Work has begun to prepare the site for the World Trade Center memorial, but some are calling for that work to stop. They say concerns about safety and the listing of victims' names still have not been addressed. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed this report.

Should the World Trade Center memorial be above ground or below? How safe will it really be? And can it be made safer?

They're questions you'd think would have been answered by now, but Wednesday, they were still being asked by family members of those who perished.

“The underground location proposed presents serious safety and security concerns. Occupancy access and egress are compromised with an underground location,” said Jim McCaffrey, who lost his brother-in-law on 9/11.

Families don't want the memorial below street level, telling a City Council subcommittee it would not only be disrespectful to the dead, but also dangerous in an emergency, with not enough ways to get out.

The current design calls for two exit ramps, but families want four, as in memorial designer Michael Arad's original plan.

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation President Stefan Pryor says numerous safety experts have declared the memorial plan safe, and he says the two-ramp decision was made with visitors in mind.

“The professionals that we consulted felt very strongly that it would be disorienting to have multiple entry points, multiple exit points, in the course of their visitor experience,” said Pryor.

But the families say the safety concerns they're raising are similar to those raised at the Freedom Tower, which caused Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to ask for revisions to make the building more secure.

“We need a safe, safe, memorial, above the ground, that is not immune and exempt from building codes,” said Sally Regenhard of Skyscraper Safety.

And then, there is still the issue of the names - whether those who worked in the buildings and those who went in to rescue them should be listed together or separately.

Some family members and union leaders of rescue workers are still asking for the separate listing of victim’s names. Arad's current design calls for a random listing of names, with a special insignia for rescue workers.

“I think if we can help families and bring some closure and help them get on with their lives with this memorial, then we should put there what they request, and that is for them to be put together,” said Brooklyn Councilman Dominick Recchia.

The LMDC says it's still willing to listen, but that it supports Arad's random listing, meant to convey the randomness and chaos of 9/11.

Council members invited the designer to testify, but on his behalf, the LMDC declined.

- Amanda Farinacci