The Big Apple bounces back
New York City shines brighter more than ever
NEW YORK CITY – The world watched in horror in their tv sets as the twin towers of World Trade Center crumbled in slow motion after they were hit by two planes on Sept. 11 killing almost 3,000 people and dramatically changed the skyline of New York City. This image of devastating act of terrorism has left an indelible mark in the world’s consciousness up to this time. Four years after the incident, we were still thunder-struck upon seeing for the first time last week the ground where the two 107-floor office towers, New York’s tallest buildings at that time and symbol of US economic and financial power once stood.
Chelo Banal Formoso, Lifestyle editor of Philippine Daily Inquirer (who covered with us the recent International Pow Wow here) together with Millet Martinez Mananquil Lifestyle editor of Philippine Star, even cried as she saw for the first time the now more popularly known as Ground Zero. She said she used to pass daily by the twin towers in going to work in a nearby building during her three-year stay in the city with her two kids and husband Billy who was our assistant for 12 years when we were editing the provincial section of the Bulletin.
If not for the makeshift arched gateway bearing THE GROUND ZERO sign in bold letters, there was no way of knowing where the exact places the twin towers stood.
Standing alongside under the arched doorway are four pairs of stairs leading to the basement where giant photos taken during the clearing of the Ground Zero are displayed on the walls.
At the western side of the basement is the entrance of a subway crossing the Hudson River and linking New York City to New Jersey. Commuters crowd here as they wait for subway train and bus rides.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said the new design to replace the World Trade Center will double the distance from the street and calls for thicker glass.
Pataki said the Freedom Tower will still be 1,776 feet high (the number represents the date of US declaration of Independence), the world’s tallest skyscraper when completed and will feature 2.6 million square feet of office space, a rooftop restaurant and observation deck.
Another key element in the rebuilding of Downtown is Reflecting Absence, a three-level memorial, designed by Architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker in conjunction with Associate Architect Max Bond. In addition, the Joyce International Dance Center, Signature Theater, International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center will occupy two cultural complexes on the WTC site.
We used to tell friends back home in Manila that two days before the twin towers were first bombed in 1993, I climbed the famous edice with my daughter, now Dr. Cecilia G. Polintan, who was working at that time in a Manhattan dental clinic, to marvel at the panoramic view of New York City. That was a Wednesday. On Friday, after that (Feb. 26), a bombing explosion at the tower basement left six people dead and more than a thousand injured. Damage to properties was in excess of a half a billion dollars.
There was no denying that New York City lost some, if not most, of its glitter as a result of 9/11 terror attacks. Businesses related to travel and tourism slowed down as international visitor arrivals in the city dropped considerably.
But not long after the 9/11, this giant of a city, America’s largest in fact, started to bounce back with impunity. It has continued to undergo tremendous revitalization since 9/11 with positive developments contributing to a remarkable resurgence in tourism. In fact, the Big Apple welcomes more visitors from overseas than any other destination in the United States, and recent forecasts show a new high of 39.6 million visitors, including a 10.2 percent increase of 5.3 million international visitors, marking a first-time rise since terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing organization, will reach more potential visitors when it unveils an international marketing campaign that showcases the best of the Big Apple. The integrated initiative includes an original song "New York: For the Time of Your Life" and a promotional video produced by HBO, which features sweeping shots of the city from Brooklyn to the Bronx, Queens to Staten Island and Manhattan.
New hotels, museums, restaurants, attractions, Broadway shows and more are also giving travelers good reason to return to New York City, providing them with greater access to an incredible choice of things to see and do during their stay.
In Lower Manhattan, plans for redevelopment are on track with major projects reaching significant milestones.
New York City continues to be a premier destination for meetings and conventions, with the vision for a Convention Corridor on Manhattan’s Far West Side fast becoming a reality. After more than a decade of advocacy by New York City’s travel and tourism industry, the State Legislature in December 2004 passed legislation, signed into law by Governor George E. Pataki, enabling the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. On March 31, 2005, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board voted unanimously to approve the proposal to develop the New York Sports and Convention Center (NYSCC). The next phase in the realization of a complete Convention Corridor requires the NYSCC proposal to be submitted to the Public Authorities Control Board for review.
Transportation infrastructure improvements will also transform New York City. At the center of this ambitious project is a Lower Manhattan transportation hub. The state-of-the-art World Trade Center PATH Terminal, designed by Santiago Calatrava will serve as a gateway to Downtown residents and visitors. Plans are also under way for the new Fulton Street Transit Center.
Getting to airports in the New York City Metropolitan area is easier. The recently opened Air Train provides traffic-free access to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport. The JFK AirTrans is a light-rail system that links to the airport to New York’s subways and the Long Island Railroad. Newark AirTrain connects with NJ Transit commuter and Amtrak regional trains and takes travelers to airline terminals, rental car facilities, hotel shuttles and central parking lots. By July 2005, a fast ferry connecting LaGuardia Airport and Lower Manhattan is expected to begin operations.
Train riders will benefit from a new 400,000-square-foot Penn Station transit hub, with the majestic James A. Farley General Post Office as the centerpiece. Plans for the Beaux Arts building across the street from the station on Eighth Avenue, include restoration of the steel and glass atrium rising 75 feet above the roof, restaurants, shops and a hub Amtrak, Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit. The new station will accommodate the increase in commuters and restore yet another of New York City’s many architectural treasures.
In cruise news, the creation of a modern cruise ship terminal on the Brooklyn waterfront and improvements to the Passenger Ship Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan will help meet the demand for New York City’s growing cruise industry.
