With Day 4 beginning, this is now the longest trip to New York City that I have been blessed to do. I'm sooooo excited to still have two full days here --- now to get going. We are starting the day a bit somber and heading down to the 9/11 Memorial. One quick subway ride away and - behold - One World Trade Center (formerly called Freedom Tower) standing majestically. This is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center Complex. As we all know, the original Center was comprised of seven buildings, all of which were destroyed. The Pullman Performing Arts Center sit below and in front for this picture.
Outside and inside views -
How about a little closer?
The name comes from the strip of windows, or skylights, along the spine of the roof. Oculus is the Latin word for “eye,” which, in architecture, refers to a round or eye-like opening with a view of the sky. Take a look up through the windows, and you’ll see Freedom Tower. It’s an inspiring sight and I didn't get a perfect picture of it. Next trip. This opening also allows sunlight to pour in each morning. The angle of the windows is particularly placed so that every year on the anniversary of the attacks, the sun shines directly through the skylight and illuminates the main hall at 10:28 a.m. (the time of the collapse of the second tower). It’s called the “Way Of Light.” Calatrava positioned the building slightly tilted from the street grid in order to achieve the effect.
A pretty fun sculpture next to the Oculus.
Now, the memorial building. This is the entrance.
We are directed upstairs for a short video that happens in a few minutes. Many people pass on without doing so, but we're here for the whole experience. Upstairs there are some displays that one would miss if they didn't climb up - oh well.
This flag became a symbol of resilience when three FDNY firefighters raised it at Ground Zero on the afternoon of September 11, 2001. The flag was taken down that evening, and the following day, a different flag was hoisted in its place. The whereabouts of the original flag remained a mystery for nearly 15 years. In 2014, The History Channel aired an episode about the missing flag and soon after, the flag was turned in to authorities in Everett, Washington by a man identifying himself as a U.S. Marine. He claimed to be acting on behalf of the widow of a Ground Zero rescue and recovery worker. He indicated that she had been unaware that the flag in her possession had been the subject of a national search before watching the televised documentary. It was analyzed in a crime lab to determine that it was indeed the correct flag with a 99% accuracy.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, New York City artist created a pair of memorial lights in honor of the attacks' victims. The bronze sculptures were inspired by two remnants of World Trade Center steel that Kahn had received for this commissioned projects. The taller piece pays tribute to the individual lives lost in the attacks; the other represents a communal loss.
Inside we go -
When the original World Trade Center was in use, this is what was written about it on the Heritage Trail sign: What has 200 elevators, 1,200 restrooms, 40,000 doorknobs, 200,000 lighting fixtures, 7 million square feet of acoustical tile ceilings, more structural steel than the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge - and was built for a final cost of over one billion 1970s dollars? Every weekday, 50,000 people come to work in 12 million square feet of office, hotel, and commercial space in the seven buildings in this city-within-a-city, where they are joined by 80,000 visitors passing through an enormous interior shopping mall below the 5-acre Plaza. The Trade Center welcomes visitors from around the world to a splendid observatory, the Top of the World, on the 107th floor of the Two World Trade Center. As many as 10,000 visitors in a single day ride the non-stop express elevators - from the lobby to the 107th floor in 82 seconds - to take in the spectacular views of the city and its surroundings.
The next picture (seen from above) shows the slurry wall segment on the left. The proximity of the Hudson River presented a significant challenge to the planners of the World Trade Center. Before excavation and construction could begin in 1966, it was necessary to find a way to prevent river water from seeping into or flooding the site. The innovative solution was to build a concrete retaining wall, known as a slurry wall. Despite fears that it might be breached on 9/11, thereby worsening the catastrophic impact of the attacks, the wall held. A portion of the original wall, which can be seen here, has been preserved. To the right is The Last Column. As the recovery at the World Trade Center site neared completion, one piece of steel was chosen to mark the occasion symbolically. It was removed from the site in a solemn ceremony held on May 30, 2002. In the weeks that preceded its departure, recovery workers, first responders, volunteers, and victims' relatives signed the column and affixed to it memorial messages, photographs, and other tributes.A section of steel facade, North Tower, floors 96-99. This was at the point of impact where hijacked Flight 11 pierced the building at the 93rd through 99th floors.
