[58.] The WTC Blogs: 1. Windows On The World
The world, and how it was.
9/11 Memorial series
originally posted on Yahoo 9/07
Introduction to The WTC Blogs
In the early ’70s, from the classroom window where I taught, I watched as the World Trade Center started to peek above the buildings in my view. Gradually it ascended, higher and higher, two towers that became beacons, compasses, lighthouses.They were gigantic. Unless you’ve been to New York City, it is impossible to imagine how they loomed over everything, how they called to you. How you could take them for granted.They weren’t gorgeous, not in the minds of many people. They were redolent of the medieval keeps in San Gimignano, or Bologna. Their size was beyond comprehension. But they were steadfast and true, especially to the thousands of people who lived in them each day, whose subway trains deposited them underground at their feet, whose elevators took them up into the longitudinal cities they were; some were lucky enough to have offices with views only angels were privy to.
Strange happenings:
In May 1977, George Willig, a Brooklyn toy maker, thumbed his nose a the New York and New Jersey Port of Authority, took out his climbing equipment and did what was unthinkable, unachievable, unheard of. He hooked himself up in the window washer tracks and started to scale one of the towers. All day, my class of deaf students and I were distracted by the little spot we viewed from miles away. Higher and higher it went/ We were terrified for him and yet exhilarated; it was the best show ever. He was charged with criminal trespass and handed a $750,000 dollar civil suit. Keep this anecdote in the back of your mind. You will hear about it again later.
But Willig was not the only one to pull a stunt; Phillip Petit managed to attach his tightrope between the buildings and walk the line in 1977:
“Shortly after 7:15 a.m after hesitating briefly because of a strong breeze, Petit stepped off the North Tower and onto the wire. The 24-year-old Petit made eight crossings between the still unfinished towers, a quarter mile above the Earth, in an event that lasted about 75 minutes. During that time, in addition to walking, he jumped up and down, and lay upon on the wire as well.
Sgt. Charles Daniels, of the Port of Authority Police Dept. who was dispatched to the roof to bring Petit down, later reported his experience:
“I observed him approximately halfway between the two towers. And upon seeing us he started to smile and laugh and he started going into a dancing routine on the high wire… And when he got to the building we asked him to get off the high wire but instead he turned around and ran back out into the middle… He was bouncing up and down. His feet were actually leaving the wire and then he would resettle back on the wire again… Unbelievable really…. [E]verybody was spellbound in the watching of it.
He was finally persuaded by police officers to give himself up after he was warned that a police helicopter would come to pick him off the wire. Petit was worried that the wind from the helicopter would knock him off the wire, so he decided it was time to give up. He was arrested once he stepped off the wire. His stunt made headlines around the world.
When asked why he did the stunt, Petit would say “When I see three oranges, I juggle; when I see two towers,
I walk.’ “
Then there were the 3 parachutists who floated down:
Owen J. Quinn: “On July 22, with his friend Mike Sergio, Quinn disguised himself as a construction worker and hid his parachute in a duffel bags (covered with tools) and made his way up the North Tower. They were met by a security guard, and while Sergio distracted him, Quinn continued toward the roof and got into his parachute. Quinn says he “stepped back about 15 feet and ran fast right to the end”. Sergio shot a picture and called it “The Point of No Return”. Quinn wore a blue football jersey with the biblical verse, Matthew 19:26: “But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”.
When he landed, he was arrested by Port Authority Police and taken for psychiatric exams at two different hospitals, Elmhurst and St. Vincent. When it was concluded that he was in fact sane, he was booked and charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and reckless endangerment. Within the course of a year Quinn made 19 appearances in court, but the case was eventually dropped.”
So you see, the towers brought out a sense of adventure and spirit in people. But also romance.
From my memories
Windows on the World
The North Tower, or Tower 1 was home to the Windows On The World, a restaurant on the 106th and 107th, floors. It was about 5,000 sq. feet had unrestricted view of heaven, as well as New York City, which is my heaven on earth.
My husband and I celebrated many anniversaries there. Brunch was reasonably priced on a weekend, but it was the view one wanted to consume.
