Critical Military Studies

ISSN: 2333-7486 (Print) 2333-7494 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcms20

An attempt at an inexhaustible site in Lower Manhattan David B. Hobbs To cite this article: David B. Hobbs (2015) An attempt at an inexhaustible site in Lower Manhattan, Critical Military Studies, 1:1, 88-98, DOI: 10.1080/23337486.2015.1006845 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2015.1006845

Published online: 17 Feb 2015.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 612

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Citing articles: 1 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcms20 Download by: [37.44.207.132]

Date: 18 January 2017, At: 22:24

Critical Military Studies, 2015 Vol. 1, No. 1, 88–98, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2015.1006845

An attempt at an inexhaustible site in Lower Manhattan David B. Hobbs* Department of English, New York University, New York (Received 28 October 2014; accepted 29 November 2014)

Date: 18 February 2014 Time: 7:35 pm Location: 186 Vernon Ave., Brooklyn, NY Weather: Indoors

There are many things in Place Saint-Sulpice…. A great number, if not the majority, of these things have been described, inventoried, photographed, talked about, or registered. My intention in the pages that follow was to describe the rest instead: that which is generally not taken note of, that which is not noticed, that which has no importance: what happens when nothing happens other than the weather, people, cars, and clouds (Perec 2010).

Sometime before the morning of February 12th, I decided to spend an entire day at “Ground Zero”. I was still thinking about a talk given by Ariel Efron, who had helped to design the We remember video installation at the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and I wanted to put some pressure on the memorial’s insistence on certain narratives of place and context — what Andreas Bernard might call its “emphatic siting” (Bernard 2014). Efron’s installation allows visitors to the museum to view and hear recordings of other visitors’ memories of the event, within a hallway of screens on which maps of the world are created by excerpted quotations from these recordings, “portraying the shared global experience of witness”.1We remember uses a recognizable pattern of spatial relationships to make an argument about situatedness, offering any spot on the globe as a Point B with “Ground Zero”, Manhattan, New York, USA, as the inevitable Point A. But if “Ground Zero” is the nexus of global affect, it is curiously removed from the city itself; what was a busy financial district lies, not fallow precisely, but at a remove from the mundane patterns of urban life. Until One World Trade Center opens at the end of this year, the site is given over entirely to memory and remembering. It is as though a somber piece of the theme park that winds up Broadway from the shadow of the Empire State Building to 59th, and then over and up 5th Avenue, has drifted downtown like an iceberg. I wanted to explore these seams between resident and tourist, exhibition and interaction, spectacle and inhabitable, not just at the memorial or in its gift shop or at its tribute, but in the spaces where “Ground Zero” connects to the rest of New York. For a formal precedent, I turned to George Perec’s scrupulous account of three days in place Saint-Sulpice, An attempt at exhausting a place in Paris (2010). Amidst Perec’s

*Email: [email protected] © 2015 Taylor & Francis

Critical Military Studies

89

precise record of bus arrivals and shop openings are singular events that undermine the very idea of total explication, not least those of his own idiosyncratic observation: “I’m cold. I order a brandy” (19). Perec gives the impression that any record of a place cannot be truly complete, and the sarcastic charm of the piece lies in the fact that any reader or writer will become exhausted long before they reach place SaintSulpice. “Ground Zero” is inexhaustible in the same way anywhere else is once it is being assiduously observed and recorded. Instead, I tried to balance my presence as observer– writer with the oblique instances in which I was able to share in another’s experience, to see the range of ways in which one might move and speak while in a location that cannot be completely inhabited any more than it can be completely recorded (despite this location being so overwritten by a single event). Following Robert Smithson’s brilliant writing on loco-descriptive artwork, I refer to “Ground Zero” as an inexhaustible site because this seems to capture its disjunctive combustible aesthetic, countering the unified and singular narrative implied by the idea of a “place” as it is translated into English (Smithson 1996).2 Perec eschews descriptions of the architectural highlights of Place Saint Sulpice and its rich history in favor of the ephemeral events and interactions that were least likely to be recorded elsewhere. “Ground Zero”, however, is less like a genial plaza than a controlled border near an active conflict. Everything is observed and recorded constantly, there are more security protocols than an airport, and the staff seem desperately on edge. There is an intensity of focus and pessimistic expectation that are dramatically at odds with the rest of the city. In response, I became increasingly interested in what might be recorded and how. This was partially informed by the amount of publicly available recordings. For example, a “9/11 Memorial Webcam”3 takes photos of the site every hour or so and posts them online. Yet photography is prohibited in the queues and checkpoints. My Perecian awareness of myself as observer kept intruding on these systems of recording, less in the sense of Kenneth Goldsmith’s Fidget than a romantic intuition that subjective experience might yield a conduit to the rest of the city (Goldsmith 1994). By the day’s end, I had become exhausted. It was a weird place to be.

