Landscape architect Henry Arnold whose firm Arnold Associates designed the park, including the grove of ginko trees that were planted in 2002 as a living memorial to those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was among the attendees at a recent meeting on the subject.

While a specific location has not yet been chosen, the current drafts of the memorial place it within a memorial tree grove at the park and would require four ginko trees to be replanted, according to Joseph Petrolongo of Remington & Vernick Engineers, the firm heading up the project.

"The idea is to have the least disturbances to the pier," Petrolongo said. "As a landscape architect I don't want to remove the trees. I want to minimize the tree impact."

Aside from the removal of the trees themselves, Arnold believes the memorial should be removed from Pier A Park completely.

"I'd like to see it move somewhere else to an appropriate site which I think is on the water," he said. "It would damage the park aesthetically and probably physically."

The original proposal made in 2008 included the building of a separate pier or island to house the memorial. The plan was ultimately rejected by the City Council for its $4 million cost projection.

A simpler design by Remington & Vernick was unveiled in mid-October as a result of the work by the firm in conjunction with Hoboken?EUR??,,????'?????<