Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

I just want to think about the happier times... share with me if you will..


I remember the feeling when I first walked up to the WTC. I mean WOW. I’m not a New Yorker. I have never been to NY before I moved there in 1999. One week later I have an appointment to go to 1WTC for a position with a temp agency. Just WOW. HUGE and awe-inspiring. Everything I ever thought of when I thought of NYC.

Up to the Sky Lobby I go. Wow I can work here? Me? A nobody from San Antonio only a High School diploma and 2yrs of insurance under her belt. NO WAY! To see the city from that view was indescribable.

I got a job, it was 2WTC. Not as high but still pretty awesome.

Commute!
What I loved about my office. I WAS the last stop on the E. Thank you very much. When I was in Astoria I’d take the N but when I moved to Kew Gardens I could just take the E all the way. How awesome was that? No need to transfer or anything. I even got a Tshirt for my little brother that had the E train info on it.

Snow!
Really ?!? Snow that never touches the ground? How is that possible. I remember standing at those little bitty windows looking out at the snow flakes falling and down below the sphere and the courtyard was wet but no snow. Oh and when the snow was bad they'd shut that area off but you'd see a few brave foot prints criss crossing it. haha

Wind!
Ok now this wasn’t fun. I got motion sick on a high windy day. Only relief was in the bathroom because it was closer to center. Just a little bit of Nausea.

Weather!
Never had to go outside! Haha I took the LIRR from Kew Gardens and I’d go from inside my LIRR to inside Penn, to inside WTC, and reverse home. Spoiled rotten! Never had to worry about rain or snow except to walk up to my bf’s car and to my apt.

Views!
I’d work late and outside a window I could watch the sun set on Lady Liberty. I took photos but the camera was stolen.

Cows!
Yep I loved that fake cow that looked like the towers

Food!
Cornucopia made the best fruity blend smoothie things EVER. Id go get a strawberry banana one with two sourdough rolls please and that was breakfast. The little Italian place inside .. they knew my order because I never changed it. They actually invited me to be part of their professional photo shoot for a magazine. I was there but the magazine never ran the story. Heart & Hale, American’s Coffee (Mocha Mondays!!) Ben & Jerry’s.

Stores:
Omg, do I need to say more? Haha Shopping during lunch.. how … NEW YORKER of me! Specifically Borders, I met two authors there and got signed books. James Patterson and Nora Roberts. Borders also sold some great Chocolate covered Espresso Beans

Area:
My post office box was at the Church Street Station. So every few days I’d take a walk out grab my mail, get an ice cream cone then meander back to work. The Farmer’s Market. The walking and views. World Financial Center – I later worked there – the first time I saw that huge glass area! Wow.

I have such happy memories. The people, places, things around WTC. They give me warmth when the cold sets in. They remind me not of what I lost, but what I gained by experiencing it all.

Message edited 9/9/2011 3:59:34 PM.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

We used to walk to the WTC just to get the chocolate covered espresso beans which were sold from machines.

DH and I did all of our Christmas shopping at the WTC one year. I still remember it every time I take out the ornament from that year that I got for my mom.

We used to just hang out there.

I remember the day DH and I decided to be officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

We were sitting in the children's section at Borders reading a Calvin and Hobbes book and he'd kiss me on the cheek when he was ready for me the turn the page,

ETA: Out high school has a bridge that gfoes over the West Side Highway...if you watched ANY coverage on 9/11, you saw that bridge a million times. Anyway, it was mostly glass, and we spent many a rainy afternoon sitting in the bridge, watching lightning strike the tower.

We also played everything imaginable literally in the shadow of the towers at Rockefeller park.

Message edited 9/9/2011 4:14:31 PM.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

It was my favorite place in NYC.

I interned there in 4WTC before my senior year of college. The main offices were in 2WTC so I'd get to go up there occasionally and was in awe of the view and the building.

I've worked downtown ever since and have spent the last 13 years commuting through there on the PATH (except for 9/01-11/03 obviously when it was closed).

I loved seeing the buildings when I would return from a trip. I would love looking at them from the skyline.

I loved going to the plaza and seeing the summer concerts there.

I had a friend who worked on the 100th floor and he'd bring us up after a night out (when security wasn't as tight) to show us the view and it was fabulous.

I spent so much money in that mall and was excited they were getting ready to open an AT Loft shortly.

I brought anyone who came to visit me to visit there since it was such an amazing place.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

I was in college the first time I was there. Some friends and I were bored so we took the 1 subway to the end which was the WTC . It was night time. We sat in between the two buildings and just hung out for a few hours.
A week later it was gone.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

My mom, a native brooklynite, would take us to do one nyc touristy outing a year. I remember going to the top of the etc with my bff and (im dating myself) the cars song "you might think" was popular. We thought we would recreate the video where rik ocasik (as king kong) dropped paulina off the empire state building..wrong building, but we took sugar packets to pour over, but chickened out.


After college we went to john st bar and grill for happy hour all the time!!


Dh and I were at a roof party and have a picture of us with wtc in the background....so surreal, but it reminds me of our early dating time.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

I had dinner at Windows on the World with my future DH less than one month prior to 9/11. What a beautiful view from those windows. I still have mixed emotions when I look at those photos but am very glad I was able to experience such an amazing place.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

The TKTS booth. I used to go to that one instead of Times Square b/c they sold tickets for the matinees the day before instead of the day of. I remember my dad would drive me in to Manhattan just so I could get tickets for myself and my friends. I'm a Broadway junkie.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

While in college I took my friend to Windows on The World for dinner there. I remember the gold elevators and feeling so "grown up." I still have the rectangular match box from that night.

