Finding Lightness at the World Trade Center
On a recent, sunny, crisp afternoon, I took a walk through Lower Manhattan. I decided to head below ground to see the place where I had walked exactly 16 years and 6 days ago. It was the old World Trade Center Plaza where I had stood in a soft rain on Sept. 10th, 2001, only to learn that the free dance performance I’d come to see had been rained out.
I then walked through the dark, claustrophobic rabbit warren of a mall that occupied the few floors just below ground, picked up a few things and went home. I had no idea what would happen to this place only 12 hours later.
After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, there were seemingly endless quarrels and delays in the rebuilding process. As a result, it happened in a piece-meal fashion. There were some highlights- the opening of 7 World Trade Center, shiny and futuristic just a few years later. Then there was the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building and the slow rise of 1 World Trade Center (the Freedom Tower) which finally opened in 2013.
Alongside the Freedom Tour, the bony wings of Calatrava’s “phoenix” also slowly transformed a new transit station. Again, it was beleaguered by delays.
My walk this weekend confirmed, at least for me, that the wait was worth it. Although the new space is largely a mall- the Westfield World Trade Center- it is also a lovely, soaring public space. It is light-filled and white, with clean bathrooms, a myriad of food, market and retail options. It’s soaring wings seem to protect us from the canyons of skyscrapers on all sides, and the Oculus seems to be a fitting reminder of what once stood there.
On a recent, sunny, crisp afternoon, I took a walk through Lower Manhattan. I decided to head below ground to see the place where I had walked exactly 16 years and 6 days ago. It was the old World Trade Center Plaza where I had stood in a soft rain on Sept. 10th, 2001, only to learn that the free dance performance I’d come to see had been rained out.
I then walked through the dark, claustrophobic rabbit warren of a mall that occupied the few floors just below ground, picked up a few things and went home. I had no idea what would happen to this place only 12 hours later.
After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, there were seemingly endless quarrels and delays in the rebuilding process. As a result, it happened in a piece-meal fashion. There were some highlights- the opening of 7 World Trade Center, shiny and futuristic just a few years later. Then there was the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building and the slow rise of 1 World Trade Center (the Freedom Tower) which finally opened in 2013.
Alongside the Freedom Tour, the bony wings of Calatrava’s “phoenix” also slowly transformed a new transit station. Again, it was beleaguered by delays.
My walk this weekend confirmed, at least for me, that the wait was worth it. Although the new space is largely a mall- the Westfield World Trade Center- it is also a lovely, soaring public space. It is light-filled and white, with clean bathrooms, a myriad of food, market and retail options. It’s soaring wings seem to protect us from the canyons of skyscrapers on all sides, and the Oculus seems to be a fitting reminder of what once stood there.
As seen in Baltimore. There are bars for windows and then there are these, likely crafted by a blacksmith.
Spring has finally arrived in New York City. In our northern climate, she often sneaks in slowly and flies away quickly, squeezed on either side by the more muscular New York winters and summers.
I tend to wax poetic in my posts about New York City. Today I will not cover art, music, dance or culture. I will simply share some photos taken with my Samsung Galaxy 7 camera while enduring an extra long wait for the bus in Brooklyn. Waiting, after all, is part of contemporary life, especially for urbanites.
