Thursday, April 22, 2004
NOW FOR THE REAL THING, MATE.
Yesterday I spoke with a colleague who informed me that a lot of people in our office do not like commuting downtown.
We are located at Federal Reserve Plaza, across the street from- you guessed it- the Federal Reserve. Maiden Lane and Nassau Street. Personally, I like it down here. The commute is very easy from downtown Jersey City. The streets are interesting and narrow. Many of them get closed off during lunch, and people are free to use the entire area as one big promenade.
Ah, but here is the rub. We are a stone’s throw from the open maw of the World Trade Center site. It is to this station that I ride the PATH every morning. For a while it felt very odd. The station layout is almost identical to how it used to be, except that it is “open air”. The light comes pouring in from all sides, with strategically-placed signage designed to distract from the massive construction going on around the station.
Every morning, as we pull in, I see 90 West Street, the building I was working in prior to 9/11. It is the only building in the area that still looks ragged. This is because it is an historic landmark and, as such, its fate hung in the balance for a long time. To restore the building to its former neo-gothic glory will require more money than building something from scratch. Only recently was it decided that 90 West would be rehabilitated into luxury lofts. Now that’s weird to me. People died in the elevators and in other spots throughout the building. I guess if we ceased building where people have died, we wouldn’t have anywhere to put ourselves. Still, that spooks me.
But surprisingly, it does not spook me to go into the WTC site every morning. Oh, it did at first, but now I feel like it is an act of defiance and overcoming fear. I will not be intimidated! Then again, I was not actually there on the morning of 9/11. I only made it as far as Exchange Place on the Jersey side before my train was stopped. Rationally, I am grateful that I was spared the horror close up. However I got a spectacular view of the second plane going into Tower 2. Rational mind notwithstanding, I still harbor guilt on some level that I should have been there. I should have been at 90 West helping my friends escape. Maybe that’s why I don’t mind coming here every day. Maybe I’m paying penance.
Yesterday I spoke with a colleague who informed me that a lot of people in our office do not like commuting downtown.
We are located at Federal Reserve Plaza, across the street from- you guessed it- the Federal Reserve. Maiden Lane and Nassau Street. Personally, I like it down here. The commute is very easy from downtown Jersey City. The streets are interesting and narrow. Many of them get closed off during lunch, and people are free to use the entire area as one big promenade.
Ah, but here is the rub. We are a stone’s throw from the open maw of the World Trade Center site. It is to this station that I ride the PATH every morning. For a while it felt very odd. The station layout is almost identical to how it used to be, except that it is “open air”. The light comes pouring in from all sides, with strategically-placed signage designed to distract from the massive construction going on around the station.
Every morning, as we pull in, I see 90 West Street, the building I was working in prior to 9/11. It is the only building in the area that still looks ragged. This is because it is an historic landmark and, as such, its fate hung in the balance for a long time. To restore the building to its former neo-gothic glory will require more money than building something from scratch. Only recently was it decided that 90 West would be rehabilitated into luxury lofts. Now that’s weird to me. People died in the elevators and in other spots throughout the building. I guess if we ceased building where people have died, we wouldn’t have anywhere to put ourselves. Still, that spooks me.
But surprisingly, it does not spook me to go into the WTC site every morning. Oh, it did at first, but now I feel like it is an act of defiance and overcoming fear. I will not be intimidated! Then again, I was not actually there on the morning of 9/11. I only made it as far as Exchange Place on the Jersey side before my train was stopped. Rationally, I am grateful that I was spared the horror close up. However I got a spectacular view of the second plane going into Tower 2. Rational mind notwithstanding, I still harbor guilt on some level that I should have been there. I should have been at 90 West helping my friends escape. Maybe that’s why I don’t mind coming here every day. Maybe I’m paying penance.
HIGH TIME.
Some Blogger I turned out to be. Typically overestimating the amount of things I can accomplish in a day, I started the Blog with the best of intentions. How boring am I? Don’t answer that.
Some Blogger I turned out to be. Typically overestimating the amount of things I can accomplish in a day, I started the Blog with the best of intentions. How boring am I? Don’t answer that.
