years on the Garfield force and 12 years as president of the local Police Benevolent Association, Garnto brings a grounded perspective from his time in public service. Elected to the city council as a Democrat in November 2024 and later chosen as mayor by his colleagues, he’s no stranger to local politics. But Garnto explained that his party switch stems from deeper issues.

“Over the last seven and a half years, the policies that Murphy has put out, it’s ruining the state,” he said, referring to Gov. Phil Murphy’s tenure.

This critique points to a broader pattern where state-level decisions have piled on economic burdens, from escalating property taxes to energy costs that hit working families hardest. Garnto, who once ran for the school board as an unaffiliated voter before joining Democrats at the urging of locals, noted how he’s voted across party lines in the past.

“In 2016 is when I first ran for the board of education and people in Garfield basically said, ‘Hey, listen, you should join the Democratic Party.’ I was unaffiliated at that time, and I just did, and since then, I’ve voted for Democrats, Republicans,” he recalled.

His history of flexibility underscores a pragmatic approach, one that’s led him to conclude that the Democratic agenda no longer aligns with the needs of everyday New Jerseyans.

Garnto didn’t mince words about the state’s woes. “The state is broken,” he declared at the rally, blaming “sky-high taxes, soaring electric bills, and less safe communities” on Murphy’s leadership. These problems have real consequences: families stretching budgets thinner as utility rates climb amid disputes with energy providers, while communities grapple with policies that Garnto sees as undermining law enforcement.

He revealed his own vote for Donald Trump in the last presidential election, adding that Trump “had it right about N.J. all along.” This admission ties into Garfield’s recent voting trends—the city, with over 30,000 residents and ranking as Bergen County’s fifth-largest municipality, backed Trump by nearly nine points in 2024, even after Murphy eked out a narrow win there in 2021. It’s a sign of shifting ground in what was once a Democratic stronghold, where voter registration and turnout reflect growing unease with progressive priorities.

Turning to his choice for governor, Garnto praised Ciattarelli as the solution. “New Jerseyans deserve better,” he told the crowd, describing Ciattarelli as “the right leader at the right time.”

He elaborated further: “I really believe Jack’s the man to turn Jersey around, to make New Jersey more affordable, lower the utility costs and make our community safer. Jersey’s an absolute mess, I’m honored to switch parties.”

These statements highlight Ciattarelli’s focus on core issues like affordability and public safety, which resonate in places like Garfield where residents feel the pinch of high costs and want leaders who back the blue without reservation.

Ciattarelli welcomed the endorsement, calling it a “courageous decision” and noting how it reflects widespread frustration. “People are upset all across the state with Phil Murphy’s failed policies in the last seven and a half years, all of which have been supported by my opponent,” he said earlier in the week on Fox News, zeroing in on residents “paying through the nose” for electricity.

https://patriot.tv/nj-mayor-leaves-democrat-party-endorses-republican-for-governor/

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