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A platform for remembering
[Photos: Kristin Grotecloss]
Crowds stand in line in freezing temperatures on Dec. 31, waiting for a chance to get atop a newly constructed observation deck at ground zero in New York City. |
By KRISTIN GROTECLOSS
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 14, 2002
New York tourists, and those with closer connections to ground zero, are drawn to a newly built observation deck.
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NEW YORK -- "This is everybody's pilgrimage," said David Lores, one of the thousands of tourists waiting in line to catch a glimpse of ground zero from one of the observation decks newly constructed where the World Trade Center once stood.
Lores, an industrial engineer visiting from Washington, D.C., was at work a half-mile from the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11. Softly and pensively, he explained that he felt a need to visit ground zero, to pay his respects in person. Other tourists waiting in line echoed his sentiments, ignoring the freezing temperature.
"This cold is nothing compared to what the rescue workers are facing day in and day out," offered another voice in the crowd. "I feel selfish even complaining about the cold."
They waited almost silently, and with reverence. There was no irritation about the estimated three- to four-hour wait to approach the observation deck on Dec. 31, the day after it opened. Three more platforms are being erected, and to ease the crowds the city is now issuing free tickets throughout the day for half-hour viewing sessions.
Memorials to those who died in the World Trade Center attack have sprung up around ground zero.
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"Seeing people come from all over the country, it helps," said John Daddo, a maintenance supervisor for the New York City subway system who was on the job Sept. 11 near the towers. "One of my men radioed me the morning of sept 11 and said, "John, the World Trade Centers just exploded!' Since there is a subway station underneath the World Trade Center, I began dispatching workers to check it out. I even dispatched my own brother. Just a few moments later, I saw the second plane go into the building and I realized that the thing we thought was a bomb was actually a plane. Fortunately, my brother saw the second plane go in and just turned around and left. I thank God every day now that he did. ...
"Sometimes you forget why you are even doing this," Daddo said about continuing to go to work in the midst of such sadness. "When you see these people here, you know why."
People have been flocking from all over the country and the world to show their support and respect, not only to New York, but to the nation.
The New York City fire and police departments and all other recovery workers continue relentlessly in their efforts at ground zero, barely taking a break even to note, let alone celebrate, the recent holiday season. Daddo explained that it is especially difficult for the families of the recovery workers.
"The holidays just didn't feel like the holidays with what was going on. All we wanted to do was get back here to ground zero as soon as possible to keep searching," he said, choking back tears.
"We are still missing a lot of our brothers, and that is our primary objective right now," said Lt. Michael Roy of the Fire Department of New York.
Roy, who has lived in New York for 15 years, was with the Pinellas Park Fire Department for six years before that. The search efforts must continue, Roy said, to bring peace of mind to the families of all the victims. Many recovery workers, firefighters and police officers on duty at the newly opened observation deck said that the most important thing for people to do right now is pray and continue to show their support.
The cards and letters from all over the world really help and are read and appreciated by the recovery personnel and others involved at ground zero, said subway supervisor Daddo, who spoke with great emotion about the events of Sept. 11. (After he was done talking with an X-Team reporter, he was approached by a writer from the New York Daily News. "Sorry, I only give my name to one newspaper a day, and I just did," he said, looking back at the first reporter with a slight smile.)
Nearby business owners are getting back to work slowly, but not easily. Lim Leong Joo, an owner of the Rock N Roll Noodle house, a restaurant that was closed for two months after the attacks, said he had many corporate accounts with businesses on the 62nd through 74th floors of the World Trade Center, and that he lost many friends and business acquaintances. Business has been slow, he said. He has had to cut back his number of employees from 22 to eight, but he is optimistic.
"I know that the new year will be better," said Joo. "I am confident."
From the vantage point of the observation deck, where so much work has been completed and so much is yet to be done, such optimism was both easy and difficult to understand.
"The American public sometimes has a tendency to forget things really quickly," said Chris Diaz, an officer with the New York Police Department who helped with efforts after the attacks and was on duty at the new observation deck. "This is not something that should be forgotten. Ever." -- Kristin Grotecloss, 13, is in the seventh grade at Southside Fundamental Middle School, St. Petersburg.
Here's the rest of today's Xpress
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