By: Anisa Choudhury and Deborah Robinson
Editor’s Note: On Election Day, 20 writers from the MCSM Rampage were able to visit the One World Observatory. The trip was made possible thanks to our principal Mr. Jimenez who was kind enough to join us on the trip and treat us to lunch afterwards. Here is what some of our writers thought of the trip.
Anisa’s Take: Last week, the writers of the MCSM Rampage were given the opportunity to visit the One World Observatory in the World Trade Center and learn a little about what happened and how exactly the building came to be. The planning of the memorial site had started immediately after the aftermath of the attacks. There was a competition held to determine who would be designing the memorial and the winner, Michael Arad, envisioned two square pool-like-waterfalls where each Twin Tower was originally located surrounded by trees. Engraved into the stone of the pools are the names of all the people we lost in the city’s greatest tragedy. Construction of the memorial and museum began in August of 2006. The memorial was able to be viewed by the public for the first time on September 12, 2011 while the museum took a bit longer and was open to the public on the 21st of May 2014.
The pools outside the One World Trade Center/
After meeting with everyone at the pool closest to the museum, we descended into the building. Walking into the building was unusual because the first thing you did was take an escalator down to the base of the building. Normally buildings have some sort of attraction on the main floor or you take an escalator up, not down. After you reach the base, you have to wait in a line (that moves surprisingly fast) and go through a metal detector.
You then walk through what I like to call, tunnels, made from the bedrock of the structure and reach the elevators that skyrocket you to the very top of the building. On the walls of the elevator were projections showing how the city of New York was transformed into what we now see. Starting off as a plain of grassland and slowly being built up into the towering buildings we have now, you can see how much we have grown as not only individual human beings but also as a society.
As you get off the elevator, you are greeted by a small but spacious theater area where a short clip of the different parts of New York at different times of the day is shown and workers at the Observatory talk about how we have advanced as a city. As time went on, we got stronger as a community of people. After the end of the short clip, the screen shielding us from the outside world was lifted and the beams of sunlight flooded in through the room allowing us to lay our eyes on the beauty that is New York City.
Views from the Observatory.
When the screen is brought back down, you are escorted to the observation deck where you are able to see the whole city. The room is in the shape of a circle with humongous windows surrounding the whole place which allows you to see not just NYC, but also New Jersey, Long Island, Staten Island, Ellis Island, etc. It feels as if you are in a tower overlooking the entire NYC kingdom.
Leaving the building was just as exciting as getting into it. When we got on the elevator this time, the projection showed the elevator, the same one we were on, flying out of the building and plummeting down to the ground, yet still landing safely. As entertaining as it was for me, I would recommend that people with a fear of heights have their eyes closed.
Deborah’s Take:
Before going on the trip, I thought that we would be going to the 9/11 Memorial Museum. I know how to read, and I know it said World Trade Center, but I was expecting a museum with artifacts of the 9/11 attacks. Also I was expecting there to be people who would be talking about the attacks and the families that were affected. I thought maybe the families would be there to talk about the struggles they went through when their loved ones passed during these gruesome attacks. I expected this because outside of the World Trade Center, directly surrounding the fountain, there were many names of people who died engraved into the rock. The thing that really caught my eye was that a woman and her unborn baby died. Although I don’t know anyone who died during the attacks, seeing the amount of victims made me feel so sad. I know that in school they tell you how many people died, but actually seeing the amount of names made me realize how terrible the attacks were and how many people either fell victim or were greatly affected
While there, we were able to view the landscape of New York City. We walked through this passageway that had the bedrock layer, which I believe is the foundation of New York City. The foundation of NYC allows workers to build such tall buildings. In other places, such as San Francisco, there aren’t very tall buildings because their foundation doesn’t allow tall buildings and if tall buildings were to be built there, they would collapse.
There was this elevator that showed really cool images of New York (I was kinda scared because the elevator was shaking a lot and it was going up too fast – it would go from the 30th floor to the 90th floor in seconds).
Directly after that “traumatizing” elevator ride, we were directed to this place where they were showing a video of New York. Basically the video was talking about how great a city New York is and it showed images that were taken at different times. Some images were taken at night, so it would display all the lights in buildings and houses, etc. This represents why New York is often called the city that never sleeps. The pictures illustrated that at whatever time of night or day, New Yorkers are always awake and working or doing whatever. Also there were pictures that were pre- and post-9/11. This symbolized that after the terrorist attack, New York is still a strong city and will remain a strong city no matter what.
After the video we went to the 106th floor to the 360° view of New York. When I first heard 360° view I thought we were going to be standing in a room with a transparent floor and the city would be below us. But that wasn’t the case. Instead we were lead to a circular room with windows covering the whole wall. The view wasn’t only of New York, however. From all the way up there, you could see New Jersey, Long Island, Staten Island, and even Ellis Island. From looking down all the way to street level I realized how far up we where and how easy it would be to die. Although I was scared that the building could fall over at any minute, I felt free looking over at all the little people.
The view was amazing. You could see far off into the distance and it felt great. Also looking out at all the other buildings I realized that the Empire State Building is not the tallest building in New York. I used to think it was although I never really thought to look it up to clarify. From the 106th floor I could see right over the Empire State Building. Looking at all the buildings that were directly next to the World Trade Center, I felt a little scared and concerned. From that high level it looked like the other buildings were slanted. But then I thought, why would the buildings be slanted? That’s impossible. Then I thought that the WTC was slanted and I was paranoid that the building was going to fall over. Because the building was so tall, it made me feel like it was more likely to fall over. So the whole trip, I was a mix of confused, paranoid, and scared, but overall I had a good time.
It was a day off in the middle of the week and instead of sleeping in – like most people were doing – I was spending it waking up early to go all the way downtown, but in the end it paid off. Even though I spent most of my morning cold and tired because of how early we had to be there to wait for others, I’m glad I went on that trip because even though I grew up in New York, and I have lived here all my life, I feel like I learned something from just seeing a few pictures and looking out at the view from atop. I walk pass the World Trade Center almost every week and I’ve never thought of going. I would definitely go again and I recommend anyone who is interested to go.
The Rampage at the Observatory.