Michael Arad thought he had won big when his design for a memorial at the WTC site was chosen. But the memorial has been caught up in the mess that is the whole project. “The latest cost estimate issued this month—an impossible $972 million—has Mayor Michael Bloomberg demanding that the design be scaled back, while others suggest that it be scrapped altogether. The battle that is now breaking into full view has been raging behind the scenes since the moment Arad’s plan was picked. He has waged a personal war against the LMDC—to defend his design, he says, from the agency’s cronyism and shoddy management.”