A decade and a half after the collapse of the World Trade Center, the site is now a shining and solemn homage to the victims of the 9/11 attack, and the resilience of a city filled with hope for a future filled with peace and prosperity. The five new office towers include the Freedom Tower that reaches the symbolic height of 1,776ft – the number being the year the US Declaration of Rights was signed.
There is also an arts center, a memorial museum, and visitor’s center. The best view of the whole area is from the windows of the World Financial Center across the street: from a public hallway you can see the footprints of the original towers that will be surrounded by fields of trees and filled with pools of water. Names of the victims will be written along the edges of the pools in this tribute called ‘Reflecting Absence.’
To learn more about the site and about 9/11, you can take a 75-minute tour led by people whose lives were involved in the tragedy, such as rescue workers, survivors, and residents of Lower Manhattan. The $10 tours depart from 120 Liberty Street four times a day.
To see moving photos taken by firemen and poignant artifacts from the collapse, experience the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Part of the $24 ticket proceeds go to charities associated with 9/11 and the fire department.
