Of course, work still continues
Of course, work still continues around Ground Zero. The Wintergarden--the ten-story glass atrium that faced the Hudson and connected to the North Tower--is being repaired in record time. For those who don't know, the Wintergarden is that tiny bubble of multipaned glass that used to squat next to the World Financial Center, facing the Hudson. Inside, it looked like this. All of that shiny marble had to be replaced, along with every pane of glass. I hope they seal the panes a bit better, this time. It looks pretty, but leaked like a sieve when it rained.
The last of the marble that should have taken to years to cut, prepare, and deliver arrived last week from Italy. Listen to this bit about one of the marble craftsmen who are rebuilding floors, Tom Teaman:
"Mr. Teaman, 45, said that he wished he could grab Osama bin Laden 'by the neck.' Instead, he grasped a perfectly honed chunk of grayish Fior de Pesco marble from a quarry in Italy."
That's a beautiful thing, somehow. It is the essence of the difference between Them and Us. We build. They destroy. Very simple. The Italians who quarry, cut, and polish the fine marble know this, too:
"'We didn't consider this a job,' said Ivo Lensi, a vice president at Campolonghi Italia in Montignoso, Italy, which supplied the Winter Garden marbles and granites. 'It is a duty, a responsibility. To show to the world that this crazy guy Osama has done nothing to us. These guys not only attacked the Americans, but they attacked us here in Italy.'"
So the work goes on. And, as always, those who create know what it means to do Good in this world.
