A massive campaign is under way to install a permanent towering American flag over the heart of Ground Zero — with the help of TV’s “The Fixer’’ billionaire Marcus Lemonis.
The erecting of the giant flagpole featuring “Old Glory” would mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in Lower Manhattan this year as well as the 250th birthday of the United States.
More than 86,000 Americans have already signed on to a change.org petition in support of the flag campaign.
Conservative artist Scott LoBaido made a presentation to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum last week pushing for the flag project, and businessman Marcus Lemonis — formerly of the CNBC reality show “The Profit” and now the star of Fox’s “The Fixer” — has pledged to pick up the costs.
Lemonis said there’s no excuse not to install the flagpole because he’s footing the bill.
”I will be happy to pay for the 150-foot flagpole,” he said. “I need you to tell me when and where, but
you can count on it. I will take care of the bill.”
Lemonis is an expert on flying flags.
Gigantic flagpoles soaring130 feet high are mounted outside 200 of Camping World dealerships, the firm he co-founded.
Some states and localities sued, complaining that flagpoles and flags were too massive.
All the flags are still up, he said.
“I want to make sure putting the flagpole at Ground Zero actually happens,” Lemonis said.
The proposal involves a 150-foot flagpole with a 30- by 60-foot flag installed at Ground Zero near the Freedom Tower as a long-overdue tribute to 9/11 victims and its first responders.
“This memory should be honored every day, not only on anniversaries, and we should never be ashamed to display our flag proudly,” LoBaido said.
“This is about more than a flag,” he said. “It is about ensuring that every American, and every visitor from around the world, is reminded that even in our darkest hour, we stood together.
“As we approach America’s 250th birthday and the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we owe it to the victims, the families, and our country to create a symbol that reflects our unity, strength and gratitude.”
He said the installation would cost $150,000, plus $2,500 to $3,000 to replace flags three or four times a year that get damaged by the weather.
There are two smaller flags on the grounds that are barely noticeable, he said.
Massimo DiDonna, who chairs the foundation for fallen firefighter Carl V. Bini, said, “I’m passionate about raising a flagpole at Ground Zero because it’s more than a monument, it’s a promise. A promise that our unity stands taller than our tragedy, and that our strength will always rise higher than our grief.”
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) also endorsed the flag campaign in a letter to LoBaido.
“Scott’s proposed flag installation is a patriotic tribute to the victims of September 11, 2001 and the sacrifices of our first responders who, to this day, continue to succumb to 9/11 related illnesses,” Malliotakis said.
Nearly 3,000 Americans were killed during coordinate terror attacks on 9/11 at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon and on Flight 93.
Of the total, 2,753 died at Ground Zero, including 2,220 civilians, 343 firefighters, 23 NYPD officers and 37 Port Authority police officers.
The Centers for Disease Control reported last year that more than 8,200 enrollees in the World Trade Health Program have died, including nearly 6,000 responders.
Of those, 3,767 members who died, including 2,388 responders, had 9/11-related cancer. The total eclipses the 2,977 people killed on 9/11.