Journeys of the Questress - WTC
Remembering 9/11 in the year of COVID-19
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The Way it Was - 1
The Way it Was - 2
Sept 19 - When Tomorrow Never Comes
Sept 27 - Oral Interpretation
Oct 5 - A Mile of Tears - Part 1
Oct 5 - A Mile of Tears - Part 2
Oct 5 - A Mile of Tears - Part 3
Oct 11 - Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Oct 28 - Each Day I Search the Rubble
Nov 12 - When Spires Fall
Nov 19 - 911 The Rape of America
Dec 14 - Just A Thought
Dec 18 - A Sense of Place
Feb 2 - Final Pass to the End Zone
March 3 - Sitting on the Edge
March 14- Do You Still Remember
March 20 - Virtual Walk-Through
March 25 - When Will It End - Part 1
March 25 - When Will It End - Part 2
April 1 - Towers of Light
May 14 - View From Above
May 30 - Tunnel At the End of the Light
May 31 - Seventeen Hundred
Aug 9 - From the Margins Erased
Aug 30 - The Train Doesn't Stop There Anymore
Sept 9 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark
Sept 10 - Just An Anniversary
Sept 12 - September Holds Great Promise
Literary Reflections
Rebirth and Resurrection
The Winter Garden Springs To Life
The Winter Garden Springs To Life - con't
Underpass to the Past
Rebuilding Ground Zero
Under Hallowed Ground
Borders
Yahrzeit
What Will Fill the Void?
I Submit a Design
Footprints in the Dust
My Memorial Design Submission
My Memorial Design - Drawings
New Path Train Station
Path Station Tour
May We Never Forget
That Which Surives
War Without End
4th Anniversary
Footprints in the Dust
Void
I Miss 9/11
Time Comes Between Us
A Thousand Cranes
Fear Factor
Love Letters On The Wall
Empty Chairs
Sitting on the Edge of Forever
Walking the Perimeter of Emptiness
A Counting of Days
For Friends Absent But Not Forgotten
Stigmata
The Memory Keeper's Promise
Unbreak My Heart
Standing On The Edge Of Forever
Both Sides Now
A Memory In Time
The Gravity of Loss
The Survivors Rise Up
Flowers Will Bloom
The Fire Within Us
The Sentinel
Stronger Than The Storm
Between the Candle and the Stars
Ghosts
A Journey Through Remembrance
Canticle of Remembrance
Beyond the Crucible of Chaos
Journey Through Remembrance project
What See We Now
Forever In Our Hearts
Keeping the Flame Alive
The Rebuilding of Ground Zero continues
Does Anyone Care Anymore?
Where Is Our Story Teller of Pain
At Memory's Edge
Dust Thou Art and to Dust Thou Shalt Return
7x7x70
Heroes Never Die
The Flame Inside Our Hearts
The Year of the Heroes of 9/11
Déjà Vu
Remembering 9/11 in the year of COVID-19
Coronavirus Decimates Ailing Sept. 11 Responders
Touching From a Distance
That Which Survives 20 years later
2021 - 20 years later
Memories of Terror Return
Putin's Name Covered Over On Teardrop Memorial
The 9/11 Tribute Museum Closes
When Memories Fade Away
St. Nicholas at Ground Z is rebuilt
The Blue Wall of the Unidentified Victims
When Time Calls Your Name
When Art Gets It All Wrong
9/11 victims that America wants to forget
Sing a Song of Remembrance
Words of Remembrance

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Remembering 9/11 in the year of COVID-19

Just as all aspects of our lives were impacted by the pandemic so was this 19th year after 9/11. Ground Zero was shut down to visitors, there was a huge controversy over whether the Tribute in Light was to be set up or the reading of the names occur, and the Greek Orthodox Church on the site that was being rebuilt had its progress halted.

 

Tribute in Light and Reading of Names were to be cancelled

 

Down to the wire in August a horrible controversy arose over two important aspects of remembering 9/11: Was the Tribute in Light to be set up this year, were there going to be any reading of names? Both of these memorial events are of great importance to those who experienced 9/11 in 2001, especially to the individuals who lost loved ones. This controversy arose where the health concerns surrounding the pandemic intersected with the desires of individuals to honor those lost, “to never forget”.

This August, the September 11 Memorial & Museum said it wouldn't install the Tribute in Light this year due to concerns surrounding the pandemic. The decision sparked outrage. Alice Greenwald, the head of the 9/11 Museum & Memorial justified the decision, saying “Trying to figure out, in a time of pandemic, how we would be able to produce the Tribute in Lights safely was really a priority consideration…the real answer is that we were getting repeated expressions of concern from the expert technical production team that puts this magnificent work of art together each and every year.” It takes 40 workers to ensure all 88, 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs, are installed properly and then light up.

NY’s Governor Coumo jumped in pledging the state would provide health and safety personnel and supervision to ensure the team working on the tribute follows best practices during the pandemic. "The virus has taken so much and so many. But now the tribute will continue," Gov. Cuomo wrote on Twitter. His announcement came one day after The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a non-profit honoring military and first responders, stepped in saying they would create a Tribute in Light. On assurance from Governor Coumo, Ms. Greenwald said the 9/11 Museum & Memorial will indeed proceed with the installation this year.

 

As to the reading of names ceremony being canceled, the museum decided that on Sept. 11 it would feature pre-recorded audio of family members reading the names of loved ones, instead of the live readings, plus limit attendance at Ground Zero. However, pandemic concerns did not deter the Tunnel to Towers Foundation from planning to feature live readings in a separate, simultaneous event a short walk from the Ground Zero memorial at the corner of Liberty and Church streets, next to Zuccotti Park — where the victims’ names were read aloud before the ceremony was moved to the 9/11 memorial in 2014.

Ground Zero Memorial Waterfalls shut off

From the start, the Covid-19 pandemic also impacted Ground Zero. When Governor Coumo announced a shut down of all businesses and stay at home orders with no public gatherings allowed, the memorial and the museum had to close on March 13. The water flowing into the pools were turned off except for maintenance and the area was roped off to keep people away from the panels of names listing those lost in the attacks. On July 4th, Ground Zero was reopened to the public and the waterfalls turned on. This was only the second time in its 9 year history that Ground Zero and the Memorial pools were shuttered. The first was before hurricane Sandy was to hit and then afterward as the entire memorial and Ground Zero was flooded.

Greek Orthodox Church resumes construction

 

For almost 20 years since the 9/11 terror attacks,  St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lower Manhattan on the perimeter of Ground Zero, has tried to rebuild.

 

Named for the patron saint of sailors, the original St. Nicholas opened its doors on Cedar Street in 1916, quickly becoming the first stopping point for Greek immigrants after they left Ellis Island.

It served the community for 85 years, retaining a quaint, old-world charm as skyscrapers rose around it.

When the South Tower of the World Trade Center came crashing down on New York’s darkest day, it took St. Nicholas with it. Rebuilding began but efforts unfolded in fits and starts, hamstrung by numerous issues.

By January 2020, the church sat half-finished,and untouched for two years with the coffers bare. Then, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and PA head Rick Cotton met with Archbishop Elpidophoros, Father Alex Karloutsos and the leaders of The Friends of St. Nicholas — Psaros, Chairman Dennis Mehiel and vice-chairman John Catsimatidis — and resolved to get the project done.

 

After a massive fundraising drive that, in just 90 days, amassed the $45 million necessary to complete the project, with construction to resume in the Spring. Then the pandemic hit grounding all non-essential construction projects statewide to a halt for months. 

 

On Mon Aug 3 construction will finally resume with the goal of completion in 2021on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.