We were around City Hall when my daughter suddenly pointed to a building very excitedly.
Archi students, tell me who designed this?
I didn't plan on visiting Ground Zero/World Trade Center because, well, I wasn't comfortable about going there. I can't explain it. But anyway, one day we had dim sum in Chinatown with my sister's SIL and she asked if we'd like to see City Hall and the area around it. Ground Zero was nearby and we ended up lining up for the tickets. The tickets are free and available online but if you don't get them online, you have to line up for them and you have to know where to line up for them or end up walking in circles on a cold and windy day.
Personally, I feel that the 911 Memorial is too touristy. I'm not sure if it is respectful to turn such a tragic site into a tourist attraction. Most of us were tourists, all taking photos like that was the main reason to be there. I also found the selling of photos of the tragedy by street vendors rather distasteful.
"We will never forget."
I'm not impressed by the tower that's already up. It looks quite ordinary although the reflection of the sky on the fully glassed walls look very clean and sleek.
St Paul's Chapel Of Trinity is right across the street from the World Trade center and the building and the tombstones remained unscathed although other buildings around it such as the Deutsche Bank Building, the Greek Orthodox Church and numerous other buildings were destroyed or badly damaged.
i also share your sentiments. the ground zero site is wayyy too touristy, which is wrong, considering the tragedy that occured.
ReplyDeletebut it's a sign of moving on, in a way.
michelle: you took the words right out of my hand. tt's exactly what i wanted to say:)
ReplyDeletehi terri, I was ecstatic that you've been posting so much since the long absence. thank you. thank you. thank you.
ReplyDeletehah hah for someone whom the US seems a distant dream, your tour is the closest I will get to being there.
i can't wait for your future posts..
The building was designed by Frank Gehry, same architect who designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
ReplyDeleteyou say touristy, i would say politicized.
ReplyDeletetoo many people fitting over who has the right to claim the area and how it should be maintained.
the real legacy of Ground Zero is in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the entire world is now forced to live with Big Brother looking into their lives. and all because of the so called war on terror, the dismantling of the US Constitution, and America telling the global community you are either with us or against us.
regardless of who is responsible for what actually happened, a certain group has hijacked our freedom and privacy under the guise of protecting us. we are no safer today then we were or weren't on 9/11. in fact, IMHO, we are less safe because we have created even more enemies and hatred.
our response to 9/11 should have been much different.
sharon: hey, how's your kitchenaid? my kenwood is dying...if you know of any place where i can get a kitchenaid, pls let me know.
ReplyDeleteck: A+, good!
lunchguy: i def am on your side about afghanistan, irag n all thsoe countries the US has no right to be in and while i agree tt the hatred has intensified, i think it's the fanatics who are so, the moderates know right frm wrong. fanatics will always be fanatics. but how else could the US govt react/act?
as far as security at airports go, i think 911 has def improved it bc airports used to be so lax about it but now, we (visitors) get ten-printed, photographed, patted down, x-rayed (i hate hving to put both hands up behind my head, legs apart and being x-rayed, sh*T!). i think the US has more info on me now than my own govt. i wouldn't misbehave in the US...
terry as far as the security at airports go ...all in favor of whatever it takes to be safe in the air.
ReplyDeletethey have been hi-jacking planes since the 1960's i guess and it finally sprung an idea in their heads.......lock the cockpit door.
geesh ....all the madness and it took a simple lock to block the bad boys.
as far goverments knowing more about us ect....google probly tells the gov more than they knew before.
crazy world out there.
cheers
@henriii: fact is El Al, the Israeli airline, has been locking and bullet proofing the doors on their planes for years. other airlines have had this option but they did not wish to incur the expense, nor did government force them to with regulations. they were playing the odds with our lives and simply for profits.
ReplyDeleteonce again we the people have to suffer because big business is allowed to make gross profits and ignore our safety. we see this in every aspect of our lives now. business and industry rule.
and what you say about Google is true, as well as Facebook and many others.