Everything I overheard during an hour at the 9/11 Memorial Date: 12 February 2014 Time: 10:30 am Location: 9/11 Memorial Weather: Wispy cloud cover, dry cold (–8°C) “Look and learn take the mystery out of the history” “It’s a security thing” “Yeah I do too” “Did you hear that, hoss?” “Travaille” “Knots, a bunch of knots” “Pick up your bucket and move to the back table”

“Milly” “Slide down” “You’re not allowed coffee even” “Ciara” “Shall we” “Move to the table please “You can go in front” “The lieutenant did?” “Yeah I’ll make you baked beans”

90

D.B. Hobbs

“He wanted to see Phantom of the Opera” “Can you tell them because they don’t listen when I tell them” “So” “It seems like” “I should put something together” “It’s good” “On the exact same spot as the original buildings were built” “Something to read on the ride home?” “I don’t think there’s anything else” “Where did you find parking?” “I know I said that” “At that point, I didn’t know what I should do about it” “All right” “I don’t think so” “Yeah hahaha” “Probably died” “You and me” “It’s not really worth” “Obrigado” “Don’t get lost” “Lean over – okay” “Good to see you Bob, I said it’s good to see you Bob” “It’s so still” “…at the ocean it’s for credit” “Mom! Mom!” “It’s loud there” “The only one” “They didn’t but I did” “Should I smile? I don’t know” “Smile or don’t smile – do what you do” “I haven’t decided on that half diamond” “Oh yeah over there” “Special” “Did you find a parking spot?” “Here’s a good man” “The crash” “Not at all” “I read a lot in the line” “So now I can take more pictures” “You know”

“More over right by the entrance” “The fear was there” “Crazy high security” “Hungry for” “Everyone was crying” “How many do you take?” “Oh we will. We will” “We’re going over to this one” “And then what have you got?” “Yeah and I went to the other park” “You can touch the names” “Directory” “I’ll have to go your way” “Okay yeah yeah yeah” “I can take more pictures” “Sprinkling” “Just hang around” “Back to you” “Something downtown” “Burt!” “You found me” “Hold on” “Shit no” “Do you know anyone else with dry skin?” “My feet are frozen” “You can’t see them” “Snapping up a little” “The other one” “Wow” “Edith!” “It’s the only one thing” “It’s shocking” “Found daddy!” “Stop it Anna” “It’s not definitely” “I love this place” “Let’s stand in the sun” “Scaffolding” “I’ve been here” “What? You threw it in the water?” “I had something” “Look how” “I said next time thank you” “Not till the other day” “Maybe like” “Please keep passes out” “They said under the barrier”

Critical Military Studies

91

Outline of an inventory of some strictly visible things4 Date: 12 February 2014 Time: 1:00 pm Location: Blue Planet Pizza, the corner of Albany & Greenwich Weather: Brighter Letters & Words (1) “Entrance” (in all caps on a Tyvek sign attached to a fence, with only the “E” capitalized on permanent sign installations) (2) “NYPD” (on a kiosk, parked cars, shoulder patches of roving constables, signs alerting video cameras, video cameras) (3) “Suburban” (on a passing car) (4) -UE -NET -ICK -VEN -ZZA -AR (restaurant sign, partially obscured by the window frame) (5) “C21” (shopping bag) (6) “Please be reminded that the 9/11 Memorial is a place of remembrance and quiet reflection” (7) “NEVER AGAIN” (pamphlet title) (8) “Post No Bills” Conventional Symbols & Signs (1) (2) (3) (4)

Overheard:

“ONE WAY →” (eight visible at this intersection) I don t know if you “ALL TRAFFIC →” (three visible at this intersection) know, but he was a “NO STANDING ←→” (two visible at this intersection) very talented actor “→” (six arrows pointing at the memorial entrance)

Numbers (1) “9/11” (seven, on permanent signs, TVs within those signs, removable signs/ sandwich boards, a flag) (2) “1–13” (lot #s on Albany St. on the block facing the memorial) (3) “16.33” (price of a Greek salad) Flags (1) Two American (2) Two “NYC Financial Capital of the World” (3) One “9/11” Floor – Red Linoleum Tile White-painted barricades shielding the corner on which the memorial entrance is located Asphalt Sidewalk concrete No visible plant life

92

D.B. Hobbs

There is a construction site on the east side of Greenwich St, behind the one-story-high green boards with “Post No Bills” spray painted on them. The following machines are visible: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

One crane Two deep foundation pile drivers One cement truck One backhoe One bulldozer

A lot of foot traffic, but there always seems to be at least one person with a suitcase standing around the entrance of the 9/11 Memorial. There is also both 9/11 Memorial security and New York Police Department (NYPD) on the corner. One of the 9/11 Memorial security staff has a golden retriever. There are four uniformed police officers on the corner, in addition to two in the police booth on the corner.

