I haven't had the opportunity to visit NYC since I was in my early teenage years. But, the memory of seeing the WTC buildings as part of the skyline is etched into my memory. The memory of seeing them come down is seared there, too.
I have a lot of family that lives on the East Coast and I am proud to say that I have a connection with the work that is currently being done at the WTC site. Two of my uncles and one of my cousins works for a company whose purpose (as I understand it) is to prepare construction sites with the underground infrastructure needed to support the buildings that are going to be built there.
I know that there has been a lot of criticism of the fact that nothing has been built on the site since 9/11... However, they've definitely put the pressure on the contractors now - the contractors are being fined $300K per day for everyday that they are not finished after January 1, 2008!
My uncle John recently posted a bunch of pictures of the job site on our family website. I thought I would share them here with you.
From left to right: Uncle John, a friend, Cousin Max, and Uncle Pierre.
A cross made out of steel beams from the original WTC. I like the NYPD car in the foreground.
One of the original signs for the PATH train station at the WTC. Apparently, a lot of these types of items are still being stored at the site. Definitely has a sobering effect.
This truck was so loaded down with scrap iron, I-beams, re-bar, and sheet metal that it got stuck in the mud and had to have a little help from a friend to get out. I thought this was kind of symbolic.
Dave and I are going up east in the week between Christmas and New Year's this year. We may have time to take a day or two down in NYC; it would be very cool to have the opportunity to see this site... We'll see what happens.
4 comments:
Wow, your blog is back from the brink! It was on life support for a while - you gotta feed this thing occasionally. ;)
It's pretty cool to know someone who is working on the WTC site. I'll be glad to see it start taking shape.
I bet it is comforting to have a connection like that. Probably every American wishes they could do something to bring back the towers in some way.
I envy you the possibility of hitting NYC. I miss being able to drive down there whenever the mood struck.
Ohhhh how I love this post. Thanks so much for these construction pictures! How wonderful that you have family working to rebuild. It'll never be the WTC again, not to many of us who were so connected with the original towers ... but the Voices (survivor support group) that I am a member of has been thrilled to finally agree on and get some construction going on it. When I visited the site (as a memorial to my friend) it was a hub of activity and was reminiscent to me of the days when thousands of people walked through those doors everyday without a care in the world regarding terrorist.
Sorry for the long comment. This one really touched me in a special place. Great pictures!
(hope you're feeling well!)
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