One More From New York

We had a few things on the agenda that we wanted to do while in NYC, but mostly we kept our schedule open. We thought we would just do what we felt like, when we felt like it. We walked long and hard and we crammed in lots of experiences, but we ended up having an open few hours one evening. Since we were close to Battery Park, Stephen suggested that we try our luck and see if we could get a glimpse of the newly opened National September 11th Memorial at Ground Zero. This was a Saturday and the memorial had opened only a few days before. We thought it would be super crowded and hard to get down there. We lucked out.

Because we hadn’t planned this adventure, I was very casual in my approach to seeing this memorial. I’m not sure what I expected to see, but I was totally unprepared for what I saw and what emotions rose to the surface. It experience caught me completely off guard. I felt a little grateful for the sunglasses I was wearing that hid my sudden tears. All the memories of that time, 13 years ago, come flooding back.

The new fountain monuments (there is one in each of the places where the Twin Towers once stood) are amazing and haunting. In the photo you can see the water running down the sides of the square structure, pooling in the flat space below and then pouring into the deep, black, bottomless square in the center. The aspect you can’t see in the picture in how the water hesitates just a fraction of a second before it plummets into the empty and bottomless space. There is something about the dropping of that water into dark, empty space that hits you to the center.

Around the outside of each square are black, metal name plaques with all the names of those killed in the tragedy engraved deeply. Loved ones can stick flowers, flags and other memorabilia in the deep letters.

Something interesting we learned: These black name plates are built to be cooled in the summer and heated in the winter. This is to be a tactile experience for visitors and they didn’t want cold or heat to interfere with the visitors experience.

 

Surrounding the two monuments and spaced throughout the plaza of gorgeous trees forming a glorious canopy overhead, are four new and spectacular buildings; replacements for the Twins Towers so to speak. The one in this picture is called Building One (not quite completed). It’s now the most expensive building in New York City. No expense was spared in the building and materials. It’s probably the strongest building in the city as well.

In between the two fountains is a new museum. Inside is information and displays about the attacks on 9/11. We didn’t get to go in there because we didn’t get a ticket in advance. Next time I go back, I will be visiting there.

I’m going to recommend that if you ever get to NYC, make sure you take the time to visit this wonderful place, it will be worth the effort. I might even say that I would make a trip to NYC just to see this place…and then you could see all the other great stuff too.

I’ve been to many a memorial and each one has an impact on me, but this one was different.