We’d be seated looking out over the harbor; it was like flying over in a stationary jet. One could feel the gentle sway of the building in the wind. What was below and massive if one was looking upwards, became pinpricks, doll houses, sparkles. The Statue of Liberty was reduced to less than a pea, but you could make out her perpetual joy; she held her torch high. If King Kong would have made the climb to the Empire State Building pinnacle, he’d have been viewed as Thumbellina atop a small mountain.
It was like viewing a model city.
It was magic.
For several years a close friend and I would end the school year by taking the subway downtown and then going up and up and up, endlessly up. Finally the elevator doors would open and deposit us in front of a north facing window with a full view of the city, New Jersey, Connecticut, and sometimes Pennsylvania. Skyscrapers scraped nothing, the huge canyons between the highest buildings disappeared and the city became a pointillistic interpretation of a place where people were no longer visible; there were just dots of color. Tiny, close to invisible vehicles crawled in the streets. Taxis, fire trucks, and police cars went silent. Central Park became a tiny green bath mat.
We’d have a plate of tea sandwiches, a few cocktails, maybe Sinatra was playing, or the piano player near the bar, and the sun would dutifully descend behind the buildings into the Hudson River, toying with us, throwing colors at us, blinding us to what the fate of these buildings would be in 20-something years.
Then we’d descend, for what seemed an eternity, and walk with joy at the thought of being off for the rest of the summer. The city darkened, we were now the insects in the canyons that suddenly appeared again. We walked uptown to go to dinner.
The towers always followed behind.
New York State of Mind
Billy Joel
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Comments from Yahoo 2007
(21 total) Post a Comment
- Tee-b…
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Oh, the beauty of those two towers(and the view from the restaurant!). Your beautiful recollections of the those buildings made me smle. I remember the George Willig episode, now that you have reminded me!! 🙂 I went to the observation floor of one of the Towers in 1979, I believe. A trip with my family one summer. Ever since 2001, I have only seen the spires and remaining towers of NYC from afar(crossing Tappan Zee brisge…seeing the glittering city in a mist to the south), from the Throg’s Neck Bridge. I get a lump in my throat and very emotional seeing that skyline. I have been away from NYC for too long. My daughter wants badly to go back for a visit…hopefully soon.
Sunday September 9, 2007 – 06:09pm (EDT) Remove Comment
I can’t tell you how many times we had dinner there! We celebrated everything there-and I mean everything! I remember how long it took in the elevator to get up to the restaurant! and the view was so breathtaking! I always wore my best outfit! I thought the food was great, in spite of what some of the critics said-that the food was ok-you just go there for the view. Well, I don’t agree. It was wonderful. It was so sad when the meal was over. I actually do still have the original menus and I am looking for them now as I am blogging this! If I find them, I will come back and tell you exactly what we had for dinner!
Sunday September 9, 2007 – 06:30pm (EDT) Remove Comment
- Sunny…
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How I loved them too….and I did think they were beautiful. Seeing them was like seeing the ARCH when I go to St. Louis….it is the first thing that greets you. I don’t like heights, but being in there at the top wasn’t scary to me, because the glass was so very thick….I could go right up to the window and not be afraid. There was nothing like the view in there….it was magical!!!! Every year around this time I get so heartsick….I don’t think that will ever go away.
Sunday September 9, 2007 – 07:05pm (EDT) Remove Comment
- Giles…
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Yes, in my teens. They were truly awe-inspiring, and the view from the top was possibly the most extraordinary one in the world. Bush was to a degree right when he talked about those who have and those who have not in the aftermath.
