Here's a better view....

Here is a link that might be useful: waterfall

Oops, that link takes you to the beginning of the gallery. Scroll over to image #8.

Used to live in the area, but haven't kept up with the reconstruction of the WTC area.
It looks like a big drain :-(

Suicide? No, not something I would have ever considered to associate with the fountains.

I've only seen a few pics and tonight caught a brief segment on the evening news. I like the chosen design and the surrounding trees ... full of powerful symbolism.

Here is a link that might be useful: 9/11 Memorial

I think that anyone bent on committing suicide will do it no matter what happens. And kids & water go hand in hand like peanut butter & jelly. I don't think it's something that will be an issue. I'd imagine there is going to be security at the site (most likely video surveillance) and probably police or guards, so it won't be an attractive nuisance.

At the Capital mall here, there is a fountain that is an attractive water slide, and it was pointed out that kids would use it, but that just doesn't happen.

Here is a link that might be useful:

So glad you posted the link. DH's family business is involved in some parts of the construction of the memorial projects at Ground Zero (not the Memorial Fountains). We are hoping that once the entire project has been completed, it will be a beautiful place of reflection for the many whose lives were forever changed by the events of 9/11.

Coming up on the 10th anniversary, I can tell you that it feels like yesterday. I thought it would get easier year by year, but it really hasn't gotten easier, we've just adjusted to the fact that it did, in fact, happen.

This is a tough week for many. I know I always feel out of sorts during the week before the anniversary, much more so on the actual date.

I don't think it would be an issue. I seriously doubt that would be the place a suicidal person would pick to commit their final act. I think it's sort of an odd thing to worry about.

I feel the same way work in progress. Sept. 11th happened right before my wedding. I had a few guests unable to attend because they lost loved ones that day. I still think about the friends I lost from HS and it breaks my heart. We will be spending the solemn anniversary this year with our neighbor (and dear friend) at our local memorial in town. She lost her husband that day, her children were only 1 and 3 at the time.

flyingflower - I am very interested in watching the series RISING. Is this available on cable, network or something that you purchased? I have been searching our Comcast On Demand, but haven't found it. Just to be sure, I am searching "Rising", is that correct?

Thanks so much!

RISING will reaire multiple times on Sept 11, so you won't miss it. I can't recall how many episodes there are, 3 or 4.

Last night I watched the 2 hr documentary about the 88th floor where 2 Port Authority men rescued over 70 people from the tower. It's a first hand account by those they rescued what happened in the tower. Took a long time to get around to telling this story, we should have heard this years ago. Very intense movie.

I can't believe you don't see the danger in the design of the memorial fountains. Someone is going to climb over that parapet and fall, just a matter of time. Let's hope I'm wrong and am worrying over nothing.

In RISING they describe all aspects of the new construction and you really get to see what went into each structure. As a whole you get the feeling we're seeing the 8th wonder of the world in the making.

One of the buildings was set back just so the sun won't be blocked from shining a beam of light (between the two buildings) onto the memorial EVERY 9-11. The architect actually calculated where the sun would be in the sky on that day.

I love the architecture of the new buildings, the angles make them more interesting to look at unlike the original towers which were very boxy. Also love the reflective quality from the mirrored glass. It's truly stunning what they have created here, I never imagined it would turn out this beautiful.

Did you know the first 20 floors of the new WTC are built to withstand a blast from the street below? I think they said there won't be offices until you get to the 20th.

The whole thing is just mindboggling. Wait till you hear them talk about the ironworkers, OMG they're afraid of nothing!

That took a little digging. It's actually called Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero and it's on Discovery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero

Or maybe that's not it. I can't find any schedule info.

FF, what channel are you watching it on?

I searched my cable provider's documentaries and could find nothing for RISING.

However, a Google search turned up the Alex Jones "The 9/11 Chronicles - Part 1 - Truth Rising, available thru Amazon. More of a look at what went on prior to, during with a focus on certain alleged conspiracies, etc.

Perhaps the documentary flyingflower referenced watching may be the Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero?

The Google search provided a huge list of 9/11 programs which will be broadcast now through the end of this coming weekend. While I've seen many, there are some that are new, I guess the 10th anniversary inspired some new programs.

Last night I caught part of a program on TLC something like: 9/11: Heros of the 88th Floor, narrated by Chris Noth. I would like to view the program in its entirety, so I will be checking TLC's lineup for a rebroadcast.

With regard to the potential for suicides at the Memorial Fountain, I hope that the design doesn't give anyone who is suffering, and experiencing desperate thoughts, enough of an opportunity to do so.

From what I was able to find on a google search, it looks like the first three hours were on Discovery on August 25 and the last three are this Thursday, Sept 8th. It's done by Steven Spielberg, but can't find anywhere that says it is being replayed. Hope I'm wrong!

Liz

Sorry, I was referring to Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero.

Liz

Rising...Rebuilding Ground Zero will be airing all day Sunday and part of Monday on the SCIENCE channel.

Sorry, when I checked the other day I didn't look at which channel the show would be airing, just assumed
it was one of the more common networks like DISC or TLC.

Hopefully you get this network with your service. Shame that one of the major networks isn't showing it, so worth the time to watch. You will be glued to the TV!

Thanks FF!!!

Yes, thank you FF!

Also, if anyone knows if 9/11:Heroes of the 88th Floor is to be replayed, I would like to know. Will be checking for it on TLC.

Liz

TLC is rebroadcasting Heroes of the 88th Floor on Sat, Sept 10 at 9pm and Sunday, Sept 11 at 12A.M. I assume this is EST.

There is a lot of 9/11 programming this week on television. I clicked on the NBC "Children of 9/11" special last night and found it too sad to watch. I was feeling physically ill.

It is going to be a painful week.

I'm just wondering, how many of you are local to NYC?

As you said graywings, "too sad to watch. I was feeling physically ill." I live right next door to it. The week leading up to 9/11 is painful, but I almost feel as if living local to it, I still feel the sadness year-round.

The morning of 9/11 as I looked at the NYC skyline from the parking garage at work, I left work at 8:15am, I thought to myself, what a glorious day to be in the city. It was the perfect, clear blue sky weather day. Now every morning when I leave work, I look at the empty skyline, and I'm reminded of all the people I knew who perished. Life has moved on, but the reality of the sadness hasn't. When I drive through the neighborhood (Staten Island) I grew up in, almost every single street in the neighborhood has been dedicated to someone who lived on it that perished that day.

I have a hard time watching all the documentaries, I have nightmares for weeks after I've seen one. So I have not watched any, no matter how well done they are.

Sorry to hijack, I suppose this could be a topic of a thread of it's own. I was planning on starting another thread on a different related topic though, because I need advice on how to tell my 7 year old about 9/11. I value and respect so many of your opinions, I am sure to get great tips from all of you.

DH's family business had begun a construction job in Jersey City, just across the river from Manhattan. My FIL's boat was docked near the jobsite, and was used (along with many other private boats) to ferry many of the less severely injured victims over into NJ. The hospitals in the city were filling up, and filling up too fast for the staff to handle. While DH was not involved in that aspect of the business (construction, ironworking, etc.), he along with many others from the company were dispatched to the jobsite in order to help with ferrying people, and/or anything needed that the company could provide on that day. Every available employee, regardless of job title went to lend a pair of hands.

Many who helped with this small effort are still dealing with what they saw. A triage was set up on the NJ side of the river to do initial evaluations before sending people onto hospitals. Bearing witness to this, as well as an unbelievable view of the city on 9/11, left a an indelible mark on everyone involved on the jobsite.

Like polly929, I live close enough that 9/11 happened in what I consider my backyard. The memories of 9/11 are difficult year round. I find that particularly, the week preceding the anniversary of 9/11, I am so unsettled and out of sorts that despite trying to keep busy, I am unable to settle down. Last year we actually went out west during the week prior to 9/11. Didn't matter, I was still out of sorts despite being extremely busy visiting family, sightseeing and the like.

Sadly, I did notice that out west, there wasn't any sign that anyone was even thinking about the upcoming 9/11 anniversary. No notices of memorial services, nothing. We weren't in a touristy setting either. While we were able to visit many tourist spots, our home base was my BIL's home. Out and about during the week, and yet no one I met seemed at all affected, or even thinking about the anniversary. That alone left me unsettled. Here at home, people are busy with last minute details of services, memorials, etc., totally absorbed with the 9/11 anniversary events during the week prior.

Perhaps it will get a bit easier as the years pass? This week, I just take it day by day. We all lost too many friends and family on 9/11.

I've never been to NYC and as ignorant as it sounds I didn't even know what the WTC was at the time it happened. When you live so far from the scene of any event it's hard to grasp 100% what locals are experiencing. I'd hear New Yorkers say how strange it was to look up and not see those two buildings there any longer. Being a landmark they identified with it in a way we weren't able to. Like WIP08 said, many knew people who perished or were injured. No one I know had that personal connection, it was something we watched on TV. A woman even said on the radio, when she turned on the TV 9-11-01 she thought she was see a trailer for the next Die Hard movie. The media protected us all so much from the reality of death we healed from it faster than those who witnessed it. You're right, no one here is talking about the memorial. It's not like we can go visit it on the weekend. We'll watch on TV like everything else. This is why I make a point to view the documentaries, so I can get a sense of what these people who survived actually went through. Because no one here had personal stories to tell.

