Fifteen years ago today our country was attacked, crumbling NYC's World Trade Center.
I turned this controversial photo upside-down in 2011 to celebrate the 10th year and today marks 15 years of resilience; Also a symbol of rising peace. Flagship 1 WTC stands at the symbolic height of 1776, the year when we Americans declared our independence and "all men created equal," now once again, 1776 beautifying NYC's skyline. This photo is symbolic for our rising towers, faith and independence. I share this post (update it a bit) every anniversary year.
I also like to share new things such as birthdaySpirit.org ~~ if you were born on 9/11 no matter what your age, please visit birthdaySpirit.org and celebrate all goodness born on this tragic day of mourning. You can even register to stay up to date on happenings and things about 9/11 birthday members.
Photo below, "The Falling Man," by Richard Drew; which I call
"Flipped Falling Man."
two haikus commemorating 10 years after 9/11
▐║ 911 ten
▐║ years later falling man is
▐║ still provocative
▓▌▄▒║ ▓║ ║▌
▐║ pin-straight
Falling Man
▐║ endless time still shows
the world
▐║ our
land, brave and free
by
Gloria
Buono-Daly   (c) 2011
Emotionally charged, mixed feelings - 2001 to 2015. From Poet Laureate, Billy Collins' prose commemorating all of the 9/11 victims, "The Names," posted below, to one of the most provocative, unforgettable images by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew, of a man falling from the twin towers, positioned perfectly in the middle.
The photo was taken at about 9:41 am on 9/11/01 -- 15 minutes before the 1st building, the South tower, collapsed. Videos would show that the falling man was actually a tumbling man in the air and this is one moment in his time that was captured.
Note how perfectly straight, positioned in the middle and parallel to the burning towers the falling man is. The above photo was branded distasteful and voyeuristic -- never to be shown again, yet the incredible "falling man" is still around.
For those of
you
wondering
how our
WTC
looked before
9/11/01,
here's a
photo
by
photographer
Joseph Lopes
taken in 1979.
There is much up side today. By the 11th anniversary (2012) the new multi-billion-dollar World Trade Center, was back up in lower Manhattan's skyline.
One World Trade Center (formerly known as the Freedom Tower) which was completed on August 30, 2012 and the final component spire installed on May 10, 2013.
Additional complexes include 7 World Trade Center, three other high-rise office buildings, a museum and memorial, and a transportation hub similar in size to Grand Central Terminal. The Four World Trade Center opened to tenants and public on November 13, 2013. The 9/11 memorial is complete, and the museum opened May 21, 2014. Three World Trade Center open in 2015 and the $4 billion Transportation Hub, the most expensive ever also called "Oculus" (originally opened back in 1903) reopened March 4, 2016. Two World Trade Center's full construction has been placed on hold until tenants can be found; It began construction in June 2008 and is still expected to be completed by 2020. Three World Trade Center, in the very center of the new WTC began construction in 2010 and is scheduled to open by 2018 (earlier than anticipated). As posted by wtc.com
"The defining aspect of 3 WTC is its load-sharing system of diamond-shaped bracing, which helps to articulate the building's east-west configuration. This allows unimpeded 360-degree panoramic views of New York." WTC overview photo above by Joe Woolhead, Silverstein Properties
Budgeted at 3.9 billion upon completion, flagship, One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, has been opened since November 3, 2014. At 104 stories (1368 feet high), the decorative architectural spire atop makes the building stand at the symbolic height of 1,776 feet. Observation decks will adorn the 100th, 101st and 102nd floors. Tenants so far include magazine publisher Conde Nast and the federal government's General Services Administration. Visit
time lapse of 1 WTC video animation of rebuilding 1 WTC.
Rendering of 1 WTC photo left courtesy of Wikimedia.
At 72 stories (977ft high) Four World Trade Center, was the first office building to open, (October 2013). First tenants were Port Authority, the Bistate agency that owns the trade center site and lost its headquarters when the twin towers were attacked. According to many articles and documentaries, there were about 200 people who jumped to their deaths, some were able to be identified only for the victim’s families and to provide closure for them. But there was no time to recover or identify those who were forced to jump prior to the collapse of the towers. We lost almost 3,000 lives that day.