Restaurant Playlist: Digital Love by Daft Punk, followed by Daylight by Matt & Kim, followed by Sex City by Van She

Strollers Four traffic lights Five pedestrian crossing lights Seven street lamps One NYPD police camera above a sign that says “NYPD Police Camera” Eight NYPD police cameras without signs but with the NYPD logo on them No public seating outside per se, though it remains to be seen if the barricades can be used as seating. There are 40 seats with window views within this restaurant. Trajectories (1) Traffic on Greenwich St. must continue south along Greenwich (2) Traffic on Albany must turn right onto Greenwich and drive south (3) In 10 minutes, 30 cars turn right from Albany onto Greenwich, 16 of which are taxis. Vehicles

2:32PM

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

I can t be certain, but I think a 9/11 Memorial Security Guard is waving at me. He is waving his hand over his head and his mouth is open, and I appear to be the only person facing him between him and the restaurant s window. This might be a good time to move

Taxis Police cars BioHeat Petro Oil Truck Cadillac sedans Ford trucks Panel vans GMC SUV

Colors (1) Black – fences, signage, coats, tires, earmuffs (2) White – signage, barricades, snow (some of it, at least), tents, coffee lids, zebra crossing (3) Grey – the ground, snow (the rest), buildings, barricade around site (4) Light Blue – signage, police car, police signage (5) Dark Blue – uniforms, coats

Critical Military Studies

93

(6) Yellow – reflective strips on barricades (7) Red – crane, shopping bag, coats (8) Green – rebar sticking up from the site, coats People (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Most have at least one hand in their pocket Roughly one in 10 is using a smart phone Roughly one in 25 has a camera Roughly one in five is wearing headphones Most are in groups of three or more Roughly one in 20 is wearing a hard hat Out of 10 pedestrians: (a) Four wear hoods (b) Five wear hats (c) One has a bare head

Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Quarter Master pulls up In addition to the NYPD and 9/11 Memorial Security, there is a “Pedestrian Safety Officer” supervising street crossings, wearing a reflective vest, always within 10 m of a uniformed police officer. Two in five winter coats have fur-trimmed hoods Both members of a municipal survey team are smoking One fire hydrant No visible garbage receptacles There are no long lines of sight here – I can’t see street-level for more than 15 or so metres

A redundant record of every person or group walking along the sidewalk towards the entrance to the Memorial as captured by seven NYPD cameras5 Date: 12 February 2014 Time: 2:50 pm Location: Starbucks at the corner of Carlisle & Washington, facing the queue of the 9/11 Memorial Weather: Same, but greying (1) Four walk in (2) One walks past with broom (3) One walks in (4) One walks in (5) Two walk in (6) One walks in (7) Two are adjusting their suitcases and then walk past

(8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16)

Two walk in Three walk in Two walk past One walks past One walks past Two walk in Four walk in Two walk in Four walk past

Overheard: Is there another Starbucks nearby that has more pastries?

94

D.B. Hobbs (17) Three walk past (18) Two walk past (19) Two walk in (20) Six walk past (21) One walks past (22) One walks past (23) Two walk past (24) Two walk past (25) Three walk in (26) Two walk past (27) Six with stroller walk in (28) Four walk past (29) Two walk in (30) One walks past (31) Two walk in (32) One walks past (33) Two walk in (34) Three walk past (35) Two walk in (36) Four speak with two cops and then walk in (37) Two walk past (38) Two walk in (39) Six walk past

My view is obscured by a group (1) Four walk in (2) Five walk in (3) Nine walk past (4) Two walk past (5) One walks past (6) Two walk in (7) Four walk past (8) One walks in (9) Two walk past (10) One walks past (11) One walks past (12) One walks past (13) Two walk past (14) One walks past (15) Four walk past

(16) Seven with a baby walk in (17) Two walk in (18) Two walk past (19) Two walk in (20) Two walk in (21) One walks past (22) One walks in (23) Two walk in (24) Two walk past (25) One walks past (26) One walks past (27) Two walk in (28) Six walk in (29) One walks past with two dogs (30) Two walk in (31) Two walk in (32) Three walk past (33) One walks past (34) One walks past (35) Three walk in (36) Two walk past (37) Three walk past (38) Seven walk in (39) One walks past (40) One walks past (41) Two cops walk past (42) Two walk in (43) Two walk past (stopping briefly) (44) Six walk past (45) One walks past (46) Four walk in (47) Two walk past (without stopping briefly) (48) Two walk in (49) One walks past (50) Four walk past (51) Two stop for picture and walk past

3:08 This Starbucks is evidently some sort of stopping-off point for a tour group, because it s slammed right now and they ve propped the door open and I m freezing cold.

