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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: 88 Xenons to light twin beam WTC memorial
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Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted 03-04-2002 10:08 AM
On March 11th two parallel beams composed of 88 xenons will be turned on as a memorial to those who died in the terrorist attack on New York's World Trade Center. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/04/nyregion/04LIGH.html 100 bulbs valued at $1200 each were donated by General Electric,
who with individuals, and corporations led by Deutche Bank, AOL-Time Warner and others is helping to make up the $500,000 cost. Consolidated Edison is donating the power, which will burn from dusk to 11 PM nightly, but will be turned off when necessary for helicopter traffic, cloud cover and bird migration.
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Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted 03-05-2002 07:13 PM
Greg,
The issue of light polution is addressed in the NYTimes report link
above. By placing the lights in Battery Park, (whose BP City Administration approved the project) and turning the beams off when
cloud cover is low, the light should not disturb the quality of life of city residents. By linking the Federal Aviation Administration and the NYC Audubon Society with the technician in charge, the beams
will be turned off whenever they threaten air travel or aviary migration. And the memorial is temporary:
<"It's like a votive candle," said Saskia Levy, the project organizer
for the Municipal Art Society, the principal sponsor of the installation, "It will have its time and place. And then it will go out.">
My thought was that the beams might prove invisible, the way a projection beam cannot be seen in a theater unless there is sufficient dust or smoke present in the auditorium. I have seen Hollywood style searchlight displays fail at supermarket openings
because their beams could not be seen unless they illuminated cloud cover. But the xenon concept has been tested in Las Vegas, and the sponsors believe it will work in NYC, with its waterfront mist to make the beams visible. More details in the NYTimes four-page report
cited above.
Gerard
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Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted 03-11-2002 08:51 PM
I turned on the TV at 7:00PM only to find the lamps were switched on at 6:55, so I didn't see whether they were struck individually, or
in banks, or all at once. But the broad beams were brilliant blue
against a cobalt sky, with the lights of the city skyline like brilliant diamonds. Of the 18 broadcast TV channels I get from my rooftop antenna, 7 broadcast the lighting ceremony. After a while
the beams turned white. Perhaps blue glass filters were used, like
those used on the Empire State Building on 34th Street, which is
presently red/white/blue, but goes green for St Patrick's Day, and
other colors for other holidays or celebrations. On TV, from cameras
judiciously placed, the spectacle was most impressive!
From my house about ten miles away, the view was disappointing (there
are no hills in Forest Hills--they were leveled over a century ago.)
The beams were faint and white, with a white circle where they hit the clouds, washed out by the pink glow reflected from the sodium-vapor streetlamps in Forest Hills Gardens.
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