NY -- NYC -- World Trade Center site:
- Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.
- Description of Pictures: Another trip back to the World Trade Center site. By this point, they're ready to build and the plans have been awarded although there's still some dickering going on. They're building a cover for the commuter trains and there's a cross in the yard that came from WTC pieces.
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- Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- WTC_031007_006.JPG: This sculpture, on Broadway, was something I'd photographed before the towers fell and then again when I came up shortly thereafter. At that point, the sculpture was being held in place by wires.
- WTC_031007_012.JPG: This aerial photograph of the site was taken on September 22, 2001. I visited the city the day after. The buildings that you'll see standing behind the hole are on the far left, to the right of the rectangular bay. St Paul's Chapel is in the upper right and is pointed to by the diagonal road.
- WTC_031007_018.JPG: The sign says:
September 11, 2001
Beyond this wall, the Twin Towers once soared to the heavens. Since 1973, they were international centers of commerce. To stand in their shadows, or to witness their imprint on the skyline, was to marvel at the ingenuity and determination of the American spirit.
On September 11, 2001, terrorists crashed two hijacked planes into the Towers, murdering 2,792 people. At 8:46 am, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower, which collapsed at 10:29am. At 9:03am, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower, which collapsed at 9:59am. Terrorists would also crash hijacked planes into the Pentagon and a remote field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, murdering 224 people.
The recovery effort began immediately after the attacks. The tremendous outpouring of support from around the nation and the world bolstered the City's spirits in its darkest hour. New Yorkers responded by vowing to rebuild their city -- not as it was, but even better than it was before.
In total, seven buildings were destroyed, many other structures were damaged and more than 1.8 million tons of debris were removed. The human toll, however, can never be measured.
The twenty-acre void left on this earth echoes the one in our hearts. The people killed here were not soldiers at war. They were innocent civilians who went to work and never returned. They were hundreds of rescuers who died so thousands might live. For eight months, volunteers and workers labored day and night to bring home those we lost.
We will never forget the innocent men, women and children killed on September 11, 2001 or succumb to the hatred that took their lives. To honor their memory and the freedom they cherished, a memorial will rise one day on this site.
- WTC_031007_021.JPG: A listing of the thousands of people who died in the buildings' collapse. "The Heroes of September 11, 2001" is the title of the sign. Personally, I have trouble calling people "heroes" when they didn't do anything heroic. My dictionary defines "hero" as "a performer of a brave action, or conspicuous possessor of other admirable qualities." The fire fighters and police officers who tried to rescue the people were heroic and they didn't have to die to be heroes . I'm sorry but the office workers were victims. That doesn't make their deaths any less tragic of course but misleading terminology doesn't help things.
- WTC_031007_031.JPG: The sign says:
Tribute in Light
The Tribute in Light was created as a result of the collaborative efforts of the Municipal Art Society, other civil organizations, and talented artists from a broad range of disciplines, to remember and honor those heroes who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The Tribute in Light, which rose from a site adjacent to ground zero, consisted of two banks of forty-four spotlights, whose light projected about a mile high into the night sky. Powered by 7,000 watt xenon bulbs, the focused rays were said to equal the power of two million light bulbs.
Under certain conditions, the Tribute in Light could be seen from up to 25 miles away in any direction. Many people felt the Tribute in Light reflected the same spirit as was present during the candlelight vigils that took place around the nation and around the world following September 11, 2001.
On March 11, 2002, six months after the attack, Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg dedicated the Tribute in Light to those lost that tragic day and to celebrate the city's spirit of resolve, resilience and renewal. The lighting of the Tribute in Light was one of the many ceremonies held across the United States. Illuminating the night sky for thirty-two days, from dusk to 11pm, the Tribute in Light served as an enduring symbol of hope, united the families of those who lost loved ones, New Yorkers, the nation, and the world.
- WTC_031007_037.JPG: The sign says:
The WTC Site
Superblock is the term of the 1960's used to describe the radical redesign of the old street pattern on the site of the World Trade Center. Fourteen city blocks were combined into a single parcel and streets were eliminated to create a zone free of vehicles. Surrounding streets were widened threefold. The almost-square site was extended on the north to include two blocks for an electrical substation which in the 1980's was incorporated into the 7 WTC building.
Set off from the dense collage of buildings of the surrounding city, the World Trade Center organized around an elevated central plaza entered from Church Street. Architect Minoru Yamasaki called the great open space "a paved garden" and compared it to grand civic plazas of Europe, such as the Piazza San Mareo in Venice, Italy.
The 5-acre public plaza functioned successfully as an area for public events or lunchtime seating, including concerts and other performances that were well attended day and evening. The granite paved plaza also served as a podium that dramatized the soaring verticals of the Twin Towers. From the plaza, visitors entered the towers at the mezzanine level while from the city streets or the retail concourse, they would enter the main lobby.
Most pedestrian activity at the WTC took place under the plaza in the concourse, known as the Mall at the WTC. This retail concourse also inter-connected the PATH and subways, the various buildings and the perimeter streets. The Mall at the WTC (approximately 427,000 square feet with 80 stores) had become one of the most successful shopping centers in the United States.
