Part 4: World Trade Center

20180205

The Trip

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

Great tile work in the subway station.  I do not recall this sort of artwork being present when we lived in Manhattan in 2005.

The end of the C line is World Trade Center.  When you exit the station, you enter "The Oculus".  I was grateful for my new ultra-wide-angle lens as it was able to image the bulk of the view.

The Oculus is a very impressive structure that was built as part of the reconstruction after the 9/11 attack.

One World Trade (aka "Freedom Tower") was visible through the roof of the Oculus.

Outside, back in the bitter cold, we could see both the spine of the Oculus and Freedom Tower.

On the other side, looking north, we could see the anti-symmetry of the Oculus.

Freedom Tower is huge and at 1776 feet the tallest structure in the western hemisphere.

Freedom Tower dwarfs the surrounding structures.

At the base of the tower is a memorial fountain dedicated to those who were killed in the 9/11 attack.

The fountain is in part of the crater left when the original World Trade Center towers collapsed and the debris removed.

The fountain is somewhat austere in its simplicity.

It was sobering, if not depressing, to see the names engraved in the walls of the fountain.

We paid our fee, passed through tight security and ascended the 100+ floors to the viewing deck.  From the (inside) viewing area we had a 360 degree view of Manhattan, New Jersey, Staten Island, Brooklyn and beyond.  We had a clear view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  The good news was that the viewing area was inside and shielded from the cold winds.  The bad news was that the windows were covered with a reflective surface that added optical distortion and a seemingly uncorrectable odd color cast to the photos.

With the assistance of a zoom lens on Kathleen's Fuji X-Pro 2 camera we could see the tourists at the Statue of Liberty.

In the distance past Governor's Island we could see the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

On the west side we could see the Hudson River shore of New Jersey that included the Citibank complex and the Colgate Clock.

The New Jersey shore has grown substantially since we lived here in 2005.

To my surprise, we could see our apartment building on Chambers Street.  The building has the single water tower.  It was a great (albeit pricey) place that was close to everything in downtown.

To the north we could see the Hudson River.

On the north side of the tower we could see up the spine of Manhattan.

The Empire State Building was clearly visible as well as Trump Tower.



Also visible were (IMHO) the most interesting and ugliest buildings in Manhattan.  The winner for the ugly award goes to the ATT switching center.  Solid concrete, no windows and rust stained, it is a monument to the huge infrastructure associated with landlines.



To the northeast we could see the East River and the cookie-cutter apartment buildings along its western shore.



To the east were the (R to L) Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges.  The ugly building with the vertical windows is the Metropolitan Detention Center.



To the south we could see Battery Park and Governor's Island.



The old Woolworth Building was also visible.



We were hungry so we left Freedom Tower and headed for sushi.  En route we came upon the interesting statuary at the Brill Building.



Another new building on the skyline.



Before heading back to the hotel we passed a large group of trucks that were setting up for a scene in a movie.  Lots of movies are filmed in the SoHo and Tribeca areas of downtown.  The trucks and trailers house equipment, generators and changing areas for the actors.

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2018, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.