Reflecting on the World Trade Center...1973.

I remember as the towers first went up, people were just amazed that the "tallest buildings" in the world were going up basically on water. Later on in the 1980s the piers on the Hudson beyond the WTC to the West (or the left) in the photograph all became landfill as well. Folks who study the amazing history of Manhattan dating back to the 1500s, are stunned to learn that most of the neighborhoods along the 21st century shore are in fact massive landfills started by the Dutch and continued on by the British and colonial Americans. What's wonderful about the nearly bankrupt 70s in NYC is that where else in the world, could you have a city going broke, covered with litter, crime, and debt, decide to build not one but TWO copies of the "world's tallest building"....and right there on the shore. Unlike other people, I always loved the way they looked, and in every weather condition, season, and time of day. ...and only New Yorkers could have dreamt and accomplished something so spectacular and audacious!!!... I watched them go up floor by floor, I worked and played in them at different times, and I watched them come down in front of my very eyes from my street corner just blocks away. If I live to be 1000, I will never see photos of them without being filled with both joy and grief... and nostalgia for a NYC that's gone....

The World Trade Center towers built on the shore of the Hudson River seen here in March, 1973