- WTC_031007_044.JPG: World Trade Center site two years later
- WTC_031007_049.JPG: The sign says:
Lower Manhattan 1976
May 4 1976
An extraordinary physical transformation of Lower Manhattan took place in the 1960's and 1970's when an entirely new scale of construction overlaid the district. In addition to the Twin Towers, which were both the tallest and largest office buildings in the world, there was a second concentration of skyscraper giants at South Ferry. Others sprang up in the historic core.
The scale and volume of the new buildings was matched in boldness by the big blank slate in the Hudson River destined to become Battery Park City and the World Financial Center. The old finger piers were demolished, and the technology and identify of the turn-of-the-century port city was reinvented as a waterfront for residence, recreation, and commercial expansion. North of the Trade Center, more than twenty blocks of old warehouses and lofts were razed for a massive urban renewal project.
- WTC_031007_050.JPG: The sign says:
Restoring WTC Transportation
Restoring PATH and Subway Server to Lower Manhattan
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is working tirelessly to restore transportation services to the World Trade Center (WTC) site on PATH, the agency's rail transit subsidiary. The Port Authority, recognizing the vital importance of regional transportation, has made re-establishment of PATH service to Lower Manhattan its top priority project.
In order to restore PATH service to Lower Manhattan following the destruction of the WTC on September 11, 2001, the Exchange Place Station in Jersey City, New Jersey, must be upgraded, the tunnels connecting Exchange Place with New York must be restored, and a temporary terminal must be constructed at the WTC site. Here at the WTC site, the PATH tracks and platforms must be rebuilt and a series of stairs, escalators, and circulation areas must be constructed to connect the train platforms to the street level.
Upon completion of the emergency operations and debris removal by the NYC Department of Design and Construction, The Port Authority began work on rebuilding the PATH station on July 1, 2002, with anticipated completion scheduled for December, 2003.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) realized early on the importance of restoring subway service to Lower Manhattan as quickly as possible. The MTA began to stabilize and rebuild some portions of the 1/9 line in January 2002, and completed designs for the entire effort by February. Contracts were awarded in March, specifying a September 30, 2002 completion.
Construction crews worked around the clock to rebuild damaged portions of the 1/9 line. All were reopened in September 2002 except the Cortlandt Street station, which was at the center of the WTC complex. Its reconstruction depends on the final plan for the site.
- WTC_031007_058.JPG: The sign says:
The Austin J Tobin Plaza
The World Trade Center's Austin J Tobin Plaza
The World Trade Center complex consisted of seven office buildings constructed around the landscaped, five-acre Austin J Tobin Plaza. In June on 1999, The Port Authority of NY & NJ completed a $20 million renovation that successfully revitalized the Plaza.
Originally designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the World Trade Center's architect, as a "comtemplative" space, the Austin J Tobin Plaza became an active space renowned for its dining and for free lunchtime and evening entertainment that appealed to World Trade Center workers, Lower Manhattan residents and international visitors.
The Plaza provided space for a multitude of community activities and cultural events, thus becoming an integral part of the Lower Manhattan neighborhood. During almost any season, workers, residents, and visitors could walk through the Plaza and enjoy a variety of events ranging from an international festival to outdoor performances and art exhibits.
Up until the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Plaza was home to works by internationally renowned artists including Alexander Calder, James Rosati, and Marsayuki Nagare. In 1995, a memorial fountain, designed by Elynn Zimmerman, for those who perished in the February 26, 1993 bombing, was installed. The central feature of the Plaza was The Sphere, crafted by artist Fritz Koenig as a monument to world peace through trade. A fragment of The Sphere survived the attacks and is on view in Battery Park City.
- WTC_031007_060.JPG: The sign says:
Lower Manhattan 1973
The Twin Towers 1973
Simple, slender, silver, and soaring were the aesthetics of the Twin Towers. Also key was their off-center pairing, which charged the space between with as much dynamic energy as the solid shafts.
The sheer size of the towers, a quarter of a mile high and containing more than four million square feet each, established their historical importance. To be both big and tall was a phenomenon of the 1960's, the apogee in the century's evolution of skyscraper size. The same "can-do" competitive spirit that fueled the Space Race and moon shots inspired architects and engineers to explore new structural systems in a series of 100-story-or-taller towers that included the World Trade Center and the John Hancock Building and Sears Tower in Chicago. Recent spires have been arguably taller, but none have been as large in floor space as the super skyscrapers designed in the 1960's.
- WTC_031007_067.JPG: A sign at St Paul's Chapel addresses this cross:
October 4 [2001]
Cross Found at Ground Zero a Sign of Hope
Amid the mountains of rubble at the World Trade Center site, a giant cross formed from steel beams of the north tower becomes a symbol of faith and hope for rescue and recovery workers. A Franciscan priest blesses the cross with holy water while workers stand by singing "God Bless America."
