The rehearsals for the 10th anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center were magnificent.
The monumental shafts of light projected up into the night sky projected the form of the fallen Twin Towers onto the Manhattan skyline like two graceful ghosts.
The Tribute is one of many events which will commemorate the 2,753 victims killed in the attacks on 9/11/2001.
Dozens of electricians, lighting engineers and even stage hands worked hard at the Ground Zero site to put the Tribute in place ahead of the anniversary on Sunday 11th September 2011. On 9/11/2011, the Twin Tower lights will soar into the New York sky from dusk till dawn.
Looking at the Tribute, it’s impossible to imagine the response of those who loved the victims of the 9/11 attack. There must surely be something comforting about the knowledge that New York has not forgotten the men and women who were killed that day. The recreation of the form of the towers must affect everyone who watched the attack that day and felt entirely helpless in the face of such wilful murder and destruction.
But there is also something unbearably poignant about those two ghostly towers of light soaring towards the heavens. They are a terrible reminder that the towers are gone and the lives of nearly 3000 people were taken too.
The Tribute seems to contain the simple message: “These towers and these people are gone. But they’re not forgotten.”
There is something encouraging and heartbreaking about that in equal measure.
9/11/2011 will also mark the opening of The National September 11 Memorial and Museum. It is located at the base of the twin towers, in a plaza populated by a small forest of oak trees. The Memorial has two deep pools with fountains and a museum recounting the events of September 11 2001. Around the pools, visitors see the names of all those who died.
The Ground Zero/Twin Towers site will eventually house six new buildings:
One World Trade Center (designed by architect David Childs) will have 104 storeys. Standing 1,776ft high, it will be the tallest building in Manhattan when it’s finished in 2013. It will have 2.6 million square feet of office space, a spacious observation deck and excellent restaurants as well as other public spaces.
Tower 2, at 200 Greenwich Street, will be the second tallest building. Designed by British architect Norman Foster, it will have 88 storeys.
3 World Trade Center, at 175 Greenwich Street, is designed by Richard Rogers. It will offer shopping and office space.
4 World Trade Center is designed by Maki and Associates and is planned to be the new HQ of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
5 World Trade Center is being constructed by the Port Authority on the site of the Deutsche Bank Building, destroyed by the attacks on 9/11.
7 World Trade Center was completed in 2006. It houses the New York Academy of Sciences and other organisations.
Some of the best points from which to see the Twin Towers Tribute will be:
Manhattan:
Washington Square Park , Union Square Park , Empire State Building (the Observation Deck) , Washington Market Park in Tribeca.
Roosevelt Island:
The Waterfront Promenade
Queens:
Gantry Plaza State Park ; Rockaway Station, Roxbury
Brooklyn:
Brooklyn Bridge Park , Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway , Brooklyn Heights Promenade , Fulton Ferry State Park , 69th Street Pier , Pulaski Bridge Pedestrian Walkway, Fort Greene Park
Staten Island:
Ferry Terminal – and from the ferry
New Jersey:
Liberty State Park (Jersey City) , Owen Grundy Pier (Jersey City) , Newport (Jersey City) , Port Imperial (Weehawken) , Castle Point Promenade (Hoboken) , Pier A Park (Hoboken) , Boulevard East (Weehawken) , Exchange Place (Jersey City) , E agle Rock Reservation (Montclair)
Source: http://mas.org/tribute-in-light-nyc-wtc-memorial-future-funding-donate/