When I was a kid, I watched the World Trade Center in New York City being built. I could see it from my Queens rooftop. Armed with a pair of good binoculars, I could catch all the action, and it amazed me to see those two glass and steel marvels rising against the sky.
Of course, the World Trade Center's birth came from a death of the neighborhood that was annihilated when it was built. I do not recall the area because I was too young (ground was broken for the buildings in 1966), but my father well remembers that streets were shut down and over a hundred buildings demolished to make room for the 16-acre site. He even recalls buying a watch in one of the stores that were leveled. Shops, businesses, and apartments were eliminated to accommodate the massive project. The death of a little neighborhood in the big city occurred in order to spawn a complex with the largest buildings in the world (at least for a short time until Sears Tower in Chicago opened in 1974).
The World Trade Center rose in my childhood and dominated my thinking about the city I loved as I became a man. While I had been to the top of the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, nothing seemed to compare to visiting the Twin Towers or "the Trades" as some people called them. Being in my nascent photographer stage, I took all sorts of pictures of the Twin Towers once they were completed. Sadly, like the buildings captured in those shots, those photographs no longer exist.
The two iconic towers could be seen from almost anywhere in this town, and they immediately became the recognizable symbol of New York City all over the world. Tourists flocked to visit the observatory, take pictures of the cityscape that flowed all around it, and dine in the premier restaurant Windows on the World. After visiting the top of one of the buildings, there was a feeling that you had touched, if not heaven, the closest thing to it in the sky.
I, like so many New Yorkers and citizens of this nation and the world, was left devastated by the attacks of September 11, 2001. Arguably, it seemed that no city had ever been so irreparably altered by an act of war as had New York on that day. While a few loons danced in the streets to celebrate in foreign lands, most human beings on the planet saw this as a terrible blow to not just New York but to civilization as we know it.
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Article comments
1 - FCEtier
Robert Frost once said something close to, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader." Excellent writing Vic. You can move your readers with words and written images and evoke emotions. I envy your writing skills.
2 - A Geek Girl
It is strange to think that our kids will only the WTC through videos and photos. Sorry about Steve. It must have been difficult for you waiting so long to see them get this started.
Have you taken your son to watch them do construction on the Freedom Tower? As you had watched them work on WTC? You probably should. Like passing something along to him. He'll tell his children that he stood with his dad and watched them build it.
Great article Vic. I could really feel it.
Your book looks interesting too. The catharsis of gathering and sharing.
3 - Ruvy
Victor,
Excellent article.
I hope for your sake (not to mention millions of other New Yorkers, including my own sister) that the coming storm season does not bring poisons from the Gulf to New York City, and that you and yours can stay there for many years, enjoying a city I once was happy to call home.
Shabbat Shalom
4 - Victor Lana
Thanks to everyone for their comments (Chip, you are too kind).
Geek Girl, my son is only 18 months old. I'll be taking him when he's older and can understand.
Ruvy, thanks. Yes, those "poisons" are worrisome and not just for us. Some predict they will reach Scotland by the end of the year. A horror beyond imagination!!!
5 - Dr Dreadful
Beautifully written piece, Vic.
Millions of words have been written about the Twin Towers and the awful events of that day, but you've managed to inject a unique perspective and voice. Kudos.
6 - Victor Lana
Many thanks, Dr D!
7 - Baritone
I lived in NYC back in 1969 and 70. I drove a cab among other things. I remember driving around the construction site delivering fares to various Wall St. addresses or perhaps to the Battery. There was always a kind of buzz going on about the Towers to come.
At first, I must admit, I hadn't even heard of them - didn't understand the significance of the project. I came to the City a clueless wide kid from Indy. As is always the case, there is construction of major proportions going on all over NYC, so it didn't seem exceptional to me.
But, then I heard about how these buildings were going to dwarf the Empire State Building; how they would be the tallest buildings in the world, and that they would last forever as a monument to the greatness of our country and the city of New York. I left NYC long before their completion, so I never made it to the top.
Now there is such a mixed bag of emotions tied to those buildings and the tower and monument that is to replace them. When completed, I wonder if some folks may have to swallow hard to just enter the new tower, let alone to work there. Perhaps, but I suppose life goes on. Fears, along with memories, tend to fade.
B
8 - Victor Lana
You make a good point, Baritone. I believe that the buildings will go up and have vacancies for a few years. The way I remember it, even as they were completing the top floors of the Twin Towers, they couldn't get all the space rented out.
It will take time but people will come back. That first ride to the top will be an experience filled with fear, hope, anger, and more.
9 - Jon Sobel
Great article. I heard that it was not being officially called the Freedom Tower any more. But I wonder if people will use that name anyway once it's built.
10 - Baritone
Mr. Lana,
I took note that you are a published and prize winning poet as well as a novelist. You might find my son's web site, cellpoems.org of interest. It is designed to publish short poems - generally no longer than the limits placed on "twitter" messages. He has received a number of prominant poet's submissions including offerings from Billy Collins, William Logan and Chris Wiman among others.
I understand that it may not be your cup of tea, but I thought it worth mentioning to you.
B
11 - Baritone
Or not.
12 - Victor Lana
Hi!
Baritone, I've been away and just getting through all my e-mails and snail mail, etc. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks.