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(E) connection returning to the WTC next week!


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I still think the northbound side will have an advantage though, there seems to be an access point in one of the hallways that heads toward 4WTC... Unless that's going to be an emergency exit?

 

The southbound platform has two portals surfacing to the memorial plaza above while the northbound platform has none. The northbound side does have two exclusive in-mall access points, though; one at the western end of the Oculus and another in the south concourse (that you mentioned).

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While before 9/11 this passageway led to an at-grade hallway of the original World Trade Center complex, it currently leads to a set of stairs which end in the main area of the Oculus. The passageway has been preserved, and is relatively unchanged from its pre-9/11 state. One door was spray-painted by firefighters on 9/11, and has been blocked from being opened. In addition, the ramp no longer serves a purpose, since all it leads to is a set of stairs.

 

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I hope they've redone the entrance to make it more consistent with the rest of the Oculus... that entrance looks straight out of 1969

 

 

Agreed.  It looks downright awful and depressing, not to mention dingy.  Needs an upgrade for sure based on those photos.

 

I think you guys completely missed the point of this! I walked through it and I find a fascinating, almost eerie glimpse into the original Twin Towers. Everything is preserved, from the once-modern 'PUSH' and 'PULL' lettering on the doors to the old floors. There is NOTHING left of the original Twin Towers for active use. To 'upgrade' that station would be criminal. That's the same kind of thinking that led us to demolish Penn Station, and at least that wasn't even as emotionally important as this connection is.

 

On the one hand, I get why it was done. Preserve the legacy of the original World Trade Center, show the resiliency of New York in the face of tragedy and so on and so forth. On the other hand, it's a set of doors. Ugly ones that really don't fit into the design of the new WTC at that. It's not as though we don't already have a multitude of things to commemorate the lives lost on that day in and around the area. And seriously, how long do you think it's going to take before the glass on those doors break? I'm all for honoring the victims and all that, but this seems a little excessive. And really, a plaque for when FEMA searched the area and spray-painted one of the doors? Again, excessive.

 

Why is it excessive? This sort of thing is an important and touching piece of history and needs to be preserved. That scrawled writing on the untouched door refers to a search for bodies being completed by the Massachusetts Task Force of FEMA. Is that really less important than a new door for passageway? I think people need a better sense of history. Making everything 'fit the design' is not the point. There's nothing left of the Twin Towers--a memorial, yes, but nothing of the real life inside the tower. To think the least people to have walked through that passageway are probably dead now is even more chilling and, in person, quite sobering. 

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While before 9/11 this passageway led to an at-grade hallway of the original World Trade Center complex, it currently leads to a set of stairs which end in the main area of the Oculus. The passageway has been preserved, and is relatively unchanged from its pre-9/11 state. One door was spray-painted by firefighters on 9/11, and has been blocked from being opened. In addition, the ramp no longer serves a purpose, since all it leads to is a set of stairs.

 

It was spray-painted by FEMA's Massachusetts Task Force 1 on 9/13. They are not firefighters. The original mall wasn't at-grade with the corridor, hence the stairs and ramp, which are now pointless considering the new mall's lower elevation.

 

I find it interesting that the sign pointing towards that exit says " WTC PATH (R)(W) considering that you have to go through the Oculus to get there and there is no mention of the (E) at the (R)(W) exit to the Oculus

 

There's barely a mention of the (W) there, let alone the (E). The (MTA) really needs to update the Fulton Center's signage, including that of the Dey Street Concourse.

 

I think you guys completely missed the point of this! I walked through it and I find a fascinating, almost eerie glimpse into the original Twin Towers. Everything is preserved, from the once-modern 'PUSH' and 'PULL' lettering on the doors to the old floors. There is NOTHING left of the original Twin Towers for active use. To 'upgrade' that station would be criminal. That's the same kind of thinking that led us to demolish Penn Station, and at least that wasn't even as emotionally important as this connection is.

 

 

Why is it excessive? This sort of thing is an important and touching piece of history and needs to be preserved. That scrawled writing on the untouched door refers to a search for bodies being completed by the Massachusetts Task Force of FEMA. Is that really less important than a new door for passageway? I think people need a better sense of history. Making everything 'fit the design' is not the point. There's nothing left of the Twin Towers--a memorial, yes, but nothing of the real life inside the tower. To think the least people to have walked through that passageway are probably dead now is even more chilling and, in person, quite sobering. 

