The Winter Garden, Lower Manhattan

I went into lower Manhattan last week and the city was just beginning to put up decorations for Christmas, as you can see by this photo of Liberty Park near Ground Zero.
(all photos enlarge when clicked on)

In the photo foreground is Seward Johnson's 1982 metal sculpture of a businessman called "Double Check." This sculpture became a makeshift memorial after 9/11, and was eventually returned to the artist until the park could be rebuilt. He was reinstalled recently, along with some temporary Christmas trees and lights on the new honey locust trees that have been planted in the park.

I walked over to the Winter Garden on the opposite end of Ground Zero hoping it would have some decorations up too, but it wasn't as yet decorated. The Winter Garden is a 10-story glass-vaulted pavilion on Vesey Street in New York City's World Financial Center. It houses various trees and flowers, restaurants and shops. The rear of the building opens onto the World Financial Center Plaza and the North Cove Yacht Harbor on the Hudson River.
The Winter Garden also serve as a venue for art exhibits, music, and shows, as well as hosting movie screenings during the TriBeCa Film Festival.

The Winter Garden Atrium, along with the rest of World Financial Center, was designed by architect César Pelli in 1985. Completed in 1988 at a cost of $60 million, the Atrium was originally connected to the World Trade Center via a 400-foot pedestrian bridge that spanned the West Side Highway.

It was severely damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade center and its pedestrian bridge was destroyed. The Winter Garden was the first major structure to be completely restored following the attacks, and reopened on September 17, 2002. The pedestrian bridge was replaced by windows facing the former site of the World Trade Center as you can see in the photo below. This area is the best view of the rebuilding going on in Ground Zero, and the windows usually attract many tourists and New Yorkers who look through them to the construction site.

This is the best view I could get for the beginnings of the "Freedom Tower" or the new One World Trade Center. Construction for the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower began on April 27, 2006. When completed the Freedom Tower will consist of 2.6 million square feet of office space, as well as an observation deck, world-class restaurants, parking, and broadcast and antennae facilities. Below-ground tenant parking and storage, shopping and access to the PATH and subway trains and the World Financial Center will also be provided. Hopefully the economic slowdown will not effect its completion.

Some of the views of Ground Zero from the Winter Garden's panoramic windows.

Another view of the base of The Freedom Tower under construction:

I zoomed my camera view across the Ground Zero construction site towards St. Paul's (photo below), nicknamed "The Little Chapel That Stood," which you can see nestled in the trees. This is the very historic chapel where President George Washington once worshiped, and which was miraculously saved from destruction when the World Trade Center collapsed. It also acted as a resting place for the brave rescue/recovery workers. I blogged about the chapel previously, here.

There was a really interesting exhibit going on in the Winter Garden when I was there called "Canstruction" which is an international charity competition where architects, engineers, contractors and students they mentor, competed to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. At the close of the competition all of the food from the New York City competition will be donated to City Harvest.

I'll blog those photos next time -- the structures were so imaginative and not to be missed!