A place to remember: The 9/11 Memorial Site

Having visited the impressive, highly emotional 9/11 Museum last year – a real "must“! – we had the One World Observatory on our agenda this time. We encountered long waiting lines on Saturday morning in front of the building for the 9 am (first) entry (tickets are time-framed), but controls and elevator trip to the top were efficiently arranged and fast.


This observation deck is only open for a couple of months, situated on New York’s highest and new "signature tower“, 1 WTC, occupying the place of the old World Trade Center. It’s one of three observation decks in town - the others are on Rockefeller Center and on Empire State Building. We've been warned that it's rather "disney-like", but this was not true, or, at least not to an unpleasant degree: the space on the top deck is airy and roomy, windows floor to ceiling, views towards the islands and piers and to the North are gorgeous, and the few "show elements" (like a historical projection in the elevator or a video upon arrival on top) are short and instructive.


The new transportation hub for PATH (operating as a hub for trains to New Jersey) is a phantastic building with a wing-like construction (see pic below) and was designed by famous spain architect Santiago Calatrava. It is expected to open in 2016, after a couple of delays. Will see. While 1 WTC tower is rather plain and not really exciting from its architecture (planned by SOM), the PATH building is spectacular, and, also, the architecture of the 9/11 museum (which is underground) - the wavy, low building shown on the photo with the white rose - is an architecturally interesting building.


The footprints of the former twin towers of the World Trade Center form the "heart and soul" of the "9/11 Memorial": huge basins with waterfall-like fountains with engraved stone plates, citing the names of all the victims of the terrorist attacks. A park surrounds the two basins.

To us, it is still depressing to visit here, knowing the old towers well, having been up on top of them, and having visited NYC shortly before and after 9/11/2001. Now the area is packed with tourists; not sure whether all of them know about the real significance of this place and about the fact, that many New Yorkers aren't able yet to visit here because of all the emotions and memories involved. "The Sphere“, a sculpture by German sculptor Fritz Koenig, which was originally standing between the towers, only suffered minor damage on Sept. 11th and is currently set up in Battery Park (see picture). Possibly it will later be moved to the 9/11 site.

The former World Financial Center, closeby, is now called „Brookfield Place“ (named for the new owner). Good thing is, that the formerly pretty inattractive center, which was mostly known for its palm court and its views towards the Hudson River and the marina, was modernized and updated inside. Now a new French Food Hall, called "Le District" was installed, with bakery, butcher store, cheese vendor, café and other deli departments. In addition, a food court with top-notch food stands, "Hudson Eats“, is inviting on the upper floor.



After our visit to the WTC Site, we walked to the southern tip of Manhattan, to Battery Park, with the new SeaGlass Carousel (see pic), the new Pier A, historic Fort Clinton and the popular promenade – one of the best places in town to watch the water traffic at the confluence of East and Hudson River; many tourists are boarding the ferries to Liberty and Ellis Island here.