(52) One walks past (53) Two walk past holding hands (54) One walks past (55) Five walk in (56) Two walk past (57) Nine walk in (58) One walks past with suitcase (59) Three walk in (60) Two walk past (61) One walks past with a UPS box (62) Two walk in (63) One walks past (64) One walks past (65) Two walk in (66) Two walk past (67) One walks past (68) One walks past (69) One walks past (70) Two walk past (71) One walks past (72) Five walk in (73) One stops for a photo and walks past

Critical Military Studies

3:22 Someone has sat down next to me and he s now yelling into his phone in a language I don t understand (Russian? Ukrainian?). He looks over at my notebook and I notice he is wearing a 9/11 Memorial Security ball cap. The walkie-talkie in his pocket crackles.

My view is obscured by the person taking the photo, which I imagine I end up in (1) Four walk in (2) Three walk past with a dog (3) One walks past on the phone (4) Two walk in (5) Twelve walk past (6) Two walk past (7) One walks past (8) One walks past holding a garbage bag and gesturing at the site (9) Three walk past (10) Two walk past (11) Two walk in (12) One walks past (13) One cop walks past (14) Four walk past (15) One more cop walks past (16) Four walk in (17) Seven walk in

(18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50)

(51) (52) (53) (54) (55) (56) (57) (58) (59) (60) (61) (62) (63)

Two walk past Two walk in One walks past Two walk in Two walk in Five walk in Two walk in One walks past One walks in Two walk past Three walk in One walks past Three walk in One walks past Three walk in Two walk in One walks past One walks past Two walk in Four walk in One walks in Seven walk in Two walk past Two walk in One walks past Two walk in Two walk in Five walk in Two walk in One walks past One walks in Two walk past Three walk in all holding Starbucks cups One walks past Three walk in Two walk in One walks past One walks past Two walk in Four walk in Seven walk in Two walk past Two walk in Three walk in with a stroller One walks in with a stroller Two walk in

95

(64) (65) (66) (67) (68) (69) (70) (71)

Two walk in Two walk in Four walk past Two walk in Two walk in Two walk in One walks past One walks past with a dog wearing a coat (72) One walks in (73) Two walk past

Overheard: You do two years of anything and it gets boring, unless you re like a doctor or something.

(74) (75) (76) (77) (78)

Three walk in Two walk in Two walk in Four walk in One walks in

I can see four cranes from here (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Four walk in Six walk past Two walk in One walks past Two walk in Three walk in accompanied by 9/11 memorial staff (7) Two walk past (8) Five walk in (9) Two walk in (10) One walks in (11) One walks past (12) Two walk in (13) One walks past (14) Two walk past (15) One walks past (16) Seven walk in

96

D.B. Hobbs (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32)

(33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47)

One walks past Two walk in Two walk in Three cops walk past One walks past Three walk in Two walk in Eleven walk in Two walk in Two walk in Two walk in Two walk in Thirteen walk in Two walk past Four walk in Three walk in accompanied by 9/11 memorial staff Two walk in Two walk in Two walk in Three walk in One walks in Seven walk in Two walk past Three walk in One walks past One walks in One walks in One walks past One walks in Two walk in One walks in

(48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (55) (56) (57) (58) (59) (60) (61) (62) (63) (64) (65) (66) (67) (68) (69) (70) (71) (72) (73) (74) (75) (76) (77) (78) (79) (80) (81) (82)

Two walk in Two walk in One walks past Two walk in One walks past Two walk in One walks past One walks past Two walk in Two walk past Two walk in One walks past One walks past One walks past One walks past Two walk in Three walk past Five walk in One walks in One walks past Eight walk in Two walk in Five walk in Two walk in Three walk in Four walk in One walks past Two walk past Four walk in One walks in Two walk past One walks past Two walk past Four walk in One walks in

(83) (84) (85) (86) (87) (88) (89) (90) (91) (92) (93) (94)