Monday September 10, 2007 – 07:50am (BST) Remove Comment
Beautiful towers and pictures. What a tragedy. So many precious lifes and building that can never be replaced. love you, shirley xoxoxo
Monday September 10, 2007 – 03:17am (EDT) Remove Comment
- heath…
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We are along way from New York City and to answer your question, no I have not been there but my daughter was there in 2000. Of course it is one of those cities that you imagine you will visit at some stage in your life. But these days it is surrounded by the sadness and I rather envy my daughter visiting before the tragedy of 9/11. Having said that the towers would have scared me to death as I am not fond of heights and had trouble even visiting my daughters office when she was working in a high rise in Sydney. And as for the stunts..better them than me…
Monday September 10, 2007 – 05:52pm (EST) Remove Comment
Hi souci this blog shows your hard work,sensitive and patriotic loveing nature,thanks for sharing.9/11 is the great lost for America. “Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.” –George Bernard Shaw
Monday September 10, 2007 – 02:27pm (PKT) Remove Comment
My family went to NYC, and we had brunch at Windows on the World. I had to have my seat moved, because I’m terrified of heights, and I couldn’t sit next to the window. That height has haunted me since 9/11. I have pictures of myself in front of the WTC. I have not been back since 9/11. I’m not ready to see the altered skyline. Even six years later, and with a distance of so many miles, it is still a very deep wound. Thank you for this lovely, charming blog. Hugs!
Monday September 10, 2007 – 02:24pm (EDT) Remove Comment
- Astra…
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Always wanted to eat there and look at New York – the one time I was there on business I couldn’t get downtown to do so. Now, it’s gone. Out west, we have the Space Needle in Seattle; it’s far from the height of the former WTC; while the restaurant revolves and gives a person a 360-degree view of things, it’s still not the same. I’m sorry that your view has changed, Sis. Truly. We all are. Every one of us.
Monday September 10, 2007 – 04:57pm (PDT) Remove Comment
- *¸.•
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Windows on the World was a restaurant i was ‘always going to get to’. i never did, i wish i did
Monday September 10, 2007 – 10:13pm (EDT) Remove Comment
Beautiful prose describing your experience in the restaurant on top of Twin Towers..looking down from those heights are a novel experience never forgotten..and when those Towers fell it was if something very personal in your memory was also attacked.~~Papa
Monday September 10, 2007 – 08:07pm (PDT) Remove Comment
- Kerry
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beautiful. this is only the first of these posts, but i’ve already got tears in my eyes.
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 09:32am (EDT) Remove Comment
- NARICE
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This is a lovely tribute Sue
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 10:08am (EDT) Remove Comment
Thank you!
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 09:25am (CDT) Remove Comment
- bettyk
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Thank you for sharing these experiences with us. I have been to New York, but before the Twin Towers were built. A tragic loss!
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 12:03pm (EDT) Remove Comment
- antho…
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Thanks for sharing your memories – it sounds like it was spectacular..
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 10:18am (MDT) Remove Comment
- Frida…
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This is a great blog, Sue. The meaning of the towers in unexpected ways. I’m glad you enjoyed at that restaurant.
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 02:08pm (CDT) Remove Comment
- Catta…
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Been visiting New York so many times all before 9/11…for me it was a magical place.
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 01:59pm (MST) Remove Comment
Stopping by from Kerrys page..great blog…brought back alot of memories. I grew up in New Jersey and my dad worked on Wall Street. I, too, remember the towers being built…an amazing time in the city when they opened….a heart breaking day when they fell. My best friend from Jersey was supposed to be there that day…makes you wonder at the twist of fate that prevented her from keeping the appointment….
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 05:11pm (EDT) Remove Comment
very nice!!! I’m stopping by from Kerrys page and I’m glad she linked your blog…this is outstanding!!! Thank you! Piccola
Wednesday September 12, 2007 – 01:16am (BST) Remove Comment
I did travel to NYC prior to 9-11 and saw the towers from the sky as we were landing. It was an impressive site.
Tuesday September 11, 2007 – 09:36pm (CDT) Remove Comment
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starfishred wrote on Sep 8, ’08
wonderful review
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lunarechoes wrote on Sep 8, ’08
What a terrific blog entry. I love the idea of this series you’re doing.
