Empty Sky is the official New Jersey September 11 memorial to the state's victims of the September 11 attacks on the United States. It is located in Liberty State Park in Jersey City at the mouth of Hudson River across from the World Trade Center site. Designed by Jessica Jamroz and Frederic Schwartz, it was dedicated on Saturday, September 10, 2011, a day before the tenth anniversary of the attacks.
The design was chosen by unanimous vote of the Families and Survivors Memorial Committee, out of 320 qualified entries in the international design competition. [1] The memorial is dedicated to 746 New Jerseyans killed in the World Trade Center in 1993 and in the September 11 attacks, as well as those who died on September 11, 2001, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. [2] The New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation has stated that the goal of this memorial is to "reflect the legacies of those whose lives were lost, that their unfulfilled dreams and hopes may result in a better future for society. Their unique qualities and characteristics enriched our lives immeasurably and through this memorial, their stories live on. [2] The memorial includes twin walls, transecting a "gently sloped mound anchored by a granite path that is directed toward Ground Zero. [2] Two 30-foot (9.1 m)-high rectangular towers stretch 208 feet 10 inches (63.65 m) long—the exact width of the World Trade Center towers, the proportion of the walls a symbolic representation of the buildings as if they were lying on their sides. [2] The name of each of the 746 victims is etched in stainless steel in 4-inch (10 cm) letters. A granite passage is oriented to face the site of the twin towers. [2] [3] The name of the memorial is taken from the Bruce Springsteen song "Empty Sky", which is about the "empty sky" where the towers once stood. [4]
Frederic Schwartz, who co-authored the design with Jessica Jamroz, [5] stated that he "listened to the needs and aspirations of the victims' relatives, friends and co-workers", and did not arrive "with a preconceived aesthetic approach." [6] Schwartz who, along with Jamroz, also created The Rising , the Westchester County, New York September 11 memorial, stated that "You start over each time. ... You do serious research, delve into the site, into the problem." [6]
Some observers noted that the memorial is "reminiscent of Maya Lin's Vietnam War memorial in Washington," [7] with its walls filled with names, listed within easy reach and engraved deeply enough to make hand rubbings possible, but one of the many differences between that design and this one will be the way the memorial visually connects New Jersey with the skyline of New York - with the memorial walls symbolic of the felled twin towers across the Hudson River.
Plans for the memorial were met with some controversy, and a non-profit advocacy group for Liberty State Park called "Friends of Liberty State Park" (FOLSP) filed a lawsuit to halt the project. [8] The group stated that the memorial would block "panoramic Manhattan views," and that it should not be built or should be relocated to an area near the 750-tree "Grove of Remembrance," an existing memorial to 9/11 victims. [8] In addition to the concern that the views of Manhattan would be blocked, Sam Pesin, president of FOLSP, stated that the "main message" the group wanted to make clear is that "the governor, in this severe economic crisis, is wasting...taxpayers' money." [9] Pesin's father, Morris, is one of the park's original founders, in 1976. [10]
Some of those in favor of the memorial called the action of the FOLSP a "frivolous lawsuit," [9] and in November 2009 the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of the state's plans for the memorial. [11] A spokesperson for Governor Jon Corzine said the memorial that will be erected is the "result of an open public process," [9] and Andrew Pratt, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Treasury, said in 2010, shortly before the 9th anniversary of the attack, that the state was moving forward "aggressively" to ensure the memorial would be completed by the 10th anniversary in September 2011. [10]
Funding for the memorial was provided by the state, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New Jersey Building Association. [12]
Construction bids twelve million dollars higher than the projected cost of the memorial (due to the international spike in the price of stainless steel) resulted in a construction delay in 2007. [13]
Construction began in May 2009, with a push to complete the memorial by August 15, 2011, in time for its scheduled September 11, 2011 dedication. [10] Although the inside of the walls remained stainless steel, changes to the original design include a plan to use "architecturally finished concrete" for the outside surfaces, so that it will look more attractive than the "flat, drab coating of most concrete finishes." [10]
Dedication ceremonies took place September 10, 2011 and were attended by a number of notable political figures, including Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, five former governors of the state, [14] presidential advisor John O. Brennan, [15] Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and family members of those whose names are inscribed on the monument. [3] [16] [17]
The first memorials to the victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001 began to take shape online, as hundreds of webmasters posted their own thoughts, links to the Red Cross and other rescue agencies, photos, and eyewitness accounts. Numerous online September 11 memorials began appearing a few hours after the attacks, although many of these memorials were only temporary. Around the world, U.S. embassies and consulates became makeshift memorials as people came out to pay their respects.
