Last February Central Park was awash in orange curtains.  Remember? I wrote this back then.

What was it about The Gates that kept bringing 9/11 to mind?

The color for one thing. Christo and Jeanne Claude’s choice of hue
was both an acknowledgement and a joyful defiance of the city’s
perpetual orange alert.

One friend said the plastic orange structures reminded her of the
twin towers. And the way everyone kept looking up at the fabric
recalled those nightmare September days when everyone was looking up at
the sky.

Someone else said that when The Gates are dismantled, it will be
like life after September 11th. The way we still see the twin towers in
their absence; ghost images in the skyline of what once was and will
always be.

The Gates united our city in much the same way that 9/11 did. But
this time we weren’t joined in grief, fear, and confusion. The Gates
were about joy, about the meaning of art, about being alive.

It was a carefree walk in the park for our neighbors and friends.
And for that The Gates was worth every penny Christo and Jeanne-Claude
spent on them.