#9/11 Memorial NYC

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

...memory lane ...

📷 mine

[scrollsofhumanlife]

A prayer card in honor of Waleska "Tatita" Martinez and the cover page of a tribute written by her niece Sheila Martinez

Waleska was born October 15 1963 in Santurce, Puerto Rico

New York, NY

[patriciastrike]

9/11 Memorial, New York City

[istandonsnowpiles]

PAC NYC and The Oculus

[tilbageidanmark]

THE WORLD YOU WERE BORN IN NO LONGER EXISTS

[fangirlforthewin]

Just thought the cloudy day made for some really fun pictures.

[found-in-nomadland]

Ground Zero, New York City, NY

[lea-da-ibra]

It seems no one wants to look up anymore.

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

... never forget ...

📷 mine

[scrollsofhumanlife]

A 2006 US postage stamp in honor of Waleska "Tatita" Martinez

Born October 15 1963 in Santurce, Puerto Rico

New York, NY

[icubuzz]

This is the I beam that was found in the debris on its side by fireman and rescue workers. It was as shown in the shape of a cross. The first responders and firefighters took it as a sign from the Lord. Only the Lord could make order out of chaos and art from a disaster. A hurricane does not leave sculptures in its wake. Remember the people and the stories from 9/11/2001. Tell your children. Refuse to forget.

[istandonsnowpiles]

One World Trade Center

[glittiris]

"No Day Shall Erase You from the Memory of Time" - Virgil

This weekend I decided to partake in some mother-daughter bonding by visiting the 9/11 Memorial Museum. I’ve always been interested in this tragedy because it feels very personal to me even though I wasn’t there to witness it. The majority of my family and people who were adopted into my family through religion (God parents/God family) lived in New York at the time and were there to experience it up close to the point that some are a part of the group that developed respiratory problems. My aunt was pregnant during the attacks and gave birth prematurely because of all the running and stress she had to endure. My mother was on the train when the subway service was suspended and when she left the station, she saw the smoke and moments later the North tower collapsed. People were running in her direction, and she followed, and never looked back to see the smoke swallowing the city. She had to walk for 10 hours to meet up with my father, then his sister and then head home. She was wearing her favorite boots on 9/11 and after experiencing the hell that was that day, she threw them away because she didn’t want to wear them ever again. I feel claustrophobic being surrounded by all the skyscrapers in the city. I don’t like that most of them are glass, I don’t like that they’re oddly shaped and there’s no escaping them because they’re everywhere. It makes me nervous and learning about 9/11 when I was younger just gave me more reason to be afraid, and I think that’s interesting. The world was in that moment then and the world is still feeling that moment in a variety of ways today. My mother agreed to take me 23 years into her past and said, “maybe it’s time.” 

The museum got more intense as we went further down into the foundation of what was once World Trade over two decades ago. It was a very heavy experience both physically and emotionally, but thankfully they don’t hit you all at once with the really disturbing stuff. It’s a gradual transition from the facts to the stuff you might’ve not even wanted to know or see, but you’re seeing it and it’s tough. At the very bottom of the museum is a giant wall called a “slurry wall” that once served the purpose of keeping the Hudson River out of the basement levels of the twin towers. It smelt bad and made my throat very dry being next to it. My mother says that it smelt like that and smoke for years. It’s shocking that the smell is still down there, but it makes sense because we were literally in Ground Zero. 

There were many rooms where you could watch programs projected on the walls. The only one that was somewhat enjoyable was a program explaining what was so grand about the World Trade Center. People were very giddy to say they worked in or even near World Trade. My mom was one of those people who were always so proud to say she worked near World Trade and her law firm worked with offices that were located inside the towers. The program was exciting and made me feel like I was learning about a building I could go visit right now. It was a good break from the rest of the museum. I learned that skyscrapers sway! I hate that. I hate everything about that. That’s scary to me and I never want to be in a building that sways. I don’t care that swaying equals a stronger building. I’m icked out by that. I never knew that the elevator was fast, and I thought it would take forever to get to the top. People were very excited about the elevators too and a man in the program described his feelings towards it as a “rush.” People took so much pride in these towers 

Another thing I thought was neat, were these audio things that kind of felt like house phones. They either had voice mails from people on the planes or in the towers, or you could listen to people involved in the cleanup/rescue. You hold a long speaker up to your ear and you listen to the voice mail as if you’re the person it’s for. I can’t imagine being the loved one who received those messages. Most of these personal moments you’re let in on are in areas where photos are strictly prohibited out of respect for the grieving, so I have nothing to show. 

The entire museum is built around the rubble, so framing the different exhibits is what is left of the structural support for the towers. These are called box columns and I think this is the only one in the museum. The rest are just outlines of where the box columns once were. In the box column rubble, I spotted a footprint.

There were beautiful photos on the walls of a long walkway taken from in the rubble of the collapsed towers. I say beautiful because the composition and colors really wowed me. The quality makes it seem like these photos were taken today. I really wonder how they managed to do that or if I’m just downplaying what the cameras of the 2000s were capable of. I can’t explain why I find these pictures beautiful. My mother agrees though, so I'm not just a freak with a fetish for tragedy. There’s just something about them. 

The whole time we were there, my mom was trying not to cry, but that all changed when we got to the section of the museum with the truly disturbing parts of the tragedy. Videos of people trying to escape the tsunami of debris, people covered in blood, ash and burns, people jumping from the towers because it was either burn to death or have 10 seconds of fresh air before your demise and so much more. The first disturbing room we visited showed photos taken of people jumping out of the windows and my mother just broke down. She had never seen any photos of people falling before. She knew the photos existed, but never wanted to see them. She had her hand over her mouth and then she covered her whole face, and I felt bad that she had to see those pictures. Luckily there were tissues right outside the room and she was able to clean herself up. Honestly, seeing people jumping to their deaths was the worst thing to see in the museum and nothing else there compares to how heart wrenching that is. These people had no way to escape because the stairs they would’ve taken in the event of an emergency were blown out by the plane. The flames were unbearable, the smoke was toxic, and many firefighters knew that this would be their last shift going into those buildings. It’s scary to think about because this could be anyone and it could even be you someday. These people obviously didn’t go to work thinking it would be their last day on earth and everyone was so confused. Some jumped holding hands and embracing co-workers, some jumped facing the blue sky and some spiraled and flailed out of control as they dropped. It’s so shocking and a lot to take in. That was enough for us, and we decided to conclude our visit to the museum.

We visited the memorial pools. I heard that the waterfall drowns out the sound of the city and it actually does! It was calming and what we needed after all that. 

We went to shake shack afterwards and I had the best burger of my life. The bourbon bacon jam. It was sweet, tangy and I want another one right now. I recommend it. Go have it right now. 

[deezyvsthewrld]

🏙️🌆🌃

[travelwithria]

New York City 🗽

New York City was the trip of a lifetime for me. I had always wanted to visit this lovely city since I was a child. Like most millennials I grew up watching films such as Home Alone 2, 13 Going on 30 and The Wild who remembers that one particular scene in the wild when they're traveling in a truck through times square 🤣 I really do love that scene. I was inspired, and had dreams of being able to visit this magical city one day. I have had the privilege of visiting NYC two times so far and hope to visit many more times. I went pre pandemic and post pandemic, these are the pictures that I took while I was there. Please comment, share and support. 😊🤍✨

[thatwritererinoriordan]

In which Jennifer visits the 9/11 and Triangle Shirtwaist Fire memorials