Honoring September 11th: Memories of the WTC — King Kong, Carol Channing, and Ground Zero
by Charles WinecoffI never liked the Twin Towers. As a boy, I watched them go up - slowly, for years – from the terrace outside my parents’ bedroom. My dad, who was an architect, griped about them: they were too big, they lacked style, they were monstrous. They sat vacant for years, a folly of the Port Authority.
And they ruined the skyline.
We all loved the Empire State Building, for decades the tallest building in Manhattan, even the world. The Empire State Building inspired loyalty. It was a marvel of engineering and design. It was a class act. And King Kong had died for love on it.
Of course, we went to see what the WTC was all about. The lobby was tacky, grandiose yet bland, like an airport or a ballroom in a chain hotel. The elevators were fast – a cheap thrill, like a ride at Disneyland – but when you debarked, the mundane, office hallways were an anticlimax. Nothing special. (more…)
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