Ground Zero Will Soon Be Called 9/11 Memorial?

Ground Zero 16 acres location should now be called what they really are: The World Trade Center and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Ten year after the devastated terrorists attack at the World Trade Center Twin Towers, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged Americans to move past a term that remind them of a violent event.

"We will never forget the devastation of the area that came to be known as ground zero. Never. But the time has come to call those 16 acres what they are: The World Trade Center and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum," Bloomberg said in a speech on the rebuilding of lower Manhattan on Tuesday, September 6.

Americans particularly New Yorkers started calling the World Trade Center site Ground Zero shortly after suicide hijackers destroyed the twin towers and killed nearly 3,000 people.

For several years the site was also known as "the pit" because reconstruction of a new World Trade Center was stalled, leaving a large hole in the ground. But today it is an active construction site with two of four planned skyscrapers under construction and the memorial plaza set to open in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

"The rebirth and revitalization of lower Manhattan will be remembered as one of the greatest comeback stories in American history," Bloomberg said.