I wanted to share with all the Dopers (and lurkers as well) a thought that has been getting me through some hard times lately.
As most of us all know, the new WTC plans have been finalized, and CONFOUND ME for losing the link to that page, because I can’t find it. We don’t hear much about it now, because it’s the “environmental impact” stage & other red tape, which will take about a year. The Transit system itself will take 2-3 years to repair. So it will not be until 2008 at least, before the towers start to rise again, with a completion date expected between 2010 and 2013. (I may be off on the dates…sure wish I can find that link.)
So, while I have no idea what the exact year will be, the message is clear: THE WTC WILL RISE AGAIN. And once it’s finished, it will have a dedication ceremony, and I DO have a clear idea on what date they should choose: September 11th.
Anyone with me? Because I believe, this would help change a day remembered with horror and grief, to a day of celebration and healing (at least, to a moderate extent.) I can think of no other day that would work better.
Because, let’s face it…anyone remember the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty? One HELL of a celebration. But the celebration of the new WTC will dwarf that by hundreds of orders of magnitude. Am I right or am I right??
It brings me to tears sometimes, when I think about it. And no matter WHAT date they chose, I so hope to be there in NYC when it happens. (No matter that it will doubtless be broadcast live on TV, on ALL channels, in ALL countries. I wanna be there.)
KGS, this is obviously something that is very important to you. It is a very emotional subject, and I’m aware that it’s almost impossible to discuss without treading on someone’s toes, but…
I just don’t think that it’s going to be the big deal that you do.
September 11, 2001 happened. Building another WTC won’t change that. It won’t prove anything to the terrorists. Sure, the grand opening will be a Media Event. But I don’t think it’ll be “broadcast live on TV, on ALL channels, in ALL countries.” The opening of a new building is very undramatic. It’ll be mentioned on TV newscasts, but it won’t be like the first moon landing (which, momentous though it was, was not broadcast live on all channels in all countries).
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You might want to look into just how big a ratio that is. Hint: it’s really, really big.
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Yes, yes, and indeed, I do get a little bit worried whenever I bring up 9/11, because of the emotional land mines involved.
But I think you are wrong. Well, right and wrong. I’m sure it will be a very emotional moment, perhaps not quite as “celebratory” as I imagined. But it will represent a great moment of healing for NYC, and the country…hell, the world…as a whole.
In any case, we are talking 10 years in the future about an event that happened less than two years ago. How will we feel, then? It’s impossible to say.
I agree with KGS here. I’m more in the mode that it happened and nothing can change that. Building more towers is nice and I don’t have a particular objection to it, but I don’t see any big point being proven. For me - and I hope nobody sees this as a bossing-around type thing; like KGS said, it’s hard not to step on toes - I’d rather healing happen as it happens rather than everything being a milestone or a statement being made.
Speaking as a non-American, I somehow doubt all 192 countries in the world will be broadcasting the event live. I doubt that even America’s allies will devote more than a (lengthy) news spot to it.
Sure, it’ll be great to see. But as far as global events go, we’re not talking about the second coming of Christ here.
Just one person’s opinion, here, but I happen to like the design.
And I hope we have a celebration when it’s complete. Even if it’s not complete then, I hope there’s a ceremony on the 10th anniversary, remembering those whose lives were taken and celebrating how we’ve rebuilt and come back from the horror that was inflicted. In fact, with the as-yet-uncompleted buildings in the background, it might be even more memorable.
Funny, these buildings were not much more than an easily recognizable part of the skyline before 9/11/01; in fact, there were plenty of people who didn’t like their design at all.
I sometomes try to imagine what the reactions would have been if the target had been the Eiffel Tower, or the Sydney Opera House, or some other piece of signature architecture.
True true. I’m young, so I didn’t learn until after the Towers were gone that a lot of people felt they were in fact an ugly eyesore. I have a feeling people are going to be too sensitive to pipe up most of the time, but I bet plenty of people will hate the replacements as well.
I think “remembering 9-11” is the operable phrase here, and nine years from now there will be an awful lot of people who DON’T. Bear in mind, this will be eleven years after the original event. That’s half a generation. People, even people who lost family and friends, will have moved on. Others will be young adults with only vague recollections from their childhoods. It will only be a big deal if the news services make it one and then it will be only artificially big.
Americans as a group aren’t big on looking back. Remember the Bicentennial? There was a little introspective looking at where we had been and where we were going and there were big, silly TV specials but that was about it. Most people were a lot more concerned with inflation and their jobs and the other day-to-day problems that they are normally worried about than they were with their country’s 200th birthday.