It is a photo of Staten Islands Rescue Co.5.
Twenty minutes after taking this photo the south tower collapsed killing all eleven firefighters on board.
They are true heroes and may GOD love them.]]>
At the two times that I drew these images, I was working on a series of drawings aimed at evoking a maximum sense of drama. I guess that my stumbling across such a tragic idea as teetering high-rises at a young age suggests that skyscrapers were/are an obvious target for those who are seeking maximum terror. As much as I don't want to believe this to be true, I don't think it can be denied.

Finally, in the drawings, we see the buildings falling over like giant trees. This is a reflection of the idea that skyscrapers are fixed and rigid entities that have a nearly immutable sense of permanence (even as they are being destroyed in the drawings). The reality, the fluid fall of the World Trade Center towers, was quite different. If I were to ever work on a drawing such as these again--an effort I doubt that I will ever undertake--the final image would look quite a bit different, with the building crumbling downward in a very fluid, organic manner as it begins to list. Something I learned from the 9/11 tragedy. I don't think I will ever look at a skyscraper as a rigid, permanent thing again.
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The title is a brief poem:

For a week time stood still
Then it began moving again
There are two worlds
Before 09-11-2001
And after...

Like two tombstones
The Twin Towers
Funerals begin closure
Closure starts acceptance
Acceptance is emotional healing

But never forgetting]]> Looking back, I don't think this proposal is appropriate for the site or for New York. Symbolically, it's a powerful gesture; but the site deserves something more wonderful even than this.]]> There are two sets of twins: the taller, perhaps 90 or 100 floors tall, along Church Street; the shorter, 60 or 70 floors, along Vesey Street to the north. The taller set serves as a gateway between east and west, a doorway for the rising and setting sun.
The footprints of the original towers are preserved, encircled by reconstructions of the original psuedo-gothic arches of the exterior structure to a height of eight or nine floors, but with no glass or roof. One acre-large space will have a lake; the other, a plot of pure green grass. Both contain a viewing platform in the center.
In addition to the preserved footprints, this proposal allows for almost three acres of open space, including a large plaza with the main memorial in the center. I'd like to see the Globe reinstalled in its damaged state.
The proposal includes somewhere around 11 million square feet of commercial space; a museum (southeast corner of site); ample open space with a memorial and, hopefully, plenty of places for people to visit and to reflect in peace; and, because the site is so vital to New York, a good deal of retail space and a hotel are incorporated into the scheme--both appropriately shielded from the main plaza where serenity, reflection, and respect must be observed.
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Lenfant dune obscurité immense
Affamé/ assoiffé
Scrute sur un pont
Le portes qui se forment…

Une foule de gens
Qui se cachent des lendemains
Avec des pensées sans excuses
Enlacés les uns aux autres
Veulent passer…
Devant le soleil…

Lorsquil voit la chute
Du haut du pont
Les défaites
De lenfant dune obscurité immense
Se transforment en espoirs.

Üzeyir Lokman ÇAYCI
Traduit par : Yakup YURT
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This was sent to me by a friend of mine. I guess it was drawn by a child in PA. who is 12! Perhaps there is hope after all...

Bev
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The Rev. Eliza Linley

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They are with us - leaves on the tree of life,
their souls are colors of an endless, varied tapestry,
each color vital to the whole,
each strand infinitely valued in the eyes of God.]]> ]]>