Ground Zero

[Bu B3ar]

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?

 

[K1052]

I was by there a couple weeks ago.

The plans for the plaza and memorial look pretty decent. Of course its going to look like a construction site since they are building several things there concurrently.

 

[0roo0roo]

they are still aiming low..

 

[Bu B3ar]

Originally posted by: K1052
I was by there a couple weeks ago.

The plans for the plaza and memorial look pretty decent. Of course its going to look like a construction site since they are building several things there concurrently.

True, but currently, there is nothing there to memorialize it...unless i missed something/something was closed at the time we were there? I remember from the first time i was there that a piece of iron girder in the shape of the cross was left standing in the midst of the rubble; they could have left that or something of that nature there until the construction is complete....?

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Bu B3ar

Originally posted by: K1052
I was by there a couple weeks ago.

The plans for the plaza and memorial look pretty decent. Of course its going to look like a construction site since they are building several things there concurrently.

True, but currently, there is nothing there to memorialize it...unless i missed something/something was closed at the time we were there? I remember from the first time i was there that a piece of iron girder in the shape of the cross was left standing in the midst of the rubble; they could have left that or something of that nature there until the construction is complete....?

They have yet to construct the plaza and memorial/museum where they plan to keep a significant number of artifacts from the WTC.

A clear site was needed to start on the transit hub, plaza/memorial, and Freedom Tower.

 

[Jeeebus]

I'm in NYC every couple months or so for work and usually stay at the Millenium Hilton, which sits adjacent to the WTC - all of the windows look down into the hole. It's always a little sobering.

 

[2Xtreme21]

What pisses me off the most and is a slap in the face to anyone that died on that day is that there is nothing built there. It's like they almost don't want to move on and get past it... instead they let those who committed the acts on 9/11 win.

 

[darkxshade]

I live downtown, I walk past there several times a month. I've become quite desensitized from it all quite a while ago. I took the path train under it for the first time last month since before the collapse. It was a weird sobering experience... a feeling like I've been here before but not really.