Monday, Mar. 28, 2011

Newark International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport

First, it was just Newark Airport. Then, with international flights came Newark International Airport. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, the governors of New York and New Jersey, caught up in patriotic fervor (see our Freedom Fries slide), announced they would rename it Newark Liberty International Airport. Why liberty, you ask? Well, it's the closest airport to New York's Statue of Liberty. And in the words of then-New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, it "properly eulogizes those heroes [of Sept. 11], recognizing their strength in a time of national tragedy." Yes, there were heroes on that tragic day that must always be remembered. But an airport name is just an airport name, especially when you're stuck in security check.