After a very rainy day yesterday, and the sun out in full swing today, Cho and I decided to take our revenge on the remaining weekend to catch up on our discovery rounds of New York City. After a brief stop at MZ’s family physician to drop off her I-O-U B12 injection, we proceeded to the World Trade Center. It is a long ride by subway but well worth the trip.
We arrived at our destination, a very clean kept transportation hub, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Its centerpiece is referred to as the Oculus, an incandescent, elaborate and inspiring public space filled with shops and restaurants. It is encased in a glass and steel shell with pedestrian tunnels leading to the subway train stations.
Oculus
Here are some interesting facts about the Oculus: –
· Seven years project delay for it to complete
· Costs US$4 billion (most expensive train station in the world?)
· The 3rd largest train station in New York City after Grand Central and Penn Station
· Designed to express the image of a bird spreading its wing to take flight.
Visitors swarmed the Oculus, including us, to take photos of the breath-taking architectural design. We noticed that there was no place to sit nor any garbage bin – for cleanliness and safety maybe?
We exited the Oculus to revisit the World Trade Center with its new look. One Trade looked majestic next to the North Pool with the South Pool positioned close by, where the names of those who lost their lives are imprinted. The great pool-filled memorial voids that are meant to mark the absence of the twin towers and are 31 percent smaller than the towers’ actual footprints. The pools greeted us by sheets of water cascading 30 feet down. Additional info – a heating system keeps the water from freezing in winter and the waterfalls carefully regulated, particularly when there are heavy winds.
With heavy hearts, Cho and I turned back to return home. That was how we felt when we first visited the site 12 years, and we still feel the same. We intend to visit the One World Trade Center Observatory but that is for another day.
