Two Falls in New York

Fall

His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling

faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of

their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

The Dead (from Dubliners), James Joyce

Intersection of Broadway and Cortlandt Street in New York City, looking towards the remains of one of the World Trade Center towers; October 5th 2001.

My birthday is in October. Most years I reward myself for still being among the living by spending a long weekend in my favorite place. New York City was my home for nearly four years in the early 80's, and for me it was pretty much love at first sight.

Mid-October is the perfect time to visit; it's not too hot or too cold, and the leaves are gently turning. In 2001, a month before the 9/11 attacks, I'd bought an airline ticket and planned a trip so I'd arrive on the morning of October 5th, the 20th anniversary of the day I'd emigrated from the UK. My port of entry then was JFK.

I was traveling with a close friend, Greg Drew, who was also a photographer. I brought an eclectic collection of film cameras: a 35mm, a weird Russian-made panoramic camera with a swiveling lens, and a Holga--a cheap plastic camera with a cheap plastic lens that shot roll film.

After the trip, a lab processed the film I'd shot and then, because of the painful memories associated with the images, I filed them away. A few months ago, when planning this fall’s visit to New York, I dug out the negatives and scanned them. Looking at them nearly two decades later was a moving experience that inspired me to plan on rephotographing the places I'd shot in 2001. Photographs allow us to see into the past; I wanted to know how that past compared to this present.

Our first stop that year was my old neighborhood in Greenwich Village, near NYU. There, in Union Square, at the base of a statue of George Washington, we were witness to the most heartbreaking scene of all those we encountered: hundreds of pages on the fence at the statue's base, remembrances of the dead.

Union Square, with the statue of George Washington surrounded by fliers remembering the dead of 9/11; October 5th 2001.

Looking at those photographs, I noticed in the front and center of one image, I'd caught our shadows falling on the remembrances. It was a sad reminder that Greg had passed into the shadows ten years ago, dying at the age of 48 after a prolonged illness.

Panorama of the George Washington statue and Union Square; October 13th 2019.

We took the subway from 14th Street to Canal Street, which was as far downtown as the train went as the attacks on the Twin Towers badly damaged nearby subway lines. Walking up the final stairs before street level, we noticed a noxious burnt odor. As we discovered when we reached the Financial District, the still-smoking, fiery rubble was essentially a crematorium, immolating the remains of the towers and many of the people who worked in them.

The area around the site was considered a crime scene, chain link fencing declaring the border between the living and the dead. Soldiers and police were stationed at almost every intersection.

Soldiers at the intersection of Broadway and Cortlandt Street, New York City; October 5th 2001.

The intersection of Broadway and Cortlandt Street, New York City, October 13th 2019.

Soldiers and police at the intersection of Broadway and Liberty Street, New York City;
October 5th 2001.

The intersection of Broadway and Liberty Street, New York City; October 13th 2019.

We continued down Broadway to Trinity Church. The south side of the church's property is bounded by Rector Street, and I'd worked in a building there more that 25 years ago. Alexander Hamilton's tomb in the churchyard is easily visible from the street, and I’d passed it many times; I wanted to see it again.

Tomb of Alexander Hamilton in Trinity Church yard, New York City;
October 5th 2001.

Tomb of Alexander Hamilton in Trinity Church yard, New York City, October 13th 2019.

I don't remember ever seeing anyone at Hamilton's tomb, but this year there was a line of people--fans of his Broadway show, perhaps?

We walked down Wall Street next, towards Liberty Hall. Using the Holga, I grabbed a photo of two soldiers in front of us.

Soldiers walking down Wall Street; October 5th 2001.

18 years later, using the same camera, in almost exactly the same place, I photographed two hijab-wearing women.

Women wearing hijabs walking down Wall Street; October 13th 2019.

In 2001, I'd looked back up Wall Street and noticed a building had cast shade onto the facade of Trinity Church; in the foreground was a soldier talking to a police officer. I captured the scene. Looking at this photograph, I feel such a sense of foreboding and of a world out of balance, that I consider it the signature image from this day. A ghoulish detail is the Ryder truck in the shadow, a reminder of another terrorist attack, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Looking up Wall Street towards Trinity Church; October 5th 2001.

Looking up Wall Street towards Trinity Church; October 13th 2019.

The Stars and Stripes were ubiquitous in 2001; they adorned buildings, vehicles, clothes, everything.

Stars and Stripes flag on the rear of a fire truck, lower Manhattan, New York, October 5th 2001.

This year, in the mall at the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub, a huge flag was draped from a mezzanine.

Stars and Stripes flag hanging in the mall at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub;
October 13th 2019.

My last stop was the new World Trade Center complex, now with its single tower and retinue of smaller buildings.

One World Trade Center, New York City; October 13th 2019.

Buildings reflected in the windows of One World Trade Center, New York City;
October 13th 2019.

It was a warm day. Tourists were strolling around the plaza, and even the cops seemed at ease. But I was very aware that less than 20 years ago an atrocity happened right here that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

NYPD officer at a police booth adjacent to One World Trade Center, New York City;
October 13th 2019.

I made my way to the square memorial pools: two black granite depths placed on the footprints of the original Twin Towers.

9/11 Memorial North Pool; October 13th 2019.

I looked into the north pool; it was unsettling. Water rushed down the walls into a smaller central square, then fell deeper, descending into the shadows, and was gone. Falling into the realm of the dead.