Source: Manila Post, By CORNELIO R. DE GUZMAN
NEW YORK CITY – The world watched in horror in their tv sets as the twin towers of World Trade Center crumbled in slow motion after they were hit by two planes on Sept. 11 killing almost 3,000 people and dramatically changed the skyline of New York City. This image of devastating act of terrorism has left an indelible mark in the world’s consciousness up to this time. Four years after the incident, we were still thunder-struck upon seeing for the first time last week the ground where the two 107-floor office towers, New York’s tallest buildings at that time and symbol of US economic and financial power once stood.
Chelo Banal Formoso, Lifestyle editor of Philippine Daily Inquirer (who covered with us the recent International Pow Wow here) together with Millet Martinez Mananquil Lifestyle editor of Philippine Star, even cried as she saw for the first time the now more popularly known as Ground Zero. She said she used to pass daily by the twin towers in going to work in a nearby building during her three-year stay in the city with her two kids and husband Billy who was our assistant for 12 years when we were editing the provincial section of the Bulletin.
If not for the makeshift arched gateway bearing THE GROUND ZERO sign in bold letters, there was no way of knowing where the exact places the twin towers stood.
Standing alongside under the arched doorway are four pairs of stairs leading to the basement where giant photos taken during the clearing of the Ground Zero are displayed on the walls.
At the western side of the basement is the entrance of a subway crossing the Hudson River and linking New York City to New Jersey. Commuters crowd here as they wait for subway train and bus rides.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said the new design to replace the World Trade Center will double the distance from the street and calls for thicker glass.
Pataki said the Freedom Tower will still be 1,776 feet high (the number represents the date of US declaration of Independence), the world’s tallest skyscraper when completed and will feature 2.6 million square feet of office space, a rooftop restaurant and observation deck.
Another key element in the rebuilding of Downtown is Reflecting Absence, a three-level memorial, designed by Architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker in conjunction with Associate Architect Max Bond. In addition, the Joyce International Dance Center, Signature Theater, International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center will occupy two cultural complexes on the WTC site.
We used to tell friends back home in Manila that two days before the twin towers were first bombed in 1993, I climbed the famous edice with my daughter, now Dr. Cecilia G. Polintan, who was working at that time in a Manhattan dental clinic, to marvel at the panoramic view of New York City. That was a Wednesday. On Friday, after that (Feb. 26), a bombing explosion at the tower basement left six people dead and more than a thousand injured. Damage to properties was in excess of a half a billion dollars.
There was no denying that New York City lost some, if not most, of its glitter as a result of 9/11 terror attacks. Businesses related to travel and tourism slowed down as international visitor arrivals in the city dropped considerably.
But not long after the 9/11, this giant of a city, America’s largest in fact, started to bounce back with impunity. It has continued to undergo tremendous revitalization since 9/11 with positive developments contributing to a remarkable resurgence in tourism. In fact, the Big Apple welcomes more visitors from overseas than any other destination in the United States, and recent forecasts show a new high of 39.6 million visitors, including a 10.2 percent increase of 5.3 million international visitors, marking a first-time rise since terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing organization, will reach more potential visitors when it unveils an international marketing campaign that showcases the best of the Big Apple. The integrated initiative includes an original song "New York: For the Time of Your Life" and a promotional video produced by HBO, which features sweeping shots of the city from Brooklyn to the Bronx, Queens to Staten Island and Manhattan.
New hotels, museums, restaurants, attractions, Broadway shows and more are also giving travelers good reason to return to New York City, providing them with greater access to an incredible choice of things to see and do during their stay.
In Lower Manhattan, plans for redevelopment are on track with major projects reaching significant milestones.
New York City continues to be a premier destination for meetings and conventions, with the vision for a Convention Corridor on Manhattan’s Far West Side fast becoming a reality. After more than a decade of advocacy by New York City’s travel and tourism industry, the State Legislature in December 2004 passed legislation, signed into law by Governor George E. Pataki, enabling the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. On March 31, 2005, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board voted unanimously to approve the proposal to develop the New York Sports and Convention Center (NYSCC). The next phase in the realization of a complete Convention Corridor requires the NYSCC proposal to be submitted to the Public Authorities Control Board for review.
Transportation infrastructure improvements will also transform New York City. At the center of this ambitious project is a Lower Manhattan transportation hub. The state-of-the-art World Trade Center PATH Terminal, designed by Santiago Calatrava will serve as a gateway to Downtown residents and visitors. Plans are also under way for the new Fulton Street Transit Center.
Getting to airports in the New York City Metropolitan area is easier. The recently opened Air Train provides traffic-free access to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport. The JFK AirTrans is a light-rail system that links to the airport to New York’s subways and the Long Island Railroad. Newark AirTrain connects with NJ Transit commuter and Amtrak regional trains and takes travelers to airline terminals, rental car facilities, hotel shuttles and central parking lots. By July 2005, a fast ferry connecting LaGuardia Airport and Lower Manhattan is expected to begin operations.
Train riders will benefit from a new 400,000-square-foot Penn Station transit hub, with the majestic James A. Farley General Post Office as the centerpiece. Plans for the Beaux Arts building across the street from the station on Eighth Avenue, include restoration of the steel and glass atrium rising 75 feet above the roof, restaurants, shops and a hub Amtrak, Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit. The new station will accommodate the increase in commuters and restore yet another of New York City’s many architectural treasures.
In cruise news, the creation of a modern cruise ship terminal on the Brooklyn waterfront and improvements to the Passenger Ship Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan will help meet the demand for New York City’s growing cruise industry.
Source: Manila Post, By CORNELIO R. DE GUZMAN
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