Where were you on 9/11/2001?
I was working on Wall Street( on the corner of Wall and Water Streets). It was a beautiful, clear skied morning. I arrived early as I usually do and was at my desk on the computer when I heard a loud bang and felt rumbling underneath my desk at 8:46 a.m. I shouted "What was that?" Then 15 minutes later another bang, as some fellow employees arrived - initially we thought it was from a missile. Hard to imagine it would be the biggest single attack on American lives. I still keep asking myself "how could this be?" I was curious and ran outside to see what was happening.
As I was walking on Water St. and reached Liberty St., it was at about 10:00 am, I saw large billows of gray smoke, appearing to turn day to night, enveloping hundreds if not thousands of people running for their lives – apparently heading towards the river. I asked some folks what is happening and all were in shock. With all the commotion, all they could say while they were running was “it’s down, it’s down.” At that moment, I thought another plane came down. I ran back to the office and learned from colleagues that the South tower collapsed (incidentally, this was the 2nd building hit). The North tower (1st building hit) collapsed at about 30 minutes later. And the world would never be the same.
"The Names" poem by Billy Collins posted below:
Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.
A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,
And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,
I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,
Then Baxter and Calabro,
Davis and Eberling, names falling into place
As droplets fell through the dark.
Names printed on the ceiling of the night.
Names slipping around a watery bend.
Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.
In the morning, I walked out barefoot
Among thousands of flowers
Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,
And each had a name --
Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal
Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.
Names written in the air
And stitched into the cloth of the day.
A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.
Monogram on a torn shirt,
I see you spelled out on storefront windows
And on the bright unfurled awnings of this city.
I say the syllables as I turn a corner --
Kelly and Lee,
Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor.
When I peer into the woods,
I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden
As in a puzzle concocted for children.
Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,
Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton,
Secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple.
Names written in the pale sky.
Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.
Names silent in stone
Or cried out behind a door.
Names blown over the earth and out to sea.
In the evening -- weakening light, the last swallows.
A boy on a lake lifts his oars.
A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,
And the names are outlined on the rose clouds --
Vanacore and Wallace,
(let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)
Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.
Names etched on the head of a pin.
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled into the skin.
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,
The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart
Additional information at the following links:
║
New York City's $4 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub is finally open to the public — take a look inside
║See CBS video, “The Passionate Eye,” http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyemonday/video_player.html?fallingman&playerType=wmp
║Video “911 The Falling Man”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EFvGuIXIJc&feature=related Images of bodies hanging out of windows, holding on across the steel across windows, leaning out for air.
║Google Blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/ten-years-later.html
My two 911 haikus:
║ 911 ten ═ years later falling man is ═ still provocative
║ pin-straight Falling Man ═ endless time still shows the world ═ our land, brave and free
Search engine stats for the term 911 on Sept. 11, 2014
Match type  
Broad     Exact
Google 44,900,000   44,400,000
Yahoo   54,200,000   54,100,000
Bing   54,200,000   54,200,000
Search engine stats for the term 911 on Sept. 11, 2011
Match type  
Broad     Exact
Google 981,000,000   431,000,000
Yahoo   246,000,000   240,000,000
Bing   245,000,000   242,000,000
RESOURCES & THINGS TO DO IN MEMORY OF 911 IN ADDITION TO VISITING THE 911 MEMORIAL
▓▌▄▒║ ▓║ ║▌ Soothe your soul by listening to music in memory of 911 like
Unhappy Birthday, by The Bacon Brothers, Originally from the album "White Knuckles" reworked for the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 with updated lyrics, written by Michael and Kevin Bacon, Directed by Bill Keller
▓▌▄▒║ ▓║ ║▌ visit the
NYC FireStore on Greenwich Street, NYC
▓▌▄▒║ ▓║ ║▌ World Trade Center Status Detailed By Developers 11 Years After September 11th Attacks , by the Associated Press, September 10, 2012
▓▌▄▒║ ▓║ ║▌ World Trade Center Timeline, by WTC organization
▓▌▄▒║ ▓║ ║▌ Downtown Manhattan Future Skyline animation, by Silverstein Properties
Please check out all the links in the resource section above and share this on your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks you enjoy! Thanks!
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