Inside the Oculus

World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus1I finally made it over to the Oculus in the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, and you really must go. Even half-open, it’s pretty spectacular—and certainly far more appealing now than when it’ll be lined with mall shops. The guard said it’s open 24 hours a day; I went on Saturday around 8 a.m., and there were only one or two people there. To see it without paying the PATH fare, use the entrance inside 4 World Trade Center, at Church and Liberty. The map showing other options—you can use a pay-per-ride MetroCard for the PATH fare—is here. UPDATE 3/17: I learned last night that you can also get to the Oculus for free via the stunning 4 World Trade Center lobby.

P.S. The Port Authority should rethink the inane warnings at every escalator. Yapping nonstop about how they’re for personal use only, not for strollers, etc., they ruin World Trade Center experience with—and the guards who have to listen to the incessant drone are at risk of PTSD.

World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus3Doug Smith was right: This is the World’s Greatest DJ Booth:

World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus5World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus6See what I mean by the experience being better before the shops open?

World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus4A mall hallway:

World Trade Center Transportation Hub mall hallwayA particularly pretty staircase:

World Trade Center Transportation Hub staircaseWhen the whole underground is open, it really will feel like you’re making your way through a skeleton. Here’s the rib cage above the PATH station:

World Trade Center Transportation Hub PATH station

 

3 Comments

  1. Very cold, inhuman place. It looks interesting for a minute, but then you can’t wait to get out of it. There are no warming details, the scale is overwhelming, and there is no evidence of anything created by flesh and blood beings. It is kind of like being inside a giant sun bleached whale carcass, or an impossibly large, vaguely anthropomorphic sculpture. All in all, it would make a good setting for a Philip K. Dick story.

  2. Une prière au silence
    Après la profonde blessure immense injuste déloyale
    D’abord il y eut le chaos
    L’incommensurable abime
    noir sombre sauvage
    la nuit aux ailes noires
    déposa un œuf né du vent
    dans le sein du sombre …
    Puis après l’immense prière
    du magicien Caltrava
    Viendra celui que nous attendons tous
    L’amour aux ailes d’or Étincelantes …
    Merci Monsieur Calatrava pour votre prière
    Merci d’exister…
    Le bonheur existe de nouveau à New York…
    Grâce à vous …
    Jean Arranz
    Paris France 22/06/2018

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