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but how often did you actually frequent the original WTC complex? The fact that you think "everything is preserved" gives me the impression that either you've never been or your memory is very clouded on this aspect. I hate to break it to you, but this neutered corridor was never some magical, sacred piece of history. It's a part of the original complex that literally couldn't have been farther removed from the twin towers themselves. That being said, I did think it was worth preserving before its design was bastardized during the construction of the original temporary PATH entrance. Obviously, it doesn't fit well with the new WTC mall, and not just for aesthetic reasons, but more importantly for purely functional reasons (elevation change in the wrong direction). However, given my personal attachment to the original complex and inclination towards meaningful preservation, it would have been nice if the corridor actually appeared as it did before 9/11. It only half-does, and that's a generous concession. Since they can't demolish it now because federal funding was contingent upon its preservation, they should at least restore the corridor to its actual pre-9/11 state. That means recessed can-lights, two back-lit directories, two payphones affixed on an aluminum panel on the eastern wall with an adjacent travertine section, travertine central columns, and black columns flanking the doors, among other more minor details. What you see today is half the result of the temporary PATH entrance. I'm sorry, but the graffiti on the door doesn't warrant a display case. The door could have remained in use, a plaque could have been placed on or near it to explain its presence, and the spray paint would have remained for centuries, guarantee it. Yes, a functioning door is objectively more important than making sure someone doesn't swing it open while a tourist is pondering the markings. If it's so mystical, then have them put it in the museum with everything else. I'm relieved that Brookfield had the sense to replace all the panels on Liberty Bridge, itself a giant 9/11 artifact. Do you honestly believe that this little corridor is more historically significant than the original Penn Station, or was that a hyperbole offered in the heat of indignity? The developers and others destroyed the actual significant 9/11 artifacts, so I think your defensiveness is misplaced if you care this much about a part of the WTC that was barely damaged (I saw the damage there, mostly dust and some holes in the ceiling), and where no one died. The underpass connecting One Liberty Plaza to the original mall is a "9/11 artifact" of comparable significance, remaining mostly intact, and yet seemingly no one cares at all about it or is even aware of its existence. Look, I care more about preserving the original complex than do most people. I fought and lobbied as hard as I could to get the twins back up, but eventually we have to accept that this is the new WTC and the terrorists robbed us of Yamasaki and Tobin's masterpiece (and not enough people liked it enough to push hard enough to bring it back); I ultimately think of those two men when I think about the original WTC, not 9/11 (I try to be positive). I would have done it differently, but, it is what it is, I guess.

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I think you guys completely missed the point of this! I walked through it and I find a fascinating, almost eerie glimpse into the original Twin Towers. Everything is preserved, from the once-modern 'PUSH' and 'PULL' lettering on the doors to the old floors. There is NOTHING left of the original Twin Towers for active use. To 'upgrade' that station would be criminal. That's the same kind of thinking that led us to demolish Penn Station, and at least that wasn't even as emotionally important as this connection is.

 

 

 

Why is it excessive? This sort of thing is an important and touching piece of history and needs to be preserved. That scrawled writing on the untouched door refers to a search for bodies being completed by the Massachusetts Task Force of FEMA. Is that really less important than a new door for passageway? I think people need a better sense of history. Making everything 'fit the design' is not the point. There's nothing left of the Twin Towers--a memorial, yes, but nothing of the real life inside the tower. To think the least people to have walked through that passageway are probably dead now is even more chilling and, in person, quite sobering.

 

We already have a beautiful memorial to remember those horrible events. Believe me I've relived those moments for years. Still remember the stench of death for blocks as I visited down there. We will never forget. However, we also have to move on. Preserving beautiful things is one thing, but preserving that hideous area is not a tribute. It's a disservice to those who perished and the current commuters.
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Looking at the area today, it would be very easy to create a free transfer between the (E) and (R)(W), with the new passage being built at the newsstand corner. The eastern exit comes down right at a side entrance to the (E), with the MVM's along the wall. All you have to do is keep the side turnstiles or HEET's, remove the ones that head straight toward the WTC doors, and then reconfigure the barred barriers to bisect the out of fare control area with the connection. The only thing you would lose would be the ability to traverse that area from the eastern stairway to the western stairway or WTC entrance without paying, but then you don't really need that. The eastern entrance would only be for entry to the system, and otherwise cut off from everything else. You would just use the western stairway for that.

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Looking at the area today, it would be very easy to create a free transfer between the (E) and (R)(W), with the new passage being built at the newsstand corner. The eastern exit comes down right at a side entrance to the (E), with the MVM's along the wall. All you have to do is keep the side turnstiles or HEET's, remove the ones that head straight toward the WTC doors, and then reconfigure the barred barriers to bisect the out of fare control area with the connection. The only thing you would lose would be the ability to traverse that area from the eastern stairway to the western stairway or WTC entrance without paying, but then you don't really need that. The eastern entrance would only be for entry to the system, and otherwise cut off from everything else. You would just use the western stairway for that.

 

Bingo, we have a winner!

 

This would be the most intelligent option in terms of cost, labor, time, and efficiency of arrangement. With the high-bandwidth and far-reaching Dey Street Concourse in full swing, losing a sheltered connection to the mall east of Church Street is inconsequential. There are a dozen other ways to reach the mall without entering the fare zone.

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