Glorious Perspective

The majestic blue beams shown here, which memorialize the World Trade Center buildings, is a simple yet breathtaking sight. Five years after the attacks, I'm here in New York, and I went down to Ground Zero, where many had come down to pay their respects. A bit anticlimactically, I guess, these beams are not projected from the WTC site but a nearby Battery Park parking garage--but they are nonetheless a tremendous symbol.

The area is soon to have quite a few projects spring up, promising by the year 2010, but I've heard some estimates that go to 2011 or 2012. There will be a transportation hub, a memorial, and of course, the Freedom Tower, which I can't help but feel will seem eerily haunted after its opening.

Down on Church Street, which is the main view of the site, a fire truck was parked outside with TVs built in showing all the video shot on 9/11. People were asked to grab a microphone and give their testimonies. I didn't hear very much of it, but it had probably gone on most of the day--one man's testimony concluded, "You don't mess with New York." It was rousing. At least for one day, there was that American spirit reborn.

So, I decided to go back, and look at the blue beams from different perspectives, thinking I'd probably lose the sight as I got further into Queens. I stopped at Roosevelt Island and saw them from afar--still a beautiful sight. I then got back to a familiar bus stop on Queens Boulevard, and to my surprise, I could still see the beam shooting up from behind small buildings and trees. I was amazed, but I wasn't prepared for when I got back home--I could see it from there, too. Shooting high into the darkness, it seems it can be seen from almost anywhere in the NYC area and its boroughs. It was my own personal view, on a quiet street with no one around. I can't help but say, it was a beautiful sight to see.