September 11, 2010

Remembering 9/11

It's a beautiful day in the Village today, just as it was exactly nine years ago. The good weather brought strollers out in force Here are a few 9/11-related remembrances I spotted. This giant flag on the wall of the now-closed St. Vincent's on 7th Avenue is accompanied by a sign that reads:

Although we are gone
The Family of St. Vincent's
Will Never Forget
9/11/01


It's a reminder of the role the hospital played in administering to the wounded that day, and of the hole in trauma, cardiac, crisis and emergency services left by its closing.

Like most pedestrians, I tend to walk right by the Tiles for America on 7th Avenue and Greenwich Avenue, but stopped today to take a closer look. The tiles are fading, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation is trying to save them.





In front of Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square, this sign responded to the recent Koran-burning story and  critics of the proposed community center and mosque near Ground Zero, quoting George W. Bush:


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7 comments:

  1. Vanessa11/9/10 4:16 PM

    Thanks for this, Nancy. We all need to remember 9/11 every year.

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  2. Terril11/9/10 5:25 PM

    I was in Frankfurt, Germany when this happened. My strongest memory is being at Frankfurt's airport a few days later, interviewing passengers on the day flights resumed to the U.S. All at once people started slowing down, stopped talking and stood still in place. I only heard the buzzing of printers and an occasional baby. It was the one minute of silence observed across Europe.

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  3. Nancy Matsumot12/9/10 12:21 AM

    Thanks, Vanessa and Terril. I was in Toronto, driving back from Palmerston public school, when I heard the news on the radio that a plane had crashed into the twin towers. It was surreal to watch it unfold on tv and think that we had just moved from our apartment blocks away from ground zero a month before.

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  4. Michelle14/9/10 9:12 AM

    Thank you, Nancy, for taking this walk for those of us who are far away, for noticing things so well, and for showing them to us. Lots of love from Boston ... M

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  5. Nancy Matsumot15/9/10 8:50 PM

    Thank you, Michelle! xox, N.

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  6. Jill9/9/11 6:20 AM

    Thank you for posting pictures of the tiles. I didn't know they were still there. We haven't lived in NYC since 2004, but I had been wondering about that subtle tribute.

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  7. Nancy Matsumot9/9/11 8:12 AM

    Hi Jill,

    Thanks for your comment. Just last weekend I was walking by the corner of Greenwich and 7th Avenues, and saw volunteers reinstalling the tiles after Hurricane Irene passed through the Village. You can read about that here: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110903/greenwich-village-soho/village-angels-hang-911-tiles-removed-for-hurricane-irene.

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