Ground Zero

[nycgirl]

The City of New York has recently built viewing platforms over the site of the world trade center and set up stations where visitors can get free tickets to the platforms. There has been a lot of controversy over this: Is it right to have public viewing? A lot of people (me included) feel like it is wrong and kind of offensive to have people with no connection to the site (like tourists) come and look at what is really an open grave. I am very interested to hear what other Greek Chatters (especially from other areas) think about the platforms?

[alphachiohmy]

I don;t think you can say that only a certain amount of people were connected to what happened Sept. 11.

We, as a nation, have never seen an event the likes of what happened Sept. 11. Even though, I was not in NYC and am not related to any of the victims, I feel connected to what happened. I think its only natural for everyone in the US and others across the world to be affected by the WTC attacks. I watched the same events unfold on television and felt pain as symbols of everything our country stood for were decimated. My heart aches for all the victims, thousands which I never knew. But by human nature, we are all connected to what happened that day. Our economy is weaker, my friends have lost jobs in the aviation industry, anthrax is a common household word and we all have lost a little security.

That being said, there is a fine line between establishing a respectful memorial and viewing point and selling tickets to a tourist attraction. To turn Ground Zero into an amusement park-type attraction would be disrespectful. Because I am not in NYC, I can't guage for myself as to what is happening there. At the same time, it is only natural for people to be curious about ground zero. To ignore that curiosity and turn people away from seeing the devestation is wrong as well.


Just my opinion.

[PKTSU01]

Yup, this one's personal to me, 5 blocks from my school, a site I walk past everyday. I can't tell ya how sick i get of people filming the wreckage, taking pictures, and all of that. I just want to say to them, "It's a FU$(ING MURDER SITE! Not a tourist attraction!" I know this has affected everyone in different ways and seeing it up close, well, not really sure what seeing it up close will do, short of not have to make you watch the site again on cnn that night. The platforms, i just honestly have no idea who put that one together, cause it disgusts me when people are holding their 5 year old kids down there, like its something the kid should try to make sense of. there isa positive thing about the platforms though, people have written all kinds of messages, from messed up threats to terrorists to messages from fraternities and sororities. I wrote one on behalf of my GLO and actually wrote down the other ones that I saw...AXO, KAT, GPhiB, AGD, AXiD, XO, ZetaPsi, OX, SX, SAE, DKE, OPP, APA, DST, OPB all had messages and tags down there. Oddly enough a lot of them are clustered together, so apparently, we greeks are nice people who are not concerned with only ourselves afterall huh?

[Beef]

I dont think its disrespectful. What happend effected allo of us directly, in one way or another. I doubt anyone would say "EWW I am so excited to see the WTC site today". To be honest, I couldnt begin to imagine what that place looks like, Only seeing clips from TV certainly doesnt do it justice. People just want to see.

[carnation]

I have mixed feelings. On one side, it does seem disrespectful; on the other hand, no one seems to have a problem with going out to the Pearl Harbor Memorial-- which is also a grave from which many were never recovered.

[Optimist Prime]

uummm.....we are at war.....this was the battlefield. Do I have the right to see where Washington crossed the Delaware, or where the first shots were fired at lexington and concord?? If so, I have a right to go to "ground zero" ( a term i find offensive).

[aephi alum]

I don't think it's disrespectful - unless people make it so. It's a place for people to come and mourn and remember a tragedy - whether or not they actually lost a relative or friend themselves.

About 2 months ago, I was on a plane that was placed in a holding pattern over the East River. I was on the right (wrong?) side of the aircraft. I looked out the window and saw the Empire State Bldg lit in red, white, and blue, and watched as we flew downtown, knowing what was coming. And I saw the lights from ground zero. It's a sobering sight. I saw the news footage, as you all did... and I've seen the skyline... but it hit hardest at that moment, seeing it from above.

Everyone has a connection to that horrible day. And if I'd had half a chance to get to ground zero, there'd be a message from an AEPhi there too.