- WTC_031007_070.JPG: Lower Manhattan 1969. (Sorry but I can't read the rest of the sign either!)
- WTC_031007_076.JPG: They're building a new train platform at the site, hoping to re-establish transportation in the area.
- WTC_031007_103.JPG: The sign says:
The Pentagon
A beautiful September day in the nation's capitol turned to darkness as American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon -- headquarters of our nation's defense. People all over the world, having just witnessed on television and radio the brutal attack on New York's World Trade Center, again watched in horror as smoke and flames billowed out from the Pentagon.
Earlier that morning, 59 people boarded the plane at Dulles International Airport. Some were on business trips, some were on vacation, some were on a school trip, and others were moving to a new home. Like any other day, thousands of civilian and military personnel were going about their business at the Pentagon. Each living, working and enjoying the benefits of a free society.
At approximately 9:38am, the plane struck the Pentagon, killing 125 people in the building and all the passengers and flight crew on the plane. Many others suffered severe burns and injuries. Family and friends were suddenly left to mourn their loss.
The long road to healing began with a site chosen for a memorial on the ground of the Pentagon, near the point of impact, in April 2002. In reality, the family members acknowledged that, "The site was selected on September 11." Family members characterized the future memorial as a place of tranquility and peacefulness, where one could reflect and remember.
The memorial, according to the families, should symbolize the strength of the Pentagon and the nation. It should tell the story that freedom comes at a price and that 184 people paid the ultimate price. It should encourage visitors to think -- not tell them what to think.
September 11, 2002 [sic] was a pivotal day for America and the world. From the horrific attacks on New York, Shanksville and the Pentagon has grown as fierce resolve that terrorism may wound, but will never defeat us.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the LMDC thank the Pentagon Memorial Project Team for providing the information for this Panel, and recognize the Pentagon Memorial Project Family Steering Committee for their heartfelt contributions.
The Lost of September 11, 2001 .... [The plaques reserve the word "heroes" for the WTC and Shanksville victims.]
- WTC_031007_106.JPG: The sign says:
Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania
On that fateful day of September 11, 2001, 33 passengers and 7 crew members sat on the tarmac at Newark International Airport waiting for United Flight 93 to be given clearance to take off on its way to San Francisco. They were unaware that they were about to experience the unthinkable, to change the course of history, and to play a major role in strengthening the nation's resolve and spirit of unity.
Several of the passengers had switched to this early morning flight to take advantage of the 8:00 am departure time. Others had missed their flight the evening before. Some were returning home from business trips or traveling to visit family or taking long dreamed of vacations. Some were starting new lives. Crew members were preparing for another day's work.
On that busy weekday morning at Newark Airport, Flight 93, a 757 jetliner, took off 45 late at 8:42am. Following standard procedures, the plane climbed to its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet in about 20 minutes and headed due west. It was near Cleveland, Ohio, that air traffic controllers realized that Flight 93 had been hijacked. At 9:36am, the plane made an ill-omened turn southeast toward the nation's capital.
Around this same time, passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 became aware that other planes were being hijacked that day and used as missiles to destroy icons of American democracy. Unwilling to sit idle and see more devastation done to our country, the passengers and crew acted with heroic defiance, impeding the terrorists, and giving their lives to allow hundreds of perhaps thousands of others to live.
Flight 93 crashed into an abandoned strip mine near the small town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania in Somerset Country at 10:03 am.
The heroes aboard Flight 93 and the actions of the emergency responders and citizens in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania, will never be forgotten. On September 11th, 2001, Americans and people from around the world united together and responded to the tragic events with resolve and determination. It is this indomitable spirit of global unity and strength that will make it possible for Americans to rise above one of the most horrific events in United States history.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the LMDC thank the County of Somerset and the National Park Service for providing the information for this panel, and recognize the Flight 93 family members for their thoughtful guidance.
In Memorium: Crew and Passengers....
- Wikipedia Description: World Trade Center (1973–2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people.
The core complex was built between 1966 and 1975, at a cost of $400 million (equivalent to $3.56 billion in 2022). The idea was suggested by David Rockefeller to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, and his brother Nelson signed the legislation to build it. The buildings at the complex were designed by Minoru Yamasaki. In 1998, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001. During its existence, the World Trade Center symbolized globalization and the economic power of America. Although its design was initially criticized by New York citizens and professional critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in popular culture, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were also used in Philippe Petit's tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following the September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted, and several dozen "memorial films" were created.
The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire on February 13, 1975; a bombing on February 26, 1993; and a bank robbery on January 14, 1998, as well as the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The latter began after Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the Twin Towers, respectively. Between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel, which along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The attacks in New York City killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's buildings including 7 World Trade Center, and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area.
The cleanup and recovery process at the World Trade Center site took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished. On May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed. A new World Trade Center complex is being built with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks, a new rapid transit hub, and an elevated park have been opened. The memorial features two square reflecting pools in the center marking where the Twin Towers stood. One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 m) and the lead building for the new complex, was completed in May 2013 and opened in November 2014.
- Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.)
I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com
and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
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