Did you know that many artifacts from Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center can be found on the Upper West Side?

As the "collective memory" of New York, the New-York Historical Society (Two West 77th Street) is the museum of choice for visitors interested in art and artifacts from the city's 400-year history. Now a new exhibit makes the Historical Society one of the only places to view relics from recent events in Lower Manhattan.

Recovery: The World Trade Center Recovery Operation at Fresh Kills opened at the Historical Society on November 25; it features more than 50 objects from the destroyed World Trade Center that were salvaged from Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. (The name "Fresh Kills" comes from the Dutch words "versche," meaning fresh, and "kil," meaning estuary or waterway.)

The exhibit also features video and audio recordings from September 11, 2001, along with photos from the recovery effort. Also included is a touch-screen display where visitors can view FBI film of the recovery and take a closer look at the entire inventory of objects in the collection -- including damaged sections of police and fire department vehicles, parts of the hijacked airliners, souvenirs from Windows on the World restaurant and viewing deck, and pieces of the Twin Towers. A number of destroyed handguns and rifles, which officials believe were once stored in the U.S. Customs House in 6 World Trade Center, are on display as well.

Commenting on the breadth of the exhibit, Kenneth T. Jackson, president and CEO of the Historical Society, said, "The amazing thing is how little of the World Trade Center remains -- it's really relatively little. And the recovery officials did an unbelievable sorting job. They got it down to the level of needing a broom and dustpan to sift through what was left."

The New-York Historical Society is open to the public each week Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; visitors can view the Recovery exhibit there through March 21, 2004. Click here for more information about the exhibit, and about the Historical Society's permanent collection, which includes other World Trade Center objects and centuries-old objects and art from Lower Manhattan

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