WTC "Towers of Light" (1 Viewer)

[Frank Anderson]

Those pictures are great. If anyone has a link to more please post them.

 

[Ike]

Vince,

I think they are temporary, for a little over a month or so, then they will come up with a permanent replacement. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone.

 

[John Berggren]

The display comes down after April 13. I would have loved it to be permanent, but it just isn't possible. That much light is a huge disruption for the city, and very costly.

Too bad, it's the best memorial I think I've ever seen. Simple. Good.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

John,

I agree that it is a very nice memorial- however it seems a bit impractical to leave on a permanent basis (and I was really hoping that wasn't the plan). While I'm all for honoring the dead, I would imagine even most of the families of those killed in the Trade Towers attack would frown upon the energy expense and "waste" that must be generated by such intense light. I wonder what kind of power it takes to keep those things lit for just one evening.

I hope they come up with a tasteful permanent tribute to the event.

-Vince

 

[Kevin P]

I heard that the lights draw 600,000 watts. I'd hate to see the electric bill!

Thanks for the great pics Dana. I took the "narrow" one and cropped it to create a 800x600 for my desktop.

KJP

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well Dana for 2.3M they still look good. I have the same problem with low light/keeping still. You should see some of my photos from the HTF meet 2 years ago.
Pixels, light sensitivity, possible lenses are all things I'm looking at to improve my photo situation when I can afford it.
Sorry Ric and Tino, clearly you didn't want Dana to go along and I invited him for you by accident.
Isn't the shuttle still up with the Hubble or did it just land? I'd love to see what their view of the "Towers of Light" is like. I wish they were permanent too, but I certainly understand why they can't be.
Still doesn't it feel just a little bit like we just thumbed our noses at terrorism, a big fat raspberry to all of them from downtown USA. We got your tower right here, buddy in wonderful NYC fashion. The US sure did need that carthartic action, IMHO.

 

[RicP]

I heard that the lights draw 600,000 watts. I'd hate to see the electric bill!

Con Edison -- the Electric Company in NYC is donating all of the electricity for the 31 days that the memorial is lit.
The lights are not "on the site" of the old WTC, rather they are approx 2 blocks away -- a little more North. There are 2 banks of lights and if you get within a block of them...they are BRIGHT!.
A very interesting and emotional thing to do is to go to the base of the lights and look up. They seem to go on forever into the sky...just like the Towers did. :frowning:

 

[Dana Fillhart]

Thanks for ALL the compliments, guys. I'm happy I was there to get the pictures.

I'm hoping I'll soon be able to get the same angle as that one photo that has the Towers of Light with the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. THAT is a great shot!

And when I go into the city again (probably tomorrow) I'll try go get a shot of the sphere-memorial down in Battery Park: The sphere that sat in the plaza between the two buildings (where I ate lunch *several* times with friends) was recovered from the site -- damaged but not destroyed -- and has been placed in Battery Park temporarily as a memorial. I'm happy it was retrieved from the site, and I'd like to see it.

 

[Jeff Braddock]

Those pictures are beautiful.

 

[KeithH]

Dana, thanks for sharing these photos. I especially like the middle one. The bottom one is disturbing. :frowning:
The lights are a great tribute. I'd like nothing more than to see the towers rebuilt someday as a lasting tribute, but I don't see it happening.

 

[Don Black]

Are there any articles out there that show pictures of the lights themselves (not just the beams) with technical specs? Thanks.

 

[Scooter]

I will be heading to a location to view the lighting of these in a coupla weeks Have to tell you, watching on TV I was touched...simply beautiful...simply haunting.

BTW...when watching the TV coverage of the lighting...that plane in the background was troubling to me as well..watching appear to fly into the lights.

MAGNIFICENT pictures and rendering!

 

[Dana Fillhart]

Okay, I finally visited the downtown area of Manhattan on Sunday -- the first time I'd been down there since September 10th. It was a very solemn couple of hours, and while there were a lot of people down there, it didn't feel like some sickening tourist attraction. Yes, there were venders all over the streets hawking WTC pictures and Tshirts and whatnot, but those that came to face the destruction were peaceful, respectful, and by and large interested in being there for the right reasons. Me, I went downtown primarily to see the sphere, as I had had lunch several times in the open plaza between the towers with a few friends over the short years I've lived in this area, and I remember that symbol of peace very well, so I wanted to see it; but as I was there, I was drawn over to the area of destruction almost like a magnet, and I just had to see it with my own eyes. It certainly was surreal, seeing nothing left of where I used to walk -- nothing but rubble, bulldozers, ambulances, and police cars. Oh yes, and this one concrete pilon, with an iron beam reaching about 15 feet above its base, crossed near the top by another iron beam about 6 or so feet long. That's a sight you catch immediately if you're viewing from Church Street, and regardless of your own personal beliefs, it certainly makes you pause and reflect.
Here are some of the images I took; if you're interested, most of the others I took can be found in the images/ folder with these and the Towers Of Light in the first post of this thread.