New York (AP) —Twenty years after a terrorist flew two planes to the World Trade Center, the Ground Zero monument has its own routine, not much different from the tourist destinations of many cities.
Visitors from all over the world come and go. They take selfies while browsing the approximately 3,000 names engraved on the balustrade that surrounds the two reflective pools. Docents offers tours. Tourists glance at the clock, decipher the subway map, and select check boxes. Then they leave.
But for those who live and work near the monument, this place is both a part of their daily routine and a sanctuary. The name of the balustrade is more than just a bronze sculpture, recycling 55,000 gallons of water through a reflective pool is more than a social media post. It always reminds me of that infamous day. It is a graveyard.
Every night, after emptying around the reflective pool around the square, Kevin Hansen puts on blue work gloves, grabs the torch, and repairs and maintains the long bronze balustrade bearing the name of the dead. Start work.
Hansen was eight years old and attended an elementary school in Long Island in 2001.
“I remember everyone getting a call and the teacher didn’t know what was going on, and my parents were coming to school to pick up my child,” he said.
In his work, Hansen says, “It’s important to me.”
“This is a sign that we all got together in 2001. This is a tribute to my patriotism and this (event) is unforgettable,” he said. But it can be overcome. “
New York Police Department police officer Mike Doherty carefully watches the monument, often cleans the parapets, and answers tourist questions while patrolling the beats around the World Trade Center.
“If you see something on the panel, be sure to wipe it off. You’ll see the name, so touch it. Basically, I’m looking at them here. Tell someone who doesn’t know what this is. Please try it. “
“I understand that, sometimes I have a lot of questions, you know:” What is this area? “And I don’t get angry with it. I like to explain to them where the building stands. This is all about. Just to keep the memory of everyone in your life when talking to that unconnected person. “
A 25-year NYPD veteran began as an apprentice electrician working within the World Trade Center before becoming a police officer. He was patrolling in Brooklyn when the plane crashed into the tower.
He sometimes stops at his truck as he is now patrolling the Memorial Square.
“I’m just walking beside or walking in one of the specific security pools and sometimes something will hit me. I’m just starting to stare at the plaza, so I’m composing myself Will take a few minutes. “
“It’s an honor to be here. Anyway, I’m heading towards the end of my career, and I couldn’t think of any better place to end it,” he said.
After moving to Battery Park City in 1998, the World Trade Center was part of Joan Mastropaolo’s daily life. Not only did she live across the street, she worked in the eastern two blocks of the Twin Towers and shopped in the mall below.
“It was the lawn in my front yard. Every time I left the apartment building, I passed through the World Trade Center,” she said.
But on the morning of September 11, 2001, “This vibrant community was gone in 102 minutes.”
“After everything happened here, I was completely locked out of this situation for a few years. I was neither a rescuer nor a volunteer, so I couldn’t access the site and took most of my life from me. I felt like I was done, “she said. “When they started returning trees to this place, for me it was a symbol of returning life to this place.”
Mastropaolo is currently volunteering as an instructor at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, with more than 800 walking tours.
“I’m trying to explain to them the magnitude of the loss.”
Michael Keene has been the owner of O’Hara’s Restaurant and Pub for 35 years. O’Hara, a popular drinking fountain for firefighters and local office workers at a station one block away, was closed for seven months after the attack.
When it resumed, the customer changed and became popular with the crew working at Ground Zero. Keane still offers Guinness to firefighters with a tap. Visitors to the monument also frequently go to his pub.
“It’s special now because it’s hard for people who come to the scene after going through the museum to go through the museum. The people who come here are very respectful. And to the place that was destroyed and rebuilt at that time. There’s something special about it just because you’re there. “
When the square around the reflective pool closes, James Maroon wears waders and headlamps and begins the deliberate task of vacuuming the floor of a huge fountain.
Maroon, an engineer at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, said:
In 2001, Maroon worked on the New York Mercantile Exchange, just west of the World Trade Center. He was crossing West Street when the first plane crashed. Maroon knew many of the brokers who died in the attack.
“When we’re outside, we sometimes see a panel with their names on it. One of them, my daughter Elkin Yuen, was supposed to be born. Now she’s 20 years old. And , I have never met my father. “
For more information on 9.11 Anniversary AP coverage from New York and around the world, visit the following hubs: https://apnews.com/hub/9-11-a-world-changed..
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Ground Zero: Stopping some selfies. Cemetery for others. | Nationwide
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