There is an area where one can sit and contemplate what occurred here on September 11, 2001, where 33 passengers, 7 crew members and the 4 highjackers perished.
There is also a temporary fence where people can leave mementos, a collage of flowers, flags, handwritten messages, artwork, ball caps, patches….
Since this is a personal blog, I’m going to make some comments here that not everyone reading this may agree with. I feel this site should be treated with respect and reverence, and indeed it seems that that is the case as there are signs asking that no smoking, food, pets, etc be brought on site. People talked quietly, there were no kids racing around. However, for reasons I cannot fathom, motorcyclists seem to have made this a mecca. There is a constant roar of Harleys, coming and going, disturbing what should be a respectful peace. And it is my opinion that the geegaws being left for memorials are more for the notoriety of the person leaving them. What baseball caps, tee shirts, wind chimes, etc have to do with tokens of respectful remembrance is beyond me. I felt these things cheapened the site and made it quite tacky. As I said, I think these things are more for the benefit of the person leaving this junk, as these things are left on display until they become faded or worn, when they are collected by the park attendants, cleaned, catalogued and stored, awaiting to be incorporated in the permanent memorial. As of December 2007, there were over 25,000 items.
