New York Daily Photo Analytics

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Winter Garden

Very close to the site of the former World Trade Center is the World Financial Center and Winter Garden atrium which was severely damaged in the disaster. 2000 panes of glass, about half of the arched ceiling, were shattered when the towers came down. The gigantic palm trees and everything else inside the Winter Garden were covered with very thick dust, shards of glass and an acrid smoke, leaving it dark and eerie. It has been completely restored - palm trees were replaced, along with marble flooring and half the grand staircase. The atrium greenhouse-like space has become a major venue for very interesting concerts which are free but ticketed. If you are visiting NYC it would be worth your while to check the schedule. Last season we went to a tribute of Bruce Springsteen's 1982 Nebraska album, played by a wide range of indie musicians, with flavors of everything from rockabilly country music to Indian sitar inspired guitars. It turned out the famously reclusive rock star was in the audience with his wife, standing around, enjoying the concert anonymously the whole night, after which he stepped up and did a few numbers impromptu...

17 comments:

Mark said...

What a fantastic building, love it. Tell me guys does the old YMCA still exist from the early 70's? I stayed there with my dad for a couple of days, great memories.

Bob said...

Interesting post.

Kris said...

the revived beauty ! neat shot :)

Brian Dubé said...

Mark, which Y? I beleive the one on 23rd Street converted to apartments -- we will check it out...
Lucy

Anonymous said...

That's pretty good. Nebraska is the only Springsteen album I like. 1982 already, huh? Sheit!

Sam said...

Very lovely!I was here once and wondered how it had fared during 9-11. The concerts sound fantastic - are they still in Central Park as well?

Carrie Nichols said...

Very nice picture. And cool about the Boss. I had to get up before dawn and stand in line for like 12 hours just to get tickets when he played the Hartford (CT) Civic Center.

ABDALLA ALI AHMAD said...

the up side in this pic is great
in fact ,, alot of photos are great in here

Alex said...

I love these giant palm trees in front of the spectacular wall and roof glass!I cannot wait to be there.

-Alex

Brian Dubé said...

Yes, guys, can't say enough about it, they seem to have a really good line up for concerts on a consistent basis. This indie group coming up, The Books, sounds like they will be very interesting...
Yes, they do still have free concerts in the Parks, Central and Prospect Park and all the boros. That is one thing that is very good about the summer weekends in NYC if you can't get away.

Anonymous said...

Just a note: the World Financial Center buildings were not destroyed--the buildings remained standing (albeit with windows shattered by WTC debris). The Winter Garden atrium, however, was very badly damaged (as described in the original post).

annulla said...

The WFC was not destroyed by the attacks and the glass was not all shattered. I took an architectural tour just before the Winter Garden was reopened to the public and learned that most of the glass in the artium was undamaged. The broken panes were replaced; the original glass is still in place.

One of the WFC towers was severely damaged when a chunk of the World Trade Center facade flew into it and became embedded in what was -- at the time -- a company cafeteria.

The Winter Garden and the cove area in the rear have always been a location for concerts and public performances.

The first performance after the attack was a concert by Lea Delaria; the Winter Garden had not yet been fully restored so the concert was held amid the scaffolding and construction barriers.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

SUPERBE endroit, calme, a cote du port de plaisance et du jardin. J'adore. Tres belle photo, bravo

Kate said...

Ah, yes! Now I see what you mean in your post today (Jan 17, 2008)!! Wonderful palm trees and foilage!

Anonymous said...

Fantastis shot great composition and perspective