9/11 Memorial

A sculpture that survived the attacks
displayed nearby in Battery Park

Thursday and we visited the memorial for those who died as a result of
the attacks on the World Trade Centre. It consists of two enormous
square sided waterfalls with reflecting pools, covering about half of

the area occupied by the Towers. Surrounding the pools are walls or
parapets in bronze, these are inscribed with all the names of those
who died on that day, also those killed on the previous attack in
1993. The names are arranged by affiliation rather than
alphabetically, so for example those who worked in a particular firm
or were part of a fire crew are together in the same area. The
building in the background is going to become a exhibition which will
have information on all of the victims. If you want to visit you have
to book ahead on line, select a half hour slot that is available, then
print out your pass. Seems a good idea to avoid crowding and big
queues.
As there was a lot of visitors, many of them school kids running about
and making a din the atmosphere was more of a tourist attraction than
a memorial, but seeing a family taking a brass rubbing of a name
added a poignancy and reminder as to the reality of the monumentl.
All around there is construction work going on creating the
replacements for the Twin Towers. One of these is going to be the
highest building in the US when completed.