For the 18th time the Tribute in Light illuminated the skies of Downtown Manhattan on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The two vertical lights symbolize the fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Center that collapsed in 2001.
From our South office windows, we have a perfect view of Downtown Manhattan, and on a clear night like it was, we got to clearly see the blueish lights as they reached far into the sky. Located a little bit south of the actual World Trade Center, the installation consists of 88 searchlights – pretty impressive!
Side story: According to the New York Times, the bright lights are endangering approximately 160,000 birds every year. The beams lure the birds off their normal migratory flight paths, which puts them at risk of exhaustion, starvation and injuries due to the amount of glass skyscrapers in the area. Luckily, a group of scientists and volunteers keep an eye out for the birds and make sure the lights are actually shut down for a short period of time if the number of birds trapped gets too high.
