Tag Archives: op-ed

Former World Trade Center Site

10 Years.

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Former World Trade Center Site
Former World Trade Center Site

The fireworks set me off tonight.

For an eve that I’m sure most of us have reserved for quiet contemplation, arising with the dissonance of speedboats and now the thunderous boom of fireworks before we rest our heads. The commemoration seems a bit excessive.

It  has been voiced today that for most of us who have lived through the attacks on the World Trade Center – the spectacle is not necessary as much as the ability to have calm reflection with ourselves and our family.

Every year since the attacks — and now 10 years later — our neighborhood transforms into a media spectacle. Satellite trucks beaming the signal into the stars – the echos of the reading of names. Each syllable tears open old wounds. Yes, a decade old but surprisingly fresh – the way we celebrate and mourn is almost like pressing a rewind button back to 2002.

In 2002, for the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Red Cross was on hand – deploying an army of volunteers to simply hand out pocket tissues. They have not returned since, but in someway it probably wouldn’t hurt for them to come back tomorrow.

This year, will mark the launch of the 9/11 Memorial. Here is to the hope that  with this unveiling the commemoration events will change. Our neighborhood has been slow to recover — but inevitably the renaissance is around the bend. Would it be wrong to also call for a renaissance of the way we commemorate?

We should never forget — but does that mean we have to relive?  The increased terror alerts, the carrying ID in and out of the neighborhood, the shutdown of access to the area, the reading of the names, the images, the interviews, the documentaries – to be parsed out every minute on 9/11 — for the rest of our lives? What will happen when the generation born today, will be the media makers of tomorrow? Will they be able to strike the balance and present to us the images and stories in a way that won’t offend the sensitivities of the generation that has lived it? To balance the equation of sensationalism, media, commemoration, ratings and patriotism – currently has no solution.

Tonight I will fall asleep and I will dream that tomorrow we will turn a corner in the way we remember – for a 9/11 commemoration that helps to heal more than hurt.

World Financial Center Stairs in the Winter Garden, Battery Park City

Saving the World Financial Center Stairs — But How?

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World Financial Center Stairs in the Winter Garden, Battery Park City
Should the Winter Garden Stairs receive landmark status?

The World Financial Stairs, first erected nearly thirty years ago, served as an important — if merely utilitarian — gateway for those needing to travel between the Winter Garden and the World Trade Center. The stairs were built to endure and withstand the foot traffic of thousands of people coming to and from the train stations during the lunch and rush hours, as well as serve as impromptu colosseum seating for Winter Garden performances and events.

Like a great marble work of art, the World Financial Stairs have signified and become an unwitting relic of survival and an icon of restoration in the days and now years after September 11th. One cannot see, think, or remember the Winter Garden without the stairs as the backdrop of the minds eye.

These days, most of the steps taken up the stairs are to reach the viewing area where the entrance of the bridge used to be. For almost a decade, light has cascaded freely into both sides of the Winter Garden, helping to further highlight the marble stairs as never before. No longer merely hidden under the soles of the commuters and office workers, the craftsmanship and marble gleam.

Ok, I’m waxing a bit poetic here, but obviously by the title and tone of this article, I’m biased towards these particular stairs.

Despite this writer’s respect, however, the stairs are in jeopardy. Brookfield Properties, owners of the Winter Garden, are scheduling demolition of the stairs in an effort to expand their office and retail offerings.

In the first step toward saving the stairs, an unlikely proponent emerged. Last week, members of the 32BJ SEIU, a local union whose members work at the World Financial Center, began passing out flyers to bring awareness to the World Financial Center stairs. Why does the Union care?

A spokesman from 32BJ SEIU, Matt Painter, reached out to BatteryParkCity.com and had this to say,

“32BJ SEIU is involved because the Winter Garden is an important public space for the city and our members — many of whom live and work in lower Manhattan.  The stairs have a symbolic significance to our union as well.  As the city’s largest building services union, we have members who, as security guards, acted as first responders to the 9/11 attacks.  The restored stairs represent the city’s willingness to rebuild, and the removal of this important removal seems insensitive to the community’s needs and to this important memorial of that day.”

Are the stairs important enough for us as a community to try and save them? We have been able to get immediate response for a tire swing. We’re trying to find landmark status for a former Burlington Coat Factory. It’s time to put it out there, should the World Financial / Winter Garden Stairs receive landmark status too? If so, how? What can we do as a community? What do you think?

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Battery Park City Community Comments

Week in Review: You Said It! (Community Comments)

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Battery Park City Community Comments
Check out this weeks neighborhood comments!

We’ve been humbled by the response we’ve received on the site through comments and suggestions, and so we’ve decided to create a weekly feature called “Week in Review.’ Every week, we’ll highlight  selected comments from the site. We urge you to find and add more comments to all our articles as we hope that this keeps the conversation going! As always, feel free to leave suggestions/comments for the rest of us on the site and in our posts.

Art Vendors in Battery Park
Battery Vendors

In ‘Battery Park to Have Fewer Art Vendors,’
John wrote: “what about the counterfeit luxury bags dealers? between the art vendors and the counterfeit luxury bags dealers, i’d rather see the art vendors stay, and the counterfeit bag dealers go. one group is selling legal merchandise, the other is clearly trading in illegal merchandise. and they make neither commitments NOR investments in our neighborhood. their shady way of operating is the real blight on our streets.”

45-47 Park Place Debris
9/11 Debris

In ‘Mosque Hearing Update and Religious Turf War,’
Dr. John A. Pagnani wrote: “It seems to me that the part of the reconstruction site that is not dedicated to commerce should be a nondenominational space to promote healing and rememberence, not division. I would vote to keep all organized religions from seizing this ground so everyone is able to feel comfortable there. I do not think it should be used to promote any specific religious perspective other than what people bring to the site in their hearts.”

liberty court 200 rector place
Tire Swing Woes

In ‘Liberty Court Residents New Tire Swing Victims,’
M Wood Wrote: “…Of course for the last year or so we have been living through another reconstruction of West Street. In addition, those of us facing West Thames Park just experienced many months of construction, starting early in the morning, sometimes 7 days a week. I think a little context might help make others a little more understanding and actually appreciative of those residents who have stayed here despite these challenges. By the way, my own pet peeve is the ugliness of the new “arbor”, but that is nothing after what we have been through here.”

MTA Cuts greatly affect Lower Manhattan
BPC MTA Changes

In ‘MTA Cuts Ream Lower Manhattan: What This Means,’
Kate S. wrote: “Battery Park City is a wonderful place to live–except when they take away key services like the W train and the M9 bus. The M9 was a link to being able to go out by myself at night and feel completely safe coming home late. What a shame that we, who do not have all the amenities of the rest of NYC, are cut off from the few things that made life here a bit easier.”