Category: Manhattan

Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh, so mellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain was yellow.

“Try to Remember,” from The Fantasticks.

It feels surreal that it has been 21 years. Time passes. We say that we would never forget, but I wonder if we learned anything. If September 11, 2001, was a nightmare, we somehow came together on September 12, 2001, if my memory isn’t so hazy to recall the attempts to help each other.

But, I fear about whether we really can overcome hate and fear, as we the people of this nation are as divided as ever.

21 years ago, I was trying to figure out how to make any use of my last year in law school, and then that Tuesday happened. I didn’t imagine the entirely different landscape that we’ve had since. I never imagined that all the crises and calamities we’d be through.

This morning, I watched some of the commemoration. I still feel profoundly sad for those who never came home that day, when they were civilians – just people who might have gone to work early to go vote that morning, a beautiful, blue sky of a Tuesday, when we had our primary elections for local political offices. We’re talking about just ordinary New York metro area people who were part of what made downtown Manhattan so vibrant. They were part of that odd idea that the World Trade Center embodied – that through world trade (i.e., capitalism), we could have world peace.

Maybe my cynicism gets to me. Have we done enough for the survivors, the people who worked and lived in downtown Manhattan? What about all these terrible medical conditions that arose because of how toxic Ground Zero was? What about how we didn’t know or want to know what was in the dust that littered Manhattan into southern Brooklyn? How do we stop being a**holes to each other, because aren’t we supposed to work together to overcome all the problems? I’m asking entirely rhetorical questions, of course.

This morning, our local television stations covered the commemoration at the World Trade Center. I’ll share this September 5, 2022, post by Bill Ritter, the anchor of Eyewitness News of WABC Channel 7, as he noted:

I’ve been thinking a lot about that part of the September 11th story, as we approach the 21st anniversary of that horrible day. And I’ve been thinking about how divided so much of this country is now, and I — along with many others — am trying to figure out how that happened in relatively such a short period of time.

We can debate the foundational answer to all that — and we should — as we try to figure out how to stop the hate that infects so many people, and re-visit and re-light the sense of community that sparked the peaceful coagulation of this country 21 years ago.

For our coverage of the 9/11 memorial in the week leading up to it, I recently interviewed former New York Governor George Pataki, a lifelong Republican who has thought a lot about how we have become so divided, and how his own party has become polarized, with some of them so filled with hate.

There are, of course, many like the former governor, who favor discussion rather than rants, problem-solving dialogue instead of diatribes. But their voices are typically not the loudest.

There is also what President Joe Biden observed during his speech at the Pentagon this morning, as part of the commemoration:

It’s not enough to stand up for democracy once a year or every now and then. It’s something we have to do every single day. So this is a day not only to remember, but a day of renewal and resolve for each and every American.”

Pres. Joe Biden, September 11, 2022, per report by Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jeffery C. Mays, NY Times.

Just a few days ago, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom passed away, at the age of 96, as the longest-reigning monarch of the UK. Regardless at this moment of how one may feel about monarchy, our planet’s entering a transition. I think that we can learn a lot from Queen Elizabeth II about commitment to duty and service, and even believing in commitment – and maybe those are the very reasons why we have admired her, putting aside our discomfort with monarchy and love of celebrity.

For the observation of today, I liked how this report over at the NY Times reminded how, two days after September 11, 2001, Queen Elizabeth II handled her demonstration of alliance:

Two days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Elizabeth ordered a military band to play “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, one of the most popular and visible public displays of British tradition.

“Tourists and British onlookers stood silent, grasping American flags and weeping,” The New York Times reported at the time. [….]

Last year, on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the queen again ordered the United States’ anthem to be played as the guard changed. In a message to President Biden, Queen Elizabeth II said at the time that her thoughts and prayers — “and those of my family and the entire nation” — were with the victims, survivors, families and rescue workers affected by the attacks.

Last year, FC shared this over on Facebook, so I’m passing it along again: “Wake Me Up When September Ends” – Green Day (Cover by First to Eleven).

See here for last year’s post, of the 20th anniversary of a day that we cannot forget. I wish you all a peaceful and thoughtful day. Thanks again for being here. — ssw15

Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh, so mellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain was yellow.