Your memories of Windows on the World really brought back my memories of dining there, which I did precisely once. I was 14 years old, living in California, and I’d met my father, who lived in New Zealand at the time, at my aunt’s house. She lives on Long Island. Uncle Ken took us all to dinner at Windows on the World, and I didn’t realize at first what a cool thing that was, but wow! It really was. I also have the world’s corniest photos of my father in the lobby downstairs, in an exaggerate pose of thouhgtful examination of the models of the towers. He died five years later, and I only saw him twice more after that, so the memory and the photo have always been bittersweet to me, more sweet than bitter–but of course, Sept. 11 gave a new meaning to bittersweet when it comes to memories of The World Trade Center. But our dinner there was unadulatered joy, as my cousins and I ate new things we wouldn’t ordinarily have tried, Dad ordered a whiskey sour for us to share, and the restaurant itself was–amazing! |
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bostonsdandd wrote on Sep 8, ’08
I must not have known you at this time last year. I thought we did LOL. Maybe it was in October when we met?
But, aside from that, to answer your question, no I’ve never had the chance to see NYC. Came close once, but the truck I was in broke down about an hour from the city. My oldest saw the Statue of Liberty, after 9/11 of course. But I’ve never been to this beautiful city of hope and love. Thanks for taking me there and letting me see it from a New Yorker’s eyes! |
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hurricanekate wrote on Sep 8, ’08
Beautifully done, written………..
I love the way you share your heart, your memories. I look forward to the next….and the one after that………and the one after that~! |
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 8, ’08
bostonsdandd said
Lori, we were in that infamous group 😉 but it brought us together. 😀 We had just connected, but I believe it was after, yes probably October.
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I must not have known you at this time last year. I thought we did LOL. Maybe it was in October when we met?
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 8, ’08
hurricanekate said
Thanks, Kate, it’s the beginning of the ride. You take me to lakes, I’ll take you to buildings. 🙂
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 8, ’08
nomorybr said
Krysta, there is so much history and tangential info about these towers. They were fascinating. I’m so glad you came over.
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sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Sep 9, ’08
Such great stories about The Twin Towers and how they became a part of life for your city. Of course reading about walking between the two towers gives me vertigo just reading about it but for those who love such stunts it sounds like the towers were made for aerial frolic. (unfortunatley, that was their demise also,wasn’t it?) Windows On The World looks like a wonderful “special” place to dine and view the city below. As always, you bring your readers right into your world and I thank you for including us!
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 9, ’08
sweetpotatoqueen said
Thanks, Sweetie, thanks so much.
I forget how I could stand at the bottom, crane my neck all the way back and still not see the top. It is almost beyond comprehension, at that height, you can be up in a plane. |
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lunarechoes wrote on Sep 9, ’08
I had forgotten that, too. As a kid, I don’t think I really understood how amazing they were. As an adult looking back, I get it much better.
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The Twin Towers had really become the most recognizable landmark of New York, especially for us in the other countries. I remember myself being able to instantly tell the settings of a movie, documentary, photo etc by just discerning the Twins at the background!… Of course, the loss is further more, as so many lives escorted them to memory… 🙁
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 8, ’09
2009 Comments |
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lauritasita wrote on Sep 11, ’09
I remember celebrating my birthday at Windows on the World. What a view !
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 9, ’10
2010 comments |
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skeezicks1957 wrote on Sep 11, ’10
What a wonderful history lesson! The thing that struck me about the video was the amount of people the building project employed for such a length of time. And at the expense of New Jersey and New York tax payers. The tax revenue that must have been generated as a result would have been significant. If we could only convince people that large scale building projects redoing our infrastructure (from tax money which would generate tax income) today would be just as beneficial.
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moniquemkk wrote on Sep 12, ’10
I went to the top of one when I was eighteen. It’s still hard to grasp the size of it even now.
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lauritasita wrote on Sep 10, ’11
We celebrated everything at Windows On The World. The view was unbelievable, and I always wore my favorite dresses. I remember having a job interview in Tower 1. I remember seeing the view from over the interviewer’s shoulders and thinking, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to work?” Well, I didn’t get the job, and all those people probably perished.
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sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 10, ’11
2011 comments; 10th anniversary |
Thanks
Thanks