ASHAMED

For those of us who were eyewitnesses and lived for several months under the protection of the U.S. Military, visiting Ground Zero is less appealing than root canal work.

I still shiver a bit when I pass the corner in front of my apartment building where once stood a tank, stationed for several months to protect the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.

I won't post the endless photos I took from my rooftop terrace on that traumatic morning as lower Manhattan burned and the Twin Towers collapsed.  But I will post some new photos--important photos.

Several days ago, I felt the need to once again bear witness to the results of the 2001 attack.  I hopped on the E Train and was at the World Trade Center Station within 10 minutes.

Camera in hand, I headed up the subway stairs to the construction site.

I was surprised and annoyed to discover that the entire basin is shrouded in industrial webbing, concrete barricades and high plywood walls.  Cops wearing special "Pedestrian Safety" jackets keep the pedestrians away from the actual site--which is almost completely hidden from public view.

My first reaction was shock that security was still so aggressive after almost a decade.

But I was not comfortable with this thought.  Something else was clearly afoot.

I soon came to realize that this had nothing at all to do with security.

This was all about shame and embarrassment. 

The site is hidden not because of security but because we are--as a society--ashamed of ourselves. 

The WTC attack was used as an excuse by a corrupt and petty administration to wage an oil war.  Those who attacked us remain free and victorious, despite almost 5,000 fallen American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But even worse, after 8 long years, the rebuilding of a major swath of Manhattan Island remains stalled by political incompetence, corporate greed and the pathological egotism of vain and selfish civic "leaders" and businessmen.

Since 2001, some 150 new buildings, two spectacular new Major League sports stadiums, a completely new 4 mile-long Hudson River waterfront park and a quarter mile long High Line Park have seen completion in New York City--but the workers at the World Trade Center basin have yet to finish even the foundation.

I'm also reminded of the Empire State Building, a product of the Great Depression, this towering icon went from groundbreaking to grand opening in just under 14 months.

To say the least, it is embarrassing.  But in truth, this persistent hole--still romantically called Ground Zero--is a glaring monument to American failure and well worth hiding behind walls, screens and barricades.

With little effort I was able to enter a perimeter office building and make my way to a third floor window where I was able see over the security walls with my rocket launcher camera in hand.

 

To cheer myself up I then left the building and turned my camera on some hot guys of Wall Street.

 

Comments

[Andrew]

The last picture reminds me of Mr. Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin.

Rocket launcher! haha--I'm sure la policiá were in a tizzy that you wanted to take pictures.

I feel like the sense of shame you are referring to is that of a scar. The physical scar on the land and the emotional one in NY's heart.