August 3rd - August 10th, 2006

Two 9/11 Photo Exhibits Scheduled to Open Near WTC Site

Sunday, August 7^th: The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has announced that two exhibits featuring photographs of the aftermath of 9/11 will open at sites near the former World Trade Center to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks, the New York Times reported.

One exhibit will be displayed on the fence surrounding the WTC site, the paper reported. Entitled "here, remembering 9/11," it includes photographs from an earlier show that first opened in 2001. The exhibit will be in place before September 11^th, although an opening date has not been set, the paper continued.

The second exhibit, entitled "9/11 and the American Landscape: Photographs by Jonathan Hyman," will include 63 photographs of personal tributes and memorials shot by the photographer on travels across the country on 2002 and 2005, according to the Times. This exhibit will open on September 8^th on the 45^th floor of 7 World Trade Center, the paper continued.

130 Liberty Deconstruction Suspended for a Day

Saturday, August 5^th: Demolition work at 130 Liberty, the former Deutsche Bank building, was suspended last Thursday when elevated readings of toxic dust were discovered on the roof, Newsday and the Daily News reported. Work resumed the following day after officials decided that wetting the roof would prevent people from inhaling the dust, the papers continued.

The decision to halt work came after lab results from an air monitoring station on the tower's roof showed that unacceptable levels of silica were present on July 28^th, the Daily News reported. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation conducts daily air monitoring at the building for a range of material and posts its results online. To view the results, please click here.

Kids Gallery Planned for World Trade Center Memorial

Sunday, August 7^th: The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is planning a separate children's gallery at the Memorial intended to protect younger visitors from the more disturbing elements of other museum exhibits, the Associated Press and the New York Post reported. The exhibit will present the story of the 9/11 attacks through the eyes of other children, according to the newswire.

"We want to create a space in the museum to provide a safe experience in a way that is not traumatic or exploitative," Museum Director Alice Greenwald told the Post.

Several museums are being looked at as models for the WTC museum, according to the AP, including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C, where Greenwald once served as an associate director. The Holocaust museum features a separate exhibit for children between the ages of 8 and 11, the newswire added.

Plans Announced for Fifth Anniversary of 9/11

Monday, August 8^th: Work will begin in coming days on an underground passage connecting the Winter Garden in Battery Park City to the concourse for the new World Trade Center site, forming part of an extensive underground network stretching from the Financial District to the Hudson River, the New York Times reported.

The 100-foot-long passage will run beneath West Street-Route 9A, reconnecting Battery Park City and the World Financial Center to the World Trade Center site much as the North Bridge, a walkway over Route 9A, did before it was destroyed on 9/11. More than 16,000 people an hour are expected to use the underpass, approximately 6,000 more than used the North Bridge, the paper reported.

Initial work on the passageway will include digging a trench to ensure that utilities lines are where they should be and then, in late fall or early winter, constructing a watertight wall to allow for excavation and a temporary bridge deck to carry Route 9A traffic over the construction zone, the paper continued. Once excavation is complete, the concrete shell for the passageway will be built, joining the two-level concourse that will run under a reconstructed Fulton Street to the transportation hub, the paper reported.

The underpass is expected to be finished by the end of 2009, and its cost will come out of the $2.2 billion budget allocated for the transportation hub, the Times reported. Phoenix Constructors, a joint venture of Slattery Skanska, Bovis Lend Lease, Fluor Enterprises, and Granite Construction, will build the underpass and the transportation hub, the paper added.

Plans Announced for Fifth Anniversary of 9/11

Tuesday, August 9^th: Spouses, partners, and significant others of 9/11 victims will lead the solemn commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the attacks, which will be held at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2006, the mayor and governor announced this week.

As in years past, each of the 2,749 victims' names will be read aloud as music plays in the background, and the ceremony will pause in four places to mark the times that each plane hit the towers and the times when each tower fell.

To learn more, please click here.