-“Try to Remember,” from The Fantasticks.

I’m amazed by how time passes, and how sometimes it feels like everything is okay. But, sometimes, when the sky is that blue like it was on that day, and if there was some hint of memory of what was, I start feeling sad. And, last week, the test runs of the Tribute of Lights made me thoughtful.

On Saturday, September 8, 2018, just a few days before September 11, 2018, MTA finally reopened the Cortlandt Street subway station for the 1 train  – now renamed WTC Cortlandt St.  I have so many feelings about this. I’d walk by the side of the Oculus hub; I’d see the sign for “the future access to the 1” and I kept wondering when was that happening, and now it’s real.

I remembered when the MTA had reopened the 1 train’s tunnel underneath the World Trade Center after September 11, 2001. It had felt like a stunning miracle, after the death and destruction. But, that destroyed Cortlandt Street station remained the subway station that didn’t come back, while the R and the A/C/E subway lines’ stations did come back.

I had walked by the A/C/E side at one point and my eyes grew teary when I recognized where that spot was on the floor to the entry would have led to the Warner Brothers store upstairs of the World Trade Center (or so I told myself, because my memory was never any good). And, of course, upstairs and all around was that community – the people who came and went through that whole complex, what made life real – wasn’t there anymore.

I was always more a downtown person, even when I had attended Alma Mater up in Morningside Heights (the nature of being from Brooklyn: everything is uptown anyway). I had looked to the Twin Towers as the compass to help me figure out where I was; as architecture, not everyone liked them – but I did. (see here, for instance, for Gothamist’s review of the 20th century commentary on the WTC’s architecture).

For a very long time, I felt it was too easy to be lost. But, now there’s a new World Trade Center. The area has changed a lot. The memorial is a beautiful, reflective area. The Sphere has returned. The rebuilding of the destroyed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church is still in progress.

It sometimes feels very surreal to see that there’s so much commercialism, but there was a mall years ago anyway. However, the sense of luxury that’s there now, especially over at the World Financial Center (sorry – now “Brookfield Place”), wasn’t quite what had been there. Downtown was more about the hustle – you got to get to where you were going, or you don’t know what you were missing.

Sure, a subway station is back, but there’s more to it than that. It’s 17 years. All these years later, I wonder how much we are missing, and whether we have grown or should I keep hoping somehow that things will be better.

I am curious to see the art (and the possibility of a climate-controlled subway station?). The reopening of the all the subway stations after 9/11, and after Super Storm Sandy when it felt like a setback, have somehow reminded me that life keeps going.

See here for the NY Times article by Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Winnie Hu on the reopening of this Cortlandt Street station, complete with a mosaic by Ann Hamilton with the words of the Declaration of Independence and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

See here for the tumblr post by MTA Arts & Design on the mosaic.

See here for Gothamist’s coverage of the Cortlandt Street station reopening.

As done before, some photos:

See here for last year’s post, and here for the 2016 post, to access the links to earlier posts here on triscribe on this day.

Take a moment to pause and reflect, and thanks for being here.

(cross-posted at sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

I recently watched an episode of “American Masters” on my local PBS
station (WNET Channel 13), regarding Jacques Pepin. I liked how the documentary made one have insight on Pepin as an immigrant who taught Americans how to think about food, and how to make and eat food. But, when Anthony Bourdain appeared as a talking head in the episode, I
was struck by how I sad I felt, as I was watching this after Bourdain’s passing. Bourdain was so smooth about talking about Pepin and the art of food. Bourdain was not someone who didn’t know what he was talking about; he was very much a part of the food and television community.

At least, CNN will be airing the last of Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. this fall. According to Time Out NY, in October, the Food Film Festival will premiere one of those final episodes, in which Bourdain checks out the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

I’ve been meaning to share this for the longest time – this fascinating essay by Thomas Wickersham, manager of The Mysterious Bookshop, from June 14, 2018, on Bourdain as a mystery writer, over at Crime Reads. (h/t The Mysterious Bookshop’s Facebook page post). Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised about that. As Wickersham noted, Bourdain’s style on his television shows, No Reservations and Parts Unknown, had a noir flair.
It’s still hard to fully realize that we won’t have more after Bourdain’s final episodes.

(cross-posted on sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)