My DHs best friend - his father was one of the architects of the original WTC. He passed away a few years ago. For some random reason I had that box of matches in my purse. I never carry matches. I don't smoke. I took them with me to the funeral. I had no idea that he worked on the WTC. During the burial it is traditional in his religion to burn special paper/money and light candles. No one had matches. The ones that the people leading the service brought broke. All ten of them broke. I remembered that I had these matches. When I took them from my bag, his wife broke down in tears. It was that moment that I found out what the WTC meant to them. I still have that match box with all but one match missing.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

I remember my grandma taking me there when I was 4 or 5. It was so amazing. The towers made me full of awe. I couldn't even imagine something so tall!!

And seeing them when you crossed a bridge, the way they stood out in the skyline, it was always so beautiful, even though they were "just buildings".

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

The first and only time I was there i was a senior in highschool on a class trip. My highschool boyfriend was also on the trip and I have a picture of us all the way on the top with an amazing view behind us. I remember thinking how fast the elevators went and how crazy it was to be that high up!

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Oh, and my mother got remarried when I was 10 and had her wedding reception on the east river in BKLYN (giondos I think it was called) and she has great wedding pics with the towers in the background!

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Seeing the Towers meant I was almost home.
Home from a long summer trip or short weekend getaway with the family. And almost always, I stuck my head out of the car to try and snap a pick.

Seeing the Towers reminds me of my childhood home.
We had a franed picture of the city skyline that we hung above the bar in our den. It was beautiful all lit up at night, you could even see the stars in the sky. I used to catch myself starring at it to see if I could see people in the windows of the towers, working in their office late at night.

Seeing the Towers reminds me of my Dad
He was a Special Agent and his office was a couple blocks from the WTC. He always used the Towers as a point of reference to tell people where he worked. He knew every in and out of NYC and often helped me navigate over the phone (before gps!) when I was stuck in traffic coming home from school.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

I don't think I ever actually went inside but until 1995 my dad worked on Vesey Street right there. I remember looking out the window in his office and not being able to see the top.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Thanks X. Your post made me cry.

In college (1998-99) I temped at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 102nd floor of the North Tower. I can close my eyes and remember the feeling of those elevators, how the wind would make the building move. It was an incredible, beautiful place. Thanks for reminding me to appreciate what I got to experience.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Windows on the World restaurant was incredible

i used to go to the bar there with my ex bf on Sat nights and watch the swing dancers - it was such a cool place to go and hang out and see all these people (young and old) dressed up to the nines in their 40's outfits and then dance like crazy. i was so jealous they could do that!
I'll never forget those copper bathrooms there either.. they glimmered and shimmered like magic

the view from those windows was awe inspiring and somewhat scary too - i remember looking out and seeing the building actually sway in the wind.

i'm so glad i got to experience that

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

My prom was supposed to be at Windows of the World....but people complained about the cost.

My Sweet 16 was at my father's restaurant, La Bella Vista, which was right across the water. La Bella Vista means "The Beautiful View" and it was just that. A first row seat to the amazing NYC skyline, with the WTC front and center. It was a gorgeous August night, and the WTC was such an incredible background for my party. Many of the guests spent the evening outside on the deck just so they could stare at the towers.

Many of my friend's parents later told my mother that had it not been for my party, their kids never would've seen the towers up close.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Thanks everyone.. for sharing the good times.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

DH worked there and I LOVED going to his office. I can remember when he got the job there. I waited for him while he interviewed and shopped! He was so excited when he got the job! He couldn't believe that he would be working in such an important place!

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

WHen DH & were dating maybe about 6 months, we spent a day in NYC in June....the day before my graduation from high school. I did not want to go my senior prom...my friends & boyfriend had all graduated a year before.

DH planned a whole day out in NYC & mid day we went to the WTC. I remember seeing the Ben & Jerry's cow. I remember taking pictures of him because my sister loved cows!! I remember it took forever to get to the observation deck.

We took a picture of each of us up at the top of the WTC. Those pictures are in the beginning of our wedding video since we got married about 10 months after 9/11.

That was my 1st & only visit ever there. It's a day I will always remember

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

Thank you for these nice stories. It was an amazing place! I also went to Windows for the first time on 8/24/01. So strange that weeks later it was gone. My feet were killing me that day and a friend and I went to happy hour after work. Before going up I stopped in Nine West at the mall and bought a pair of black slide on sandals. Same ones I walked home in on 9/11.

Re: Good Memories.. happier times .. WTC related

In 1981 I got a job at an insurance company in 4 WTC. I was so excited to get this job that I didnt care about the money. When I came home and told my parents I got this job and the pay my dad said to me "If you would have waited and gone on more interviews you would have gotten more money" I remember telling him "But its in the WTC!!!" In 1995 we moved to 2 WTC on the 46th and 47th Floors. The first few weeks there I felt the swaying and got a bit sick at times. I ended up by not noticing after awhile. In 1998 they were downsizing and had done away with my department so I was laid off after 17 years there.

My favorite things about working there was:

the concerts during the summer. Each day was a different theme.

The shopping in the concourse and going to Fulton Street.

After moving to 2 WTC during fleet week we would stand by the windows and watch the ships come into the harbor.

I lived in Glendale at the time and I was able to take the "M" train right to work.