Two walk past One walks past One walks in Two walk past Two stopped Three walk in One walks past Four walk past Two walk in Two walk past Two walk in One cop walks past (95) One walks past (96) Two walk in (97) Two walk past (98) Two walk in (99) One walks in while talking on the phone (100) One walks in (101) One walks in (102) One walks in (103) One walks in (104) Seven walk in (105) One walks past (106) Three walk past (107) One walks past (108) Two walk in (109) One walks past Two walk in 3:50pm Observation ends

The concierge tells me that 0-2-1-5 is the code for the bathroom in the lobby of the World Trade Center Marriott Hotel

Circumnavigating the site Date: 12 February 2014 Time: 4:15 pm Location: 9/11 Memorial Visitors Center & Gift Shop Weather: Grey, cold. The 9/11 Memorial is detached from the surrounding city. From street level, the Memorial site is completely obscured from view by restricted access points and temporary walls.

Critical Military Studies

97

Also, it seems fitting (though difficult to parse) that access to the Memorial should be “free but subject to a $2 service fee.” Entrants are encouraged to pre-register, arrive 30 minutes early, then line up and go through a facsimile of airport security (metal detectors, etc.), then walk through two more ticket-checks and enter the site. At the end of my day, I decide to walk around the site to see if, where, and when the memorial is visible from the rest of the city. I begin at the site’s exit and gift shop (FDNY and NYPD uniforms reimagined as dog coats) and walk north. I am promptly directed to a covered walkway leading across West Street and directly into one of the buildings of the neighboring Brookfield Place complex, which is still very much under construction. The white, temporary walls that form a warren underneath the office towers are covered with advertisements for the businesses that will open once the (re)construction is complete (Rite Aid: “With Us, It’s Personal”). I am prevented from taking photos during this leg of the journey both by signs and by police. I am sent down an escalator to a completely white underground pathway that runs along one of the slurry walls. It is filled with chilly gusts and I cannot tell where they are coming from. The tunnel eventually leads to the Chambers St. A/C station, where I come back outside, on the site’s northwestern corner. I then walk along the temporary walls on Vesey Street, which are topped with barbed wire, opposite to the tall limestone walls of what is named the Federal Office Building (Google Maps suggests that it is also the headquarters for the New York City Housing Authority and New York City Speed Dating). I turn right onto Church Street, where St. Paul’s church is next to the Millenium [sic] Hilton and a Brooks Brothers. At this point, Church Street has become Trinity Place, and most pedestrians are picked up and led by 9/11 Memorial staff. I am encouraged to turn east onto Liberty Street, past a Burger King, several Panini restaurants, and the 9/11 Tribute Center, which is closed. Cordons prevent me from going any way other than left, south on Greenwich St., where 9/ 11 Memorial construction and other surrounding commercial construction is very much under way. The entrance area – ticketing tents and queues – takes up almost an entire city block, and today it is relatively empty. I realize I’ve been kept at a distance of at least a block from the Memorial during this entire walk.

Acknowledgements This piece would not have been possible without enthusiastic support and incisive feedback from Professors Bill Blake, Patrick Deer, A.B. Huber, Lytle Shaw, and fellow PhD candidate Timothy Anderson, or without the stimulating and challenging conversations of the Cultures of War and Postwar Research Initiative at NYU.

Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

We remember video (0:34–0:38), http://localprojects.net/project/we-remember/#5 (5 January 2015). For the most direct, distilled account of Smithson’s interest in place, site and non-site, refer to his essay “A sedimentation of the mind: Earth projects” (1968), in which he considers both his own non-site sculptural 1968 works and other contemporaneous artists. http://www.911memorial.org/911-memorial-webcam Perec begins his Attempt with an “Outline of an inventory of some strictly visible things:” (2010, 5). It is unlikely that the cameras are able to record Joan Baez’s version of “It’s all over now baby blue,” which is playing inside the Starbucks.

98

D.B. Hobbs

References Bernard, Andreas. 2014. Lifted: A Cultural History of the Elevator. Trans. David Dollenmayer. New York: New York University Press. Goldsmith, Kenneth. 1994. Fidget. Toronto: Coach House Books. Perec, Georges. 2010. An Attempt At Exhausting A Place In Paris. 1975. Trans. Marc Lowenthal. Cambridge MA: Wakefield Press. Smithson, Robert. 1996. Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. Ed. Jack Flam. Berkeley: University of California Press. Smithson, Robert. 1968. “A Sedimentation of the Mind: Earth Projects.” Artforum, September 1968. in Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. Ed. Jack Flam. Berkeley: University of California Press. 100–113.