The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north, the West Side Highway to the west, Liberty Street to the south, and Church Street to the east. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) owns the site's land. The original World Trade Center complex stood on the site until it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
Hudson County is the smallest and most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in the New York metropolitan area, the county seat is Jersey City, which is the county's largest city in terms of both population and area. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's 18th-most-populous municipality, with a population of 68,589, an increase of 2,134 (+3.2%) from the 2010 census count of 66,455, which in turn had reflected a decline of 633 (−0.9%) from the 67,088 counted in the 2000 census. As of the 2010 Census, among cities with a population of more than 50,000, it was the most densely populated city in the United States, with a density of 54,138 per square mile of land. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 65,366 in 2022, ranking the city the 590th-most-populous in the country.
Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. Liberty State Park covers 1,212 acres (490 ha).
The Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) is a light rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by New Jersey Transit (NJT) and operated by the 21st Century Rail Corporation, it connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Union City, at the city line with West New York, and North Bergen.
To the Struggle Against World Terrorism is a 10–story sculpture by Zurab Tsereteli that was given to the United States as an official gift from the Russian government as a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It stands at the end of the former Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey. Ceremonial groundbreaking occurred on September 16, 2005, in a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The monument was dedicated on September 11, 2006, in a ceremony attended by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by eight NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, an NJ Transit event shuttle to Meadowlands Sports Complex, one Metro-North Railroad line, various NJT buses and private bus lines, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rapid transit system, and NY Waterway-operated ferries.
The Sphere is a monumental cast bronze sculpture by German artist Fritz Koenig (1924–2017).
200 Vesey Street, formerly known as Three World Financial Center and also known as the American Express Tower, is one of four towers that comprise the Brookfield Place complex in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Rising 51 floors and 739 feet (225 m), it is situated between the Hudson River and the World Trade Center. The building opened in 1986 as part of the World Financial Center and was designed by Haines Lundberg Waehler and Cesar Pelli & Associates.
The Colgate Clock is an octagonal clock facing the Hudson River near Exchange Place in Jersey City, New Jersey. The clock has a diameter of 50 feet (15 m). It was located atop of what was once the headquarters of the Colgate-Palmolive, until 1985, when was moved to a ground-level location 1,300 feet (400 m) south of that building, which was demolished and replaced with the Goldman Sachs Tower.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing an earlier one that had been in use since 1864. It operated until April 30, 1967.
The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, also known as the Hudson River Walkway, is a promenade along the Hudson Waterfront in New Jersey. The ongoing and incomplete project located on Kill van Kull and the western shore of Upper New York Bay and the Hudson River was implemented as part of a New Jersey state-mandated master plan to connect the municipalities from the Bayonne Bridge to the George Washington Bridge with an urban linear park and provide contiguous unhindered access to the water's edge.
Temple Beth-El is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 2419 Kennedy Boulevard in the Bergen Section of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, in the United States.
Frederic David Schwartz was an American architect, author, and city planner whose work includes Empty Sky, the New Jersey 9-11 Memorial, which was dedicated in Liberty State Park on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The Rising is a memorial located in the Kensico Dam Plaza of Valhalla, Westchester County, New York, created by architect Frederic Schwartz. It stands against the backdrop of Kensico Dam, commemorating the September 11 attacks on America and remembering in a special way the men and women from Westchester County who were victims of those attacks.
The new World Trade Center (WTC) is a complex of buildings in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood area of New York City, replacing the original seven buildings on the same site that were destroyed during the September 11 attacks of 2001. hence the name. The buildings are currently being rebuilt with up to six brand new skyscrapers, four of which have been finished; a memorial and museum to those killed of the attacks; the elevated Liberty Park adjacent to the site, containing the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and the Vehicular Security Center; the Perelman Performing Arts Center; and a transportation hub. The 104-story One World Trade Center, being the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, is the lead building for the new complex.
The Hudson Riverfront 9/11 Memorial, also known as the Weehawken 9/11 Memorial, is a memorial in Weehawken, New Jersey. It commemorates the '9/11 boat lift', the emergency rescue response, and those who perished in the aftermath the September 11 attacks of the World Trade Center in 2001. It is located on the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway at the site of triage which had been set up on the left bank of Hudson River and was dedicated ten years after the events of that day.
The Jersey City 9/11 Memorial is located on the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway at the foot of Grand Street in Paulus Hook near Exchange Place in Jersey City, New Jersey. It comprises three components: a sculpture of steel girders from the original World Trade Center, an inscribed black granite stele, and Makeshift Memorial. The site on the Hudson Waterfront opposite the World Trade Center site was a triage set up during the '9/11 boatlift' and thereafter became a staging area for rescue operations.
