The world was robbed of the 21st-century Twin Towers most of us always wanted.
Click above for more comments that rebuke the cynicism that tried to replace the Twin Towers and failed.
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Important Mention: Those who read back over the comments will find that from time to time we have highlighted excerpts to help those who only have time to skim a page get a sense of what people are thinking and feeling. We rarely do that now and it was never a methodical effort, but just a window on public opinion regarding this monumentally important issue. The important thing to know is that no comment matters more than any other. Each one is valued and helps make the case that the public was sidelined on something that mattered so much.
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Some immigrants came in New York based on nothing but a postcard they had seen — a photo with that distinctive Manhattan skyline. To me, a French citizen, New York always has been the Twin Towers. This distinctive, tough, violent shape, was indeed how America seemed to us. Powerful. Mighty. But also beautiful.
All the movies that featured the Twins have written in my head how NYC should look like. It's now a ghost that haunts even me, a young citizen in France... That's how amazing the Twin Towers were.
I've always wanted to see them, to breathe New York's air from the observation deck, at nearly 400 meters from the ground. But now it's impossible, and not only for New-Yorkers, but also for any citizen in the world. The new tower, somehow, has less than the old Twins.
Sorry Freedom Tower, but it's going to be very hard for you to replace such icons.