The Oculus - Latin for “eye” - is the transportation hub in Manhattan’s Financial District, where it serves PATH trains to New Jersey and twelve NYC subway lines. On Saturday, October 10, WJC members Dave Homer, Scott Barnes, and John Burlage traveled to the Oculus on an informal fantrip. Our trip began at the Pennsauken Transit Center, where we took NJ Transit’s River Line to Trenton, then an NJT Northeast Corridor Line train Newark, where we transferred to a PATH train bound for the World Trade Center. At Jersey City we were joined by WJC friend John Lavie. The Oculus was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and it depicts a dove being released from a child’s hands. It sits just east of the reflecting pools on the footprints of the World Trade Center Twin Towers, which were destroyed on September 11, 2001. The Oculus was opened on March 3, 2016. Its central skylight is tilted along a specific angle, so that every September 11 between 8:46 a.m. and 10:28 a.m., a beam of sunlight shines directly through the spine to illuminate the main floor.
Following our visit to the Oculus, we walked around the reflecting pools on the sites of the Twin Towers. The perimeters are inscribed with the names of the people lost not only in New York but also at the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa. After lunch at the Oculus, we took the 1 Train to South Ferry and rode the Staten Island Ferry, then returned to Pennsauken by the same route. Photos by Dave Homer and John Burlage.