The Vesey Street stairs, located on the northernmost edge of the World Trade Center Plaza, withstood the collapse on 9/11. Most of the damage now visible was inflicted during the cleanup operation, which included demolition of the adjacent escalators and what remained of two nearby budlings 5WTC and 6WTC. The stairs were slated for destruction until a federal review process involving preservationists, survivors, and other advocates eventually assured that this symbolic remnant, now known as the Survivors' Stairs, would be saved.
The Twin Towers were the first skyscrapers to employ a system of local and express elevators, an innovation that reduced the elevator travel time and made the buildings attractive to occupants of the upper floors. In addition to elevators servicing basement levels, each tower's 99 elevators included freight, local, and high-speed express cars. Two express cars traveled directly to the Windows on the World restaurant in the North Tower, and two went to the South Tower Observation Deck. This elevator motor, the largest model in the world when installed, powered one of the express or service cars, which moved at a speed of 1,600 feet per minute. A total of 99 motors operated the elevator system in each tower. (You can see people standing behind it to give you an idea of its size.)
No words -
Almost all of the more than 40,000 windows in the Twin Towers shattered on September 11, 2001. Only one windowpane, from the 82nd floor of the South Tower is known to have survived intact. That's insane, right?
Did we see the whole memorial? Yes. Am I sharing more? No. Some things are not meant for pictures or a blog. When finished, we then headed out to the Memorial Plaza and the two Memorial Reflecting Pools.
As we quietly wander the area, I ask about a building below the skyscrapers. Mister explains that it's a church, so we go over and manage to hit one of the few days it is open.
The Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine is a “House of Prayer for all people” at the World Trade Center. It reopened to the public in December 2022. The new building replaced the church of the same name, destroyed on 9/11. The new location at 130 Liberty Street is less than 50 yards east of where the original church once stood at 155 Cedar Street. I'll just quietly share pictures.
Overview of the Memorial Plaza.
Just across the street is Hook and Ladder Co. 10 -
For the firefighters of the Ten House, Sept. 11 was the day a blue sky turned black and bodies rained from the sky. They were beginning a new shift, at 8:46 a.m., when terrorists attacked the World Trade Towers, spiking them with two hijacked commercial planes, each loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel. Ladder Company 10 and Engine Company 10, the Ten House 10 are located at 124 Liberty St., across the street from the World Trade Center. It is the only fire station inside Ground Zero. The firefighters on duty all jumped up from the table and ran to the front of the apparatus bay. The sky was completely black. It was just all debris raining down on the street, papers on fire, pieces of computer, bodies just flying out, just things coming at the firefighters … They were the first to respond. The two companies lost five men that morning. When they found the burnt wreckage of Ladder 10, weeks later, it was buried under 40 feet of rubble.
115 Broadway was designed by Francis Kimball as the US Realty building along with its sister building next door at 111, the Trinity building. New York’s original twin towers, the two matching buildings were unusual for skyscrapers of the time, in that they were designed in a strong gothic style. The two narrow and long buildings are lavishly decorated with gargoyles, buttresses, pinnacles, turrets, dragons, and eagles. Closely built next to each other, with a steel footbridge connecting the two, permission was given by the city to actually move the adjoining Thames Street 28 feet to the north, to allow the two buildings to nestle side by side. Walking into the near identical lobbies, the coats of arms, ribbed ceilings, stained glass, and monk’s heads would leave you thinking that you had wandered into a medieval English cathedral. The New York Times in 1907 called the two buildings towering over lower Broadway, “twin examples of Gothic splendor.”The 20th floor was even once home to the old Lawyers Club, a society so extravagant that it kept a private herd of 50 cows in New Jersey to provide its members with their own supply of fresh butter.
Restored from its dusty condition in 2006, the vault is now home to a swish bar befitting its distinguished surroundings. At each end of the bar, the original five inch steel walls have been left exposed so cocktail sipping visitors can have a sense of how secure the old vault was.
The building was actually constructed around the vault. Originally only 5 stories tall (1905), 19 stories were later added on. The vault is unique as it has two 35 ton vault doors at both ends as opposed to one which was the standard. The Dining Room, which has the original restored brass chandelier, was used as a private meeting room for the bankers of the time.
Looking from one end to the other -
Gotta say - this is pretty cool. Now to try the food and drink.
