Fulton Street Viewing Platform
Beginning in late December 2001, visitors could observe the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center from an elevated platform at the western end of Fulton Street, alongside the historic Saint Paul’s Chapel. Each day, nearly 7,000 people visited the platform’s view of Ground Zero.
The unpainted plywood walls of the ramp and platform soon became another testimony to the emotions of visitors. People wrote expressions of sympathy on the plywood. They often attached flowers, banners, and other objects of grief and mourning.
Use of the viewing platform ceased during the summer of 2002 in order for utility crews to reach services buried below the platform. At the request of the city, the State Museum removed the decorated platform for preservation with the assistance of the New-York Historical Society, the New York City Office of Emergency Management, the New York State Office of General Services, and the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.