[Eirene_DGP]

I think it is very disrespectful for people to view ground zero before they clear out all of the bodies. I would be very offended if someone saw one of my family member's dead bodies being carried out. That seems like common sense. People have no respect for the dead anymore. I understand what happened was a tragedy and some tourists are really interested, but no one asks for their dead body to be put on display for the whole world to see.

[hocnsoc81]

Who would want to see such a grusome site? Besides the terrorists, of course.
What's the benefit? In other words, I think it is very inappropiate.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I'm a New Yorker, and I've seen the site up close. When I saw it, I was horrified. Television and photographs cannot accurately reflect the enormity of the site. It is a murder scene and the aftermath of a war zone and not a source of entertainment. I think that there are so many people in New York, the U.S.A., and around the world who are having a terrible time coping, and they desperately need something to bring them closer to this event. We have seen it before with the untimely deaths of both Princess Diana and John Kennedy, Jr. They are drawn to the World Trade Center and not just out of curiosity. They need something, maybe answers, but of course there are none.
A part of me thinks that the viewing site is gauche and exploitive. I can also see the point that carnation made about the World Trade Center paralleling the Pearl Harbor Memorial. I think that in good taste they should not have opened a viewing platform now. They should have waited until the search and recovery mission was completed.

[Virtual Violet]

Originally posted by Cream
I'm a New Yorker, and I've seen the site up close. When I saw it, I was horrified. Television and photographs cannot accurately reflect the enormity of the site. It is a murder scene and the aftermath of a war zone and not a source of entertainment. I think that there are so many people in New York, the U.S.A., and around the world who are having a terrible time coping, and they desperately need something to bring them closer to this event. We have seen it before with the untimely deaths of both Princess Diana and John Kennedy, Jr. They are drawn to the World Trade Center and not just out of curiosity. They need something, maybe answers, but of course there are none.
A part of me thinks that the viewing site is gauche and exploitive. I can also see the point that carnation made about the World Trade Center paralleling the Pearl Harbor Memorial. I think that in good taste they should not have opened a viewing platform now. They should have waited until the search and recovery mission was completed.

Here is something I don't hear mentioned in the media. I just heard that the amount of asbestos at the sight is so high, (as much as 7 times the norm). We won't know the true danger at this site until years later when the rescue workers and firemen start getting cancer and other diseases. Not to mention the other people who were around when the towers fell? Who knows what they have all been exposed to?

With all that being said, I don't know how prudent it is to have thousands of tourists visiting that site. And why would you want to? It is a site of mass murder and I don't think it should be treated like an amusement park ride.

Also, I'm not keen on them rebuilding there. I tend to agree with the families, who need a place to go and grieve. They can't do that if there are two skyscrapers built on top of "ground zero".

[matthewg]

I have been to NYC twice since the horrible attack.
The first time was just a week after September 11
- no desire there to disturb the work that was under way and no desire to get anywhere near there.

Two months later, I was in NYC again and I heard that they had put up a Christmas tree, there on ground zero - I thought that was a beautiful idea as a symbol of hope and prayer. So I went to see it, which was impossible because they had set it up in the working area. However I could catch a glimpse of what used to be the catching part of the downtown Manhattan skyline.
It was a very sad moment and that, together with all the messages from all over the US and all over the world that are hanging on the fences around the WTC site was extremely touching and moving. I felt the urge to go into one of the churches there and say a little prayer.

Now comes the tourist part - and my comment about the platforms. The atmosphere among the many spectators that were there was everything else but that of your average tourist attractions: no cheering, no loud talk, no chattering. Just cameras, silence and tears!

And I don't think platforms are going to change that (esp. since you don't have to pay to get a ticket). It might be offensive to some New Yorkers who certainly feel the urge to go on. However, for all those who come there and have seen the place before, either intact or just on TV
- it is a moment where you can truely reflect about yourself, life and maybe also the values of a society. And that cannot hurt ....

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Here's a view of Ground Zero from a helicopter for anyone who is interested.
http://www.flyboyed.com/groundzero