by Tess Taylor

On a November, 2001 weekend, before the first frost, hundreds of New Yorkers planted thousands of daffodils in parks around the city. Next spring, the blossoming bulbs will provide a memorial to the hard season the city has endured, and to the people we have lost.

It may take longer than that for decisions to be made about what should be done in lower Manhattan. As the grieving and recovery processes continue, it is difficult to determine how rebuilding should take place. The very decision-making machinery to permit action is only now under development.

Nevertheless, re-envisioning lower Manhattan is underway. The questions at stake stretch far beyond the future use of a plot of land or the shape of replacement buildings. Individuals involved in preliminary planning are poised delicately between the need to provide viable, carefully considered options for a business community hungry to rebuild and the need to respond to a ruptured community that is still raw with grief.   >>>

Among countless memorials by New Yorkers is a painting of the World Trade Center and skyline as seen on the Brooklyn promenade. Photo: Martha Cooper A still-smoky view of the World Trade Center disaster site, as seen from Broadway in lower Manhattan. Photo: Martha Cooper   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.