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I'm going with some buddies to Atlantic City in two weeks for a couple days. We found out about the Atlantic City Express Service (ACES) train run by a couple of the hotels there (Borgata, Caesars, maybe Tropicana also) and we are considering taking a day to use the train and go to New York to pay our respects at Ground Zero. Its something I feel is personally important as an American and I probably won't be traveling up that way in a long time so we feel maybe this is the right time to go. I have been to the Pentagon memorial and it is a very sobering experience. While I was fortunate not to have lost anyone I knew that day, 9-11 has changed my life and my outlook in many ways. I've also heard it is a good idea to see Ground Zero before the new Freedom Tower is all built. We're cool with just seeing Ground Zero and nothing else since most of us have been to NY before and seen Wall Street, the Empire State Building and had our pictures taken in Times Square before. The last time I was in the city was at least 10 years ago. Its hard to believe its already been 7 years since 9-11. It doesn't feel nearly as long and I hope we are not forgetting that day as our country continues to fight the war on terror and build a strong military to defend our borders against terrorism and also other threats.
I've been looking at the schedules. The ACES website says the earliest train to depart Atlantic City on a Friday morning will arrive at Penn Station at 12:56 PM, and the last train leaving Penn Station back to Atlantic City leaves at 5:16 PM. Would this time window be sufficient to go from Penn Station to the World Trade Center memorial site/Ground Zero, for us to spend at least an hour at the site itself if not more, and make it back to penn Station in time to catch our train back to Atlantic City as our hotel is down there as well as more entertainment. Is it faster/cheaper to take a taxi or the subway to and from Penn Station to and from Ground Zero? The ACES train also has the option of stopping in Newark. Would it give us more time if we get off at Newark and take the subway or taxi from there rather than Penn Station? It is going to be on a Friday. Any advice that y'all can give is appreciated. I hope nobody finds it offensive or in bad taste that this is done in combination with a trip to the beach and casinos. Visiting Ground Zero will be more of a reflective than a tourist/sightseeing thing and as I mentioned most of us have done the tourist thing in New York already before.
Yeah that is plenty of time. The subway ride from Penn to World Trade is 10-15 minutes tops. Jump on the downtown E-train from Penn. You should plan some other stuff to do because it is going to be tedious killing all that time at the ground zero site.
I agree that you would have time to do something else, perhaps have lunch in the area, before departing back to Atlantic City.
Just a word of caution. Don't be shocked by what you might see on the sidewalks around the WTC site. There are vendors, protestors with theories, and other fringe groups that may or may not be there on a given day, and some find the presence intrusive. It's nothing like the Pentagon memorial right now, since it's a mix of active construction site and busy sidewalks in Lower Manhattan.
Thanks a lot for the input. It will work out well then. We'll either find some other places to see (maybe Little Italy or parts of Midtown don't know yet) or catch an ealier train back to Atlantic City as it departs at 4 different times. Just have to figure out the train tickets with ACES. Its great there is a train as I think Baltimore's traffic is hairy enough for me
I personally do not subscribe to conspiracy theories and its interesting to hear that they still protest even today. Its also incredibably insensitive and in bad taste for people to doctor photos or manipulative videos of the tragedy and make claims about the supernatural, etc. I've heard one has to visit the site to truly understand the magnitude of what happened. At the Pentagon it was not very crowded since it was on a Saturday but the biggest evidence something happened there was that whole wall looks completely modern and polished compared to the rest of the building (which I had to walk around from the Metro station.) The memorial there with the birth years of all the victims and showing all those lives were cut short on that single moment was very profound.
I've said this before: there is really nothing to see at the WTC site and I don't consider it a tourist attraction. It's a sad, sad place. And somehow tourists always want to see it. I don't understand it, but they do.
I believe tourists simply want to pay their respects, for the most part. It is a sobering experience to actually be at ground zero and remember what happened.
It really is more a construction site than a tourist attraction. It is relieving to finally see the new tower rising above street level (FINALLY !) You could catch a look and walk over to Trinity Church, legendary church with a great old cemetery where Alexander Hamilton is buried. Walk around the area, thats a great thing about most of Manhattan.
I agree with the others, there really isn't anything to see there. It's just a big hole in the ground with construction equipment and they have a fence up so you can see anything and it's difficult to take any pictures. People manuver around to find a crack in the fence to look through, but there isn't anything to see really. You have more than enough time to go however. It would take less than 30 mins to get there by train. Take the no. 1 train from Penn Station. Just look for the Red 1 and get on and go. It's not far from Wall Street, so maybe you might want to check that out too afterwards. There are a couple small pubs and restaurants in the area, but it's a really business oriented area and not much else is there. There is still a Burger King across the street though I believe. Whatever you do, don't purchase anything from those losers that hawk merchandise there. There are always these sickos that will try and see you photos of 9/11. It's disgusting and these people are lower than dirt. There are also lunatics with bullhorns yelling about the latest conspiracy, so don't be shocked to see any of that stuff.
J & R is there, too, by City Hall Park, if you want to do some music/electronic/video game shopping.
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you got lots of time
