New York ( CNN ) -- Some family members of people killed in the September 11 , 2001 , terror attacks announced Thursday that they have requested the names and addresses of other survivors as part of an effort to stop the city from placing unidentified remains in a repository in a museum under construction at ground zero . A spokesman for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said flatly that providing the names `` is not something we will do . '' The 17 family members filed a Freedom of Information Law request so they can notify other families and seek their input . They say they and other families were never notified or consulted about the plan , which they consider part of a commercial operation to lure tourists . `` These are our beloved remains , our sons , our daughters , our siblings and spouses , '' Rosemary Cain said . Her son , George Cain , was a New York City firefighter killed on 9/11 . `` We have the right to decide where they will spend eternity . '' More than half of the families of the 2,749 victims of the World Trade Center attacks never received any remains of their loved ones . Many others were able to bury only partial remains . More than 9,000 body parts are still unidentified and have been stored in temporary structures maintained by the New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner . The current plan calls for the remains to be housed in an underground repository , behind a wall in the museum , and adjacent to a memorial gallery filled with pictures and artifacts of the victims . The museum , which is under construction , is located beneath the footprints of the two World Trade Center towers . The repository will be controlled by the medical examiner 's office , which will continue to have access to the remains in the hope that , as DNA technology progresses , more positive identifications can be made . The National September 11 Memorial and Museum disputes the claims that families were never notified about the plans , and says it was the express wish of many families that their loved ones ' remains return to the bedrock at ground zero . `` Families have been part of a robust process through which they were consulted during public and private meetings with officials , as well as offered opportunities for public comment , '' according to a statement from the organization . `` And they have repeatedly stated it is essential the remains return to the sacred bedrock of the site . '' Feedback from those meetings also led to the creation of a private space , open only to families , near the repository . And families will also be able to make individual appointments to visit the repository after hours , according to the 9/11 Memorial organization . In response to the FOIL request , a spokesman for Bloomberg said , `` Many family members would rightly be outraged if the city made their personal information , including home addresses , public , and of course that is not something we will do . '' Additional FOIL requests were also sent to the mayor 's community affairs unit , the medical examiner and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation . Retired Deputy Chief Jim Riches , who lost his firefighter son Jimmy Riches on 9/11 and is part of the group that filed the FOIL request , said he always knew the remains would come back to ground zero . `` But we were told it was going to be separate and distinct from the museum and visitor 's center , '' he said , adding that what he envisioned was more akin to the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery , that would be above ground and distinct from the museum . Like the other family members he joined at the Thursday press conference near ground zero , Riches said he never received any notification about the decision with regard to the remains . In a recent opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal , family members who are also board members of the museum foundation said it was decided that an underground repository was better than an above-ground tomb . `` The latter structure would be a constant magnet for disrespectful public displays and demonstrations ... and would be impossible to secure around the clock , '' they wrote . Riches dismissed the notion that an above-ground tomb could not be protected . Attorney Norman Siegel , who filed the FOIL request on behalf of the families , said he has seen `` not a single letter ... that was addressed to the families notifying them of the plan and asking them for their input regarding the plan . '' In contrast , Rosaleen Tallon , who lost her firefighter brother Sean Patrick Tallon on 9/11 , said she had received letters from the 9/11 Memorial regarding other matters , such as confirming the correct spelling of her brother 's name and informing her of location of the name on the above-ground memorial . `` Surely a letter should have been sent out on letterhead from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and the City of New York telling us , at the very least , what they were doing with our loved ones ' remains , '' she said .
Freedom of Information Law request filed seeking names , addresses of 9/11 families . 17 family members say they are displeased with plans for repository for remains . Comment: The government is not required to release the information in this case because it's a matter that has been settled by court order and there was no public interest reason to do so. NYC will not release information , spokesman for mayor says .