The 9/11 Memorial New York City NY.

I had already left NYC and was in Shanksville PA photographing the Flight 93 Memorial,where my friend Mandy Miller had run the week prior.

After making a phone call to the 9/11 Memorial I was fortunate to get in contact with Sarah Lippman,the Communications Manager of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum,who arranged an overnite pass for me,which normally takes a wee bit longer than that to secure.Thank you Sarah,my gratitude,much appreciated.It was well worth the trip back for me for the experience,bittersweet and sad as it was.
So,I rode back in to the city from my campsite in Somerset PA and downtown to Battery Park where I knew I could find a spot to park my bike in an incredibly security conscious and congested part of town.Had I a car and not a motorcycle,finding a free parking spot would have been  impossible.
Battery park in the early 90's,back when I lived in Manhattan,was a favorite spot for me,so I was very familiar with the area.In late fall,there were some beautiful sailboats docked out back of the Wintergarden,right on the Hudson,the Staten Island ferry was a great sunset cruise,over and back,a beautiful way to spend an evening.The view of the Twin Towers on the return voyage was always spectacular,a view that upon reflection I took for granted,but now a view that is no more.

 Steel beams from the Towers are housed in a building in the Memorial Garden.

Since 2008,the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,which owns the World Trade Center,has released over 1,200 steel artifacts from Hanger 17 at JFK International Airport where they are stored,from the collapsed towers for use in public memorials.
World Trade Center steel is at the heart of monuments in 50 states,several other countries and the USS NEW YORK.
Nearly 7 tons of the steel used in the construction of the USS New York,a San Antonio class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship,came from the rubble of the World Trade Center.It was melted down and poured into moulds to form the ships "Stem Bar",part of the ships bow.
The shipyard workers at Amite Foundry and Machine in Amite,Louisiana reportedly treated it with reverence usually accorded to religious relics,gently touching it as they walked by.One worker delayed his retirement after 40 years to be part of the project.

Steel recovered from the World Trade Center is displayed on board the USS New York.The glass case of the display is etched with the New York City skyline before the Sept 11th terrorist atacks.

As evening sets on Manhattan,downtown the Sept 11th Memorial Garden starts to take on a magical quality,an incredibly tranquil feeling.The sounds of the waterfalls become louder,overwhelm,a calming sound but also a reminder of the sounds the towers must have made as they fell.The souls of the departed inhabit this place for sure,you can feel it in the air.
There's a very eerie calm when the sun sets and the glow of the lights behind the waterfalls turn from white to a golden brown.

The events that occurred in this Memorial Garden 10 years ago has affected everyone in the nation,and most people in the world,and still does to this day.

We don't or can't travel the same way anymore.

For me,being back there under these circumstances brought on a myriad of emotions,anger,sadness,sorrow.

People lost friends,children lost parents.

I'm glad I lived in the city and got to experience New York and downtown Manhattan the way it was before the 19 cowards got on 4 planes and changed our landscape forever.

Murph