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Remembering 9/11: The Rebuilding

photographed at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan, New York on August 10, 2011

On the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, as the nation reflected on its losses, thousands of families gathered at the new World Trade Center rising in Lower Manhattan, at the Pentagon and on a field of wildflowers in Pennsylvania to commemorate nearly 3,000 killed on that infamous morning when jetliners were turned into missiles and a new age of terrorism was born.

The day’s centerpiece unfolded at ground zero, where more than 10,000 members of the victims’ families, and some dignitaries and their wives, gathered in a parklike setting of swamp white oaks and emerald lawns — a strangely futuristic plaza with precisely spaced trees rising from a five-acre granite floor, surrounded by a gouged wasteland of unfinished skyscrapers and silent construction cranes.

Excerpted from ‘On 9/11, Vows of Remembrance’ by Robert D. McFadden. Published September 11, 2011 in the New York Times.

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Remembering 9/11: Shanksville, Pennsylvania

photographed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on October 13, 2006

Behind the lunch counter at Ida’s Country Store at the corner of Main Street and Stutzmantown Road, Tammy was wrapping ham and cheese sandwiches in advance of what passes for the noontime rush in Shanksville, population 250. The lifelong resident of this sleepy mountain town tucked in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania is happy to give directions, share a joke or dispense unsolicited advice to strangers, but she won’t give up her last name.

And her age?

“Old enough to know better,” she chirped, drawing a cackle from Missy Brant, 38, who was shaving carrots in the kitchen. Tammy talked to the media a lot in the months after the “incident” that made Shanksville an international destination for pilgrims seeking to understand America by standing at the edge of one of its worst wounds. She has “googled” herself a few times since, however, and unhappily found that her name has been broadcast around the world.

Folks around here value their privacy, Tammy explained, and they are determined to preserve it even as bulldozers and mounds of federal and donated dollars raise the monument that will make Shanksville a tourist attraction rivaling Gettysburg. Swarms of tourists will soon descend on her hometown, most who will neither know nor care what was there before tragedy put it on the international roadmap.

Excerpted from ‘Sept. 11: Ten years later, a nation of resolve‘ by Christopher J. Kelly. Published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on September 11, 2011.

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The Aftermath of NYC’s Hurricane Included Bagels and Coffee

photographed in Brooklyn, New York on August 28, 2011

Tropical Storm Irene’s swipe at the Big Apple proved Sunday that New Yorkers can be a tough crowd to impress.

“I slept through the whole thing,” said James Trager, a writer who watched nature’s display of fury as it took place outside the windows of his apartment in Midtown and gave a tepid review: “Nothing. It’s exaggerated.”

“I think we’re all surprised how relatively quickly the storm blew through here and the rain stopped,” said Steve Kastenbaum, a national correspondent for CNN radio, who watched the storm from the comfort of his apartment in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn.

He said he saw lots of local street flooding and branches in the streets, but few uprooted trees; during the height of the storm, people were walking on the street. “I even saw one or two folks taking a jog,” he said. “I kid you not. Pretty typical for Brooklyn. They’re not going to let anybody get in their way.”

Excerpted from ‘Irene fails to wow New Yorkers‘ by the CNN Wire Staff. Appearing on August 28, 2011, on CNN.com.

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A Lonely Desk at the ‘City’s Most Amazing Art Studio’

photographed at 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York on August 10, 2011

NEW YORK — Anyone looking to find this city’s most amazing art studio can stop right now.

It is, without a doubt, the 48th floor of 7 World Trade Center. Here, near the top of this 52-story office building, with sweeping views of the former site of the Twin Towers, the construction of 1 World Trade Center and all of the rest of Manhattan, the developer Larry Silverstein has allowed a group of artists to work free of charge until the space is leased to a tenant.

The bare-floored studio, completely empty and open, with fireproofed beams still visible and floor-to-ceiling windows, has been something of a home to Todd Stone and the other artists who have worked there. Now Stone’s paintings are the subject of an exhibition, “Witness || Downtown Rising,” on view until September 12 but open by invitation only.

Excerpted from ‘Todd Stone Paintings Show World Trade Center Burning And Rising‘ by Paul Needham. Published in The Huffington Post on July 29, 2011.

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And For the Reasons Found Below, I Found an Electric-Chainsaw Demonstration in My Office Conference Room This Morning

photographed in Manhattan, New York on August 2, 2011

And every year these professionals would say the same thing, just keep making the saws as durable as possible and they will keep buying them. Keep in mind there was no such thing as an electric chainsaw back then. Every saw was built around a crude two-stroke gasoline engine that belched smoke and screamed like a wild banshee, neither of which mattered one iota to professional lumberjacks.

The problem, as Mr. Power saw it, wasn’t that McCulloch lost contact with its customers. Instead, the problem was who the company defined as a customer in the first place. Mr. Power and his contemporaries inside McCulloch’s research department understood there was another market for their chainsaws just sitting there ripe for the picking. By completely ignoring the growing segment of residential chainsaw owners, McCulloch not only failed to understand the needs of residential users, it never fully realized the potential size of the residential market. Unlike the professional lumbermen of the Northwest, residential users cared about things such as weight and noise. While their professional counterparts used these saws to clear entire forests, private homeowners were more concerned with pruning a few branches and cutting firewood, a fact that gave them an entirely different set of needs.

Excerpted from Satisfaction: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer by Chris Denove and James D. Power IV. Published by the Penguin Group, New York, 2006.

From Scorned Rooftops, Watching the Fourth of July Fireworks Across the Entire Borough of Manhattan

photographed in Brooklyn, New York on July 4, 2011

The department-store chain’s [Macy's] dashed hopes for a monumental backdrop for the display shows just how tricky it can be to navigate the logistical and political shoals of the city and its various, demanding precincts. In Brooklyn, resentment still lingers at the highest levels over Macy’s decision to move the fireworks from their longtime spot in the East River to the Hudson two years ago.

