In yesterday's Times there was a piece on the construction of the Greek church that is going to replace the one at Cedar Street that got clobbered by the falling Tower Two. It's been a long time, but they finally got something underway.
David Dunlap wrote the piece in the Times that reminded me that the next day was 9/11. It's a great story about the construction, and the path it took to get there. His piece closes with a great line about the weather on the day he was back at ground zero writing about the church. Apparently Tuesday of this week, 9/8.
"As he spoke [Mr. Dimitriou, executive director of administration for the Greek archdiocese] there was a cloud-free blue sky on a September morning. A Tuesday, to be precise. At a quarter of nine."
I've emailed Mr. Dunlap on some of his other stories, and this is what I wrote yesterday. He was nice enough to respond and add some of his memories. There are a lot of us who have them.
One of the most enduring pictures I ever took was a picture of St. Nicholas church at Cedar Street, with the Trade Center towers in the background. The picture is from a tight viewing point, looking up at the church and the towers. I took the picture in 1977 when my wife and I went to Windows on the World and also visited the observation deck, where planes seemed to be flying below us. I always said to myself I'd be back to take more pictures, but never did, and now can't. At least of that.
I later worked at One World Trade and was there on the 29th floor on 9/11 at 8:48 AM; Empire BlueCross BlueShield.
The rendering of the proposed church looks more than interesting. It looks a bit like a glowing St. Vartan's on 34th Street and 2nd Avenue, an Armenian church, and St. Nicholas in Flushing, also a Greek Church.
I often look at the sky on September mornings. I keep looking for a repeat of the weather on that fateful day. In my mind, there have been days that are close to it, but not quite it.
It's just as well.
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