I lived in NY almost all of my life, not in NYC though. I went to Ground Zero in 2003 while i was visiting my Aunt in the city, and it was a really emotional visit. My Aunt was supposed to have been in the World Trade plaza that day; luckily she wasn't, but her and her husband (my uncle) lost one of their best friends that day; his body was never found. There was still wreckage everywhere, the site was fenced off but you could still see everything, and consturction hadn't really started on the new tower.
Yesterday i went to NYC as part of a field-trip/teambuilding thing for work. One of the stops we made was Ground Zero, and it depressed me being back...but not for the same reasons as the first time. The fencing is now covered with that black/blue construction fabric so you can't really see anything anymore. The only view of the site is from inside a building a couple hundred yards away; still close, but not really the same effect while being behind big panes of glass. All the debris and wreckage is cleaned up, and it just looks like an avg construction site. If you didn't know what had happened there, you would have no clue by looking at it.
I'm all for moving on, and i always advocate not living in the past...but a little reverance is also not a bad thing. The site feels so....hollow, and that is what made me the saddest about being back. I feel like it would have been better to leave a small area untouched, the wreckage intact as a gritty reminder of what happened, and what we hope will never happen again. Maybe when the new tower/plaza is finished I will feel different...but right now, I almost feel we are dishonoring those who lost so much that day .
Anyone else been there recently?
Yesterday i went to NYC as part of a field-trip/teambuilding thing for work. One of the stops we made was Ground Zero, and it depressed me being back...but not for the same reasons as the first time. The fencing is now covered with that black/blue construction fabric so you can't really see anything anymore. The only view of the site is from inside a building a couple hundred yards away; still close, but not really the same effect while being behind big panes of glass. All the debris and wreckage is cleaned up, and it just looks like an avg construction site. If you didn't know what had happened there, you would have no clue by looking at it.
I'm all for moving on, and i always advocate not living in the past...but a little reverance is also not a bad thing. The site feels so....hollow, and that is what made me the saddest about being back. I feel like it would have been better to leave a small area untouched, the wreckage intact as a gritty reminder of what happened, and what we hope will never happen again. Maybe when the new tower/plaza is finished I will feel different...but right now, I almost feel we are dishonoring those who lost so much that day .
Anyone else been there recently?