Remembering 9/11

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The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission rededicated its World Trade Center Memorial Cove a year ago today, Sept. 11.

The memorial site, located in DeKorte Park, provides a clear view of the lower Manhattan skyline, including the new One World Trade Center.

The Memorial Cove consists of a free-form wooden deck with two projecting piers, suggesting shadows of the fallen towers. The piers are proportioned after the World Trade Center, and each one has 110 boards representing the 110 floors of the towers.

The memorial also includes a steel silhouette of the towers and a spot from which visitors can view where the towers stood against the Manhattan skyline. The NJMC’s 9/11 Memorial was originally dedicated in March 2003.

The World Trade Center Memorial Cove sustained significant damage from Superstorm Sandy and has been reconstructed.

Flooding from Superstorm Sandy ripped the deck and projecting piers from their supporting pilings, requiring the entire deck to be rebuilt. The dedication plaque and serpentine benches were salvaged and reinstalled.

Plantings at the site were redesigned, using mostly native species, to add color and to attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.

The quote on the plaque is from the 19th century American orator Robert Ingersoll. It reads: “In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.”

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