That move initially was presented as a one-time shift to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s landing in Manhattan. But Macy’s decided to keep the display on the west side of the island last year in anticipation of moving downriver to the statue this year. Now, Macy’s officials are mum about where they want to fire off their rockets next year, despite the parade of entreaties from Marty Markowitz, the borough president in Brooklyn.

Macy’s “should return the pyrotechnic spectacular to the East River or even New York Harbor, where it helps boost our city’s economy, bringing viewers out to the restaurants and riverfront nightspots of Brooklyn and the outer boroughs of Manhattan and Queens,” Mr. Markowitz said. “As it stands, the celebrants with the best views will once again be residents of New Jersey and the west side of Manhattan, excluding a large part of the city in which Macy’s has its flagship store.”

Excerpted from ‘Spurned by Lady Liberty, Macy’s Fireworks Show Stays Put‘ by Patrick McGeehan. Published July 1, 2011 in The New York Times.

Losing to Mexico in the Gold Cup Final Was Eerily Similar to the Loss to Spain Three Weeks Prior, at Least According to the Fan Section

photographed in Foxborough, Massachusetts on June 4, 2011

PASADENA, Calif. — In just a few short minutes, Mexico turned the tables on the United States, then ran away with its second straight Gold Cup win.

This one means more than the title they took in 2009 against a second-team USA. Now El Tri gets to play in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil a year before the World Cup.

Pablo Barrera scored twice for Mexico, which rallied to beat the United States 4-2 on Saturday night while most of the fans at the Rose Bowl roared approval.

Andres Guardado and Giovani Dos Santos also scored for Mexico, which has won two consecutive Gold Cup titles and six overall.

“They’re as dynamic as any Mexican team I’ve played against,” said Landon Donovan, who has played for the United States since 2000. “They’ve got a few guys who can change the game in a heartbeat.”

That’s almost exactly what happened over the course of seven minutes in the first half.

Excerpted from ‘Mexico rallies to Gold Cup crown‘ by the Associated Press, published June 26, 2011, on ESPN‘s Soccernet.

All-Time U.S. Caps Leader and Hall of Fame Inductee Cobi Jones Signs the Flag

photographed in Foxborough, Massachusetts on June 4, 2011

Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart have been inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Joining the players at a ceremony before the national team’s game against Spain on Saturday are Bruce Murray, inducted as a veteran, and Bob Gansler, who goes in as a builder.

Jones is the national team’s appearance leader. Pope was a stalwart of the U.S. defense for almost a decade, and is tied for most World Cup qualifying games in U.S. history. He’s the first three-time World Cup veteran to play his entire pro career in MLS.

Stewart is a three-time World Cup veteran, playing 101 games for the national team.

Murray was a midfielder and forward in the 1980s and 1990s. Gansler coached the national team at the 1990 World Cup.

The full text of ‘Cobi Jones heads Hall of Fame class‘ from the Associated Press as appearing on ESPN.com.

Oil Prices Are Stripping the Value from Even Fake Hummers

photographed in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, 2011

Higher gas prices are beginning to bite in new and unusual ways. Not only are prices going up at the pump, but they are being propelled upward for smaller, fuel efficient vehicles on used car lots nationwide. At the same time, there has been a spike in drivers trying to unload their gas guzzling SUVs.

Gas prices currently average $3.80 a gallon for unleaded regular, according to the AAA. That’s up 37% since last October 1. According to most experts, the stampede out of SUVs really begins when gas crosses the crucial threshold of $4 a gallon, which it has already breached in New York, California and Florida …

Interestingly, prices for used SUVs have not come down as much as small cars have gone up. That’s because they tend to be a lagging indicator of consumer demand. People who already own SUVs can use online calculators such as the one at edmunds.com to figure out how long it will take to pay for the cost of trading in a larger car for a smaller one. For example, a driver may still have a $20,000 loan on an SUV but a dealer will only offer him or her $18,000. Then there’s an extra $2,000-$4,000 for the newer smaller car. With higher gas prices, how many months of driving do you have to do to make that extra $4,000 for the smaller car worthwhile? It’s a complex calculation and many people decide it’s not worth the bother yet.

Excerpted from ‘Higher Gas Prices Raising the Cost of Smaller, Fuel-Efficient Used Cars‘ by Charles Wallace. Published by Daily Finance, April 14, 2011.

Work Efforts Have Been and Are a Continual Presence in Japan

photographed in Tokyo, Japan on September 5, 2007

TOKYO — Efforts to stabilize the hobbled nuclear power plant in Fukushima hit a snag on Monday when engineers found that crucial machinery at one reactor requires repair, a process that will take two to three days, government officials said.

Another team of workers trying to repair a separate reactor was forced to evacuate in the afternoon after gray smoke rose from Reactor No. 3, said Tetsuro Fukuyama, deputy chief cabinet secretary. However, no explosion was heard and the emission ended by 6 p.m., NHK said. In a separate incident, the broadcaster cited the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency as saying white smoke was coming from the No. 2 Reactor building. Significantly higher levels of radiation have not been detected around the two reactors, Mr. Fukuyama said …

Hundreds of employees from Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the disabled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, worked through the weekend to connect a mile-long high-voltage transmission line to Reactor No. 2 in hopes to restarting a cooling system that would help bring down the temperature in the facility’s reactor and spent fuel pool.

Excerpted from ‘New Repairs Delay Work at Crippled Nuclear Plant’ by Ken Belson, Hiroko Tabuchi and Norimitsu Onishi. Published March 21, 2011 in The New York Times.