Mister orders an Old Fashioned - I told him he should have gotten a Manhattan, right? I go for a local beer and we order what is, perhaps, one of the best charcuterie boards we've ever had. At some point they bring us more bread - and when I say more - oh goodness. We are stuffed.
Upon our departure, I want a peek between the towers.
We come upon a cemetery -
And then the attached church - Trinity Church was founded in 1696, enlarged and beautified in 1737, totally destroyed during the Great Conflagration of the City, September 21, 1776. This building was erected on the site of the former church in 1788.
Wow -
More simpler stained glass windows.
Taking a door to the outside, we are only able to step out and have ropes stopping forward movement. Noticing a smaller building towards the back, we go inside and attempt to locate it.
Not all parts are accessible, but I can see through the partition.
Some final pictures -
And we're back outside on the other side.
Directly across the street ---- That is the beginning of Wall Street. It runs right into the Church. Seems right.
Even the subway entrances are fancy here.
Since we're in the financial district - might as well see the bull. EVERYONE wants their picture with it. Why? At any rate, this is the best I can get without tons of people around.
Into the battery and this is the BEST view of the Statue of Liberty we could get. They are working on the seawall and almost all areas are blocked off from view.
Ahhhh -- The Sea Glass Carousel. Another obscure spot I'd read about. It is housed inside a glass-paneled nautilus shell that sits atop the site of the original New York Aquarium.
The SeaGlass Carousel features 30 fiberglass fish spotlighting 12 different species, while the mechanics are unique in that there’s no traditional center pole. By putting individual motors for each fish below the floor, the riders have unobstructed views while the fish both spin independently and swirl around each other as though swimming through the ocean. Rides of the SeaGlass Carousel will also experience a changing LED light display that makes one feel as though they are truly underwater. To add to the overall experience, each fiberglass fish contains its own speakers that play aquatic sounds and music specifically composed for the ride. Each of the fish in the carousel is modeled after an actual species ranging from tall angelfish to the much smaller clown triggerfish. No matter which you choose, it will resemble one underwater lifeform or another that can actually be found out in the ocean.
Maybe Ellis Island too. Next trip those two spots are our priority. We planned this trip too late to get tickets and last time - they were not open.
The sun pops out as we are leaving = how nice of it.
Governor's Island - another one still on the list.
Mister took a few pics too, it seems. I did not want to be inside. It's cold out, but I don't care.
He's outside with me, but staying back, out of the wind. Cracks me up.
Perhaps another visit Staten Island - there are only so many hours in a day.
And we're back.
If you were to look at a Google Map of Lower Manhattan (which Mister did), you will see something quite unusual marked at Pearl and Broad Streets: the mysteriously named “Portal Down to Old New York.” Near here, set into the pavement under glass at the pedestrian plaza that curves around 85 Broad Street, are the visible remnants of colonial-era New York, discovered in an archaeological dig undertaken in New York. Every day, thousands of workers in the Financial District pass by without noticing what lies underfoot, preserved under glass. Sure wish they'd clean the glass. These are pretty cool. One is an 18th Century cistern and the second is unclear to me.
Turning down a brightly lit street - we find some type of filming in process.
Time for a coffee break - need something to help keep going. Apparently we both thought the same thing. Take a picture of my spouse.
Down to the New York Stock Exchange - which is a walking street only. Odd for New York.
We are back at Wall Street and can see Trinity Church down at the other end. The lights have come on as the day is rapidly leaving us.
Walking down the inside area, off to the left, we see this sign - with the water system. Where are we going? I guess, down as there are more Japanese signs. Sakagura is the name of the place.
We don't have reservations, but they get us in with seats at the bar - no issues for us. It's a sake bar and they have almost 300 types of sake available. It's very dark down here and I don't want to use flash, so chances are the pics won't be the best.
I've never seen my sweetie so overwhelmed by a menu, but he takes a really long time before I ask what's up. Take a peek - it's kind of hard to know what is going on.
We have an amazing server and she gets us on track. Starting with a sampler.
We then order and since we're not sure of amounts or anything, we just keep ordering. Once that is done - a few pics of the area - it's packed - yep even in the basement of an office building on 43rd.
On the way out, I grab a few more pictures. Sake Cooler, Barrel Restrooms, Stacks of Rice.
HIGHLY recommend. Go, if you're in New York. Time to go get some sleep - until tomorrow.
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