With plenty of tension going on around the world, especially involving Russia, it is difficult to imagine a time when the world’s largest country gifted something to the US. But that was the case back in the early 2000s when Vladimir Putin spent £10m on a monument that stands to this day.
The ‘To the Struggle Against World Terrorism’ monument, also known as the ‘Tear of Grief’ or ‘Teardrop Memorial’, was given to the United States by the Russian government to honour victims of the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The 10-story structure, created by Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, stands at the former Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey.
The project broke ground in September 2005 in a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and was officially unveiled a year later on September 11, 2006, with former US President Bill Clinton in attendance.
The monument features a 100ft (30m) bronze-clad tower, split down the middle with a jagged opening.
Suspended in the gap is a 40ft (12m) nickel-coated teardrop, which is meant to symbolise the sorrow of those affected by terrorism.
The base of the monument has 11 sides, with the names of nearly 3,000 victims from both attacks etched into granite plaques.
However, like some other 9/11 memorials, the list was based on an early compilation and contains around 40 names that were later removed from official records.
Tsereteli, who is known for his controversial sculptures, did not initially disclose the cost of the project.
However, his lawyer later revealed that it cost approximately $12 million (£10 million), with the sculptor covering the expenses for labour and materials himself.
According to Tsereteli, the metal used in the monument was sourced from a former military factory in Dzerzhinsk, a once-secret Russian city.
Nonetheless, the ‘Tear of Grief’ has been met with mixed reactions. It was initially offered to Jersey City, but local authorities rejected the gift, prompting its relocation to Bayonne.
In 2010, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey proposed plans to build a container facility on the site, which could have forced the monument to move once again.
However, local taxi driver Robert “Captain Bob” Terzi launched a petition to keep it in place.
Critics have not been kind to the monument, with Foreign Policy magazine listing it among the world’s ugliest statues. Meanwhile, The New Yorker mocked its appearance, comparing it to “a giant tea biscuit”, and Pro Arts Jersey City labelled it “an insensitive, self-aggrandising piece of pompousness”.
Nevertheless, the memorial has remained standing, and in September 2011, a 4-foot section of steel from the World Trade Center was placed beside it.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, officials in Bayonne ordered Vladimir Putin’s name to be covered on two plaques within the park where the memorial stands.