New Audio Collection Unveiled at WTC Memorial Museum Site

The World Trade Center Memorial Museum preview site (20 Vesey Street) is unveiling an audio collection today, consisting of almost 600 recordings from families and friends of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Stories from first responders are also included.
Visitors can both hear those stories and also record their own recollections and contributions in a separate booth. Some of these memories will become part of the Museum’s permanent collection. Visitors can also hear stories from people who actually witnessed the attacks. The actual museum is set to open on September 11, 2012. It will offer artifacts ranging from parts of the original towers to tributes left for the victims.
The memorial is slated to open earlier.
The recordings are meant to serve as a resource for those who want more information about the attacks, as well as a way to honor the victims. The site is free and open to the public; it’s located across from the site of the permanent memorial. Visitors can go to national911memorial.org for more information. The web site gives up-to-date information about the progress of the memorial as well as the history and impact of the attacks.
In other news about the Memorial, two reflecting pools for the September 11 National Memorial at the World Trade Center site have been totally framed in steel, meaning that another phase has been completed. When the Memorial is complete, it will contain 8,100 tons of steel. The pools, which sit in the footprints of the original towers, will pump 52,00 gallons of recycled water every minute.
The Memorial Plaza will also contain 400 oak trees surrounding the pools.

Freedom Tower Subway Restaurant Goes to New Heights

You’ve heard of meals on wheels and maybe even revolving restaurants. But we bet this is the first time you’ve heard of a New York restaurant that rises as its patrons do.
The restaurant in question is Subway; it’s been designed to feed the workers building the Freedom Tower on the site of the former World Trade Center. The Subway sandwich shop is attached to a lift on a hydraulic jack--the jack moves it up as each floor is completed. It allows the workers to grab lunch without having to descend, not an easy feat. (The full Subway menu, including the ever-popular $5 foot-long sandwich, is available.) The yellow concession trailer flies an American flag, and also boasts windows.
A bathroom and some offices for the project managers have also been hoisted above street level.
The 200-foot base of the building should be finished by February 2010; after that, a floor a month is expected to be added.
Let’s hope they have a lot of sandwich toppings and varieties of chips available—only five floors have been built so far, out of 105. Windows on the World, the famous restaurant that perched near the top of the World Trade Center, was approximately that height. The Freedom Tower is supposed to be finished in 2013, and will rise to 1,776 feet, including a spire.

USS New York Has Docked At Its Namesake

Utilizing 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center, the USS New York steamed into New York on Monday, paused at the World Trade Center site, and finally docked in midtown Manhattan.
The 684-foot ship (an amphibious assault dock, a kind of warship, for those who wish to be specific) will spend the week in New York before being officially commissioned on Saturday. The steel from the Twin Towers was welded into her bow after the attacks of September 11, 2001. She’s here for a full military commissioning ceremony on November 7 before entering active service with the US Navy. Her homeport will be in Norfolk, VA.
For information on public visits, check out ussny.org., where you can also find other info. and cool facts about the ship.
Oh, and if you feel the urge to do something nice for the ship, to give a little something to her--for whatever reason—the ship has its own Tiffany registry.
Yes, really.
The wish list includes a sterling silver Chippendale tray (listed at $2,868.75); a Queen Anne teapot ($4,250) and, for penny pinchers, a $173.75 Hampton fish knife. What a deal!
Don’t worry--she does come with something of a dowry, including about 15 serving pieces passed on from the last USS New York, commissioned in 1911.
And if that’s more than you gave your best friend for her wedding, well, you can always just go peek at her in the harbor.

Sept. 11 Commemorated with Memorial Events

Americans across the country gather today to remember the events of September 11, 2001. In New York City, the names of all the victims of the terrorist attacks were read aloud this morning, and four moments of silence were observed: two at the times the planes hit the towers of the World Trade Center, and two when the towers fell.
Tonight, two searchlights will be turned on at 6:00 PM for the “Tower of Light,” and remain lit, pointing upward, until 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. Commemorating the two towers, the lights will remain static.
For Americans who want something concrete to do, September 11 was recently designated a day of National Service and Remembrance; everyone is being urged to find ways to get out and help in their communities.
At Trinity Church on Wall Street, an all-night vigil and walk was held; a service will take place this afternoon starting at 12:30 PM.
In addition, a number of other September 11 initiatives are underway. The Port Authority is offering World Trade Center debris to be used in memorials around the country--about 2,000 pieces are available; they are currently being stored at JFK airport.
And a new website (911history.org) is asking for personal stories about the attacks to be featured as part of a series of remembrances at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, slated to open in 2012. Visitors will descend 70 feet under Ground Zero, where they can view images of the attacks and hear stories from families and friends of the victims.
Because many of the images will be very graphic, ranging from people jumping out of the towers to human remains, a warning will be in place for visitors.