Subject: NYC Ground Zero
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 11:11:16 -0500
From: "Byrkit, David -FWDC.CON"
To: ALL
Class mates:
Sharon and I have not talked to many of our Brooklyn friends about 9/11.
Sharon did know a chef who died on the 107th floor (she had his kids at
Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn). We had other friends who worked in
those buildings but they either got out or weren't at work that day. We
have many pictures of the towers taken from our roof (affectionately
referred to in Brooklyn as "Tar Beach"). We used to watch the July Fourth
fireworks from up there (the years that we weren't in Peoria for the
fourth).
Like many people that I've heard quoted who left NYC just before the tragedy
we don't gloat over the move and we've felt a bit helpless with respect to
our friends who remained.
I went to Ground Zero and Park Slope last week for the first time since July
of 2000. It was eerie. The skyline was the biggest shock to me (as viewed
from the New Jersey Turnpike). Sharon and I never thought the World Trade
Towers were great artistic pieces; however, they grew on us and were such a
central focus of downtown Manhattan. I commuted twice per day through that
complex during the entire '90s. Having walked around the bomb damage in
1993 and seeing how well the towers took that bashing I was completely
shocked to see the towers fall.
Guiliani (sp?) and many of the design engineers involved in the building had
made a big deal about how strongly built the towers were back in 1993. I
think that this is why the commentators on live television the morning of
September 11th couldn't believe the towers were collapsing any more than I
could. Now we know all about jet fuel, heat, and the effect on steel
structures.
Our last year in NYC my wife Sharon worked in one of the buildings directly
south of the south tower (across a parking lot). Her view was dominated by
the south tower. Her building is still standing but uninhabited. A very
large (and tall), more modern building next to hers is destined to be
brought down.
I was at Ground Zero around 10:00 PM (a week ago this past Wednesday) and
the site looked like a baseball stadium sunk into the ground (due to the
lights). The memorials at the base of the hill at St. Paul's Chapel
graveyard are overwhelming.
Would Fraulein Ziggler say "Such is life" to this (Auf Deautsch, bitte!)?
Dave Byrkit