Santa and His Super Hero visits Ground Zero.

In April 2016, we went of a trip to New York City.  One of the main things that we wanted to do was visit Ground Zero and the surrounding firehalls.  Most of the posts in this blog are about Firehall visits but this was an experience that we will never forget.

Santa and His Super Hero is about Santa getting stuck in a chimney and his Super Hero, a firefighter named Nathan, who comes to his rescue.  But firefighters aren't Nathan's only super heroes.  In fact, all first responders are his super heroes.  During the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, there were 2606 people killed.  343 of them were fire fighters and 71 of them were police.  That is over 400 brave men and women who bravely ran into collapsing and collapsed buildings and gave their lives to help total strangers.

Time to Reflect at Ground Zero.

Manhattan New York is the busiest and probably loudest place I have ever been to.  They say it is the city that never sleeps.  It was amazing.  We walked from Vesey Street up the stairs toward the new One World Trade Center, it was as expected in New York City.  Loud and active.  As we walked past One World Trade Center and crossed Fulton Street, it was as if we walked into the Twilight Zone.  Suddenly it was silent.  No more hustle and bustle.  No more honking horns or smells coming from every type of food truck imaginable.  Just silence and calm.

Where the twin towers once stood are 2 reflecting pools.  Built on the footprint of the original towers, these reflecting pools have water running down them pooling at the bottom, then flowing into what used to be the elevator shafts.  Topping the walls that surround these monuments are all of the names of the people who perished in each of these buildings.  On the west side of the North Pool was a list of all of the first responders who died in that building.  Some of them, still below where we stood.

After what felt like a few minutes, we realized we had been there for over an hour and it was time to move onto our first fire hall visit in New York.  We walked east towards the closest firehall to Ground Zero.  As we crossed the intersection of Greenwich Street and Liberty Street, and left the serenity of the 9/11 Memorial, we were suddenly transported back to Manhattan, in all it's glory.