This weekend I was listening to a radio talk show broadcasted from NY and they were discussing their memories of 9-11. I didn't know they estimated 200 people jumped from the towers. I thought only a handful did that. When they said in the documentary bodies and body parts were all over the place including inside people's apartments I couldn't believe it. All we were shown was a lot of grey dust and papers. You get desensitized a lot quicker when you've been spared the guts and gore of it.

On 9-11 I was home. By the time I woke up the first tower had been hit hours ago. Took me awhile just to figure out what they were talking about. DH was so clueless he got ready for work like it was any other day, oK so a building in NY is on fire. I told him as he was leaving this is no fire, this is worse and he should stay home from work. He dismissed it and left for work anyway. It was a couple hours before they finally understand at work this WAS BIG. I was glued to the TV but not my husband. And because I saw more of the candid shots of people searching for their loved ones it captured my heart. That's what he missed. One image has stayed with me all these years. Never saw it except that one time. A news reporter sees a teenage girl in tears, she was holding a picture of her father who was missing. I have never seen a girl more desperate and panicy than her. This was when family were starting to post pictures on that large wall. That wall of pictures is what made it personal to me, it wasn't just a big building falling down, these people were in it. I'll never forget the anguish on her face. I felt so bad for her and was praying for her father to come home for her sake. DH missed all that so now when I tell him there are documentaries on the building of the new WTC he only wants to see them talk about construction, doesn't want to hear to human interest stories. No wonder the 10th anniversary doesn't mean that much to him. He has yet to identify with it on a personal level.

So years and years go by with no news at all and then suddenly this month we see documentaries and hear that buildings have gone up and a memorial is ready. I didn't know they were that far along, as far as I could tell NewYorkers were still squabbling over what to build!

Isn't it sad that on 9-11-11 we have to go to a little known network called the SCIENCE channel to see these documentaries? This should be airing on ABC/NBC/CBS. I hope they aren't planning to show their regular schedule of boob-tube programming. Heaven forbid Americans not get to see whatever stupid show they're hooked on.

flyingflower - I did a Google search a couple of days ago in order to find what was airing with regard to the 9/11 anniversary. Tvline.com seemed to have a pretty extensive list of the 9/11 television programing for this entire week (see link). Provides names of the programs, network on which they will air, as well as the air time. I checked our local cable company's channel lineup so that I would be able to easily find the programs.

You're right about the perspective of those of us who are living so close to the horror of 9/11. I truly didn't realize that everyone wasn't as "tuned in" to these anniversaries until we went out west last year during this week preceding the anniversary.

Here is a link that might be useful: 9/11 television program listing

Although removed from the attacks (and there were more than one ... that sometimes seems forgotten) albeit at a distance, it's still something that remains a vivid memory. Read about the first attack online ... turned on the TV and witnesed the second. Couldn't stop shaking. Felt chilled to the bone. Escaped to the garden for warmth. Have an American flag decal on my car with the 9/11 date. We may not have memorial services, but I can assure you that many Americans will never forget!

Ok, this is wrong on so many levels ... a memorial event that ignores the first responders? Shame on you!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: not enough room???

Yes, it is wrong. However, this being the 10th anniversary, there are many memorials for different groups organized to take place. From a practical place in my mind, I can understand that there is limited room given that the WTC site memorials are still under construction. There is all kind of construction equipment onsite, stuff that isn't easily removed for a day. That definitely would limit the total available space.

When you consider that if only the immediate family members of those who perished that day were in attendance, not including any friends or extended family, that would still be an incredible amount of people. Not a defense, just that the facts. It is despicable that it has taken this long to have so little done at the site in the way of a memorial. Again, politics, objections, hearings, and the like are putting the construction of the memorials further behind.

I cannot imagine that those who jeopardized their own lives, and did everything humanly possible to save the lives of others would be turned away. Somehow, I can't see that happening, it would be a political nightmare that no one would want on video and there will be loads of network coverage, heaven forbid.

Natal, when you mention first responders, are you refering only to those who were employed by NY, or including the average Joe who pitched in when it was clear that there were never going to be enough hands to handle making rescues or recovery in all of that rubble? If you are speaking of every single person who provided help on that day, there would be no way that the site could accommodate that many people. It is a logistical nightmare, but I do agree with you that one of the most important sects of people were not invited to the memorial at the site. I do believe that there is a separate memorial on that date specifically for NYFD, NYPD, etc.

Gosh, that hot topics thread is scary.

Someone mentioned the lack of memorial events across the country. I wasn't even aware that we were having one until the other day. May be a similar scenario across the country.

Here is a link that might be useful: Memorial events in New Orleans and Baton Rouge