Hmmm... do I take the pay cut?

On Sept. 2, Mikhail Prokhorov, billionaire owner of the soon-to-be-Brooklyn Nets, announced he would consider a run for the Russian presidency this winter if the political party he created, Right Cause, does well in parliamentary elections in December. (The Transom first learned of this from a friend who is a journalist in Moscow, and confirmed it with English-language reports of Mr. Prokhorov’s comments.)

So, if Mr. Prokhorov, the central-casting projection of modern muscular Russia, does, in fact, edge out his friend Vladimir Putin or Mr. Putin’s hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, what will it mean for the borough’s b-ball? Can one man be the leader of a superpower and the owner of a powerhouse at the same time?

Yes. There is nothing in the N.B.A.’s charter that precludes a foreign head of state from owning a team, though none ever has (the closest analogy might be U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, who has owned the Milwaukee Bucks since 1985; George W. Bush sold his stake in baseball’s Texas Rangers before he became president).

Where it gets a tad dicey for a 46-year-old President Prokhorov is that he would have to spend much of his time in his country rather than, say, in David Walentas’s Clock Tower penthouse in Dumbo, or some other suitably baronial domain for an oligarch abroad.

“It would very much change his ownership style with the Nets,” said Robert Boland, a clinical associate professor of sports management at N.Y.U. “He’s a very hands-on guy. From everything that I’ve observed about him, he likes to be involved firmly, he likes to own the franchise.”

Mr. Boland said that in sports ownership the best owners are either highly involved or not really involved at all, turning over management to pros. Seizing a middle-ground tends to breed ineptitude. (The Dolans and the Knicks, anyone? The Wilpons and the Mets?) So if a freshly elected Mr. Prokhorov had to shed management responsibilities vis-à-vis the Nets, it would not necessarily hurt the franchise, Mr. Boland said.

In fact, his presidency could help the N.B.A.

“The N.B.A. is ripe to expand globally,” Mr. Boland said. “Suddenly, here’s an N.B.A. owner with a hugely important political role in Europe and Asia. He might become very important to the N.B.A. in terms of expansion or movement abroad.”

And, somewhere, Marty Markowitz lays out a suit for the inauguration.

tacitelli@observer.com :: @tacitelli

The 3,326-square-foot condo is located at the Laureate, a luxury condo at 2150 Broadway. According to the listing, the five-bedroom, 4.5-bath home features a giant master bedroom with his-and-hers walk-in closets, a private balcony, and a huge five-fixture master bath with heated floors. Que Bueno!

With walnut floors, a washer and dryer, a library and so-called "great room," Mr. Weiner and Ms. Vogelstein will certainly have room for their backpacks. And monkeys.

The highlight of the home is the 519-square-foot great room. Located "at the prow of the building," according to listing agent Shlomi Reuveni of Brown Harris Stevens, the giant space connects to a separate dining room and library. Mr. Reuveni could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to StreetEasy, the home was originally listed for $8.8 million.

eknutsen@observer.com

Tara Stacom of Cushman & Wakefield.

“I’m more bullish today than I was in 2007,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s Tara Stacom of  1 World Trade and the outlook for the 1,776-foot tower that will offer 3.1 million square feet of Class A office space. “I did not think one of the first tenants would be a million-plus feet.”

Signing the lease with Condé Nast in May of this year was, for lack of a less hackneyed term, a game-changer for downtown Manhattan, especially as the area emerges not only from the Great Recession but from the malaise that characterized so much of the area since 9/11.

Other media companies have been part of the change, taking the baton, as it were, from the FIRE firms that traditionally power Class A space, in downtown or elsewhere in Manhattan. Spin magazine, the Daily News, American Media (publisher of The National Enquirer among other titles) Mansueto Ventures (owners of Fast Company and Inc. magazines) and Omnicom Group have all signed leases in or relocated to downtown Manhattan (for more on recent relocations to downtown, check out The Commercial Observer’s exhaustive chart, starting on page 14, from the Alliance for Downtown BID and Jones Lang LaSalle).

“We’re seeing interest from tech firms, more creative [firms],” Ms. Stacom said of 1 World Trade Center in particular, echoing the larger leasing trend for downtown. “And, of course, from law firms and government.”

Ms. Stacom believes the Condé Nast move will reverberate in ways yet imagined. “There will be a different mix of retail”—more Marc Jacobs than Brooks Brothers. “Downtown’s recovery has been far quicker than we anticipated. It’s just an extraordinary story,” said Ms. Stacom.

Tallying Tenant Incentives

The tenants have different reasons—an iconic address, the new construction, the architecture, modern amenities—but tenant incentives (T.I.’s) perhaps loom the largest when it comes to the recent shifts in downtown leasing.

While hard numbers for T.I.’s are difficult to nail down, brokers offered estimates. The standard work allowance package being offered at trophy space downtown is $60 per square foot, according to Peter Riguardi, president of the New York region for Jones Lang LaSalle. He believes 10 to 12 months of free rent can also be standard.

“Tenants definitely want a contribution to their build-out,” Ms. Stacom said. She added that if she signs a deal she is currently negotiating at 1 World Trade, the floors below the sky lobby will be 50 percent leased. Those floors are renting for $75 per square foot, and the rest of the tower, which is constructed up to the 77th floor, has yet to be priced but will be more expensive.

Though the pre-2001 vacancy rate was 3.2 (compared with the current 9.2) and neither occupancy rates nor asking rents downtown have rebounded to pre-2001 levels, optimism remains given the spate of media leases. And, as Ms. Stacom points out, the ascendancy of what will be North America’s highest tower is practically as well as symbolically important. “New Yorkers need this—we need the office stock.”

Compared with other world cities, New York suffers from a stunning dearth of Class A space, and much of what downtown had in particular was destroyed on 9/11 (or converted to condos shortly thereafter as companies fled the area). But as factors like the new Fulton Street transit hub, government incentives and continued residential conversions in the financial district merge, downtown has the potential to rival midtown—with that more diverse tenant base, besides.

Tech Plugs In

Mr. Riguardi said he finds the growth in tech the most notable, as that sector shows huge potential. As noted in a recent Jones Lang LaSalle report on downtown, “technology firms currently account for an aggregate three million square feet of demand throughout Manhattan.” And technology’s traditional stomping grounds, midtown south, are crowded to the point of 0 percent vacancy, according to some estimates. Thus, downtown as a prime option.

The open, collaboration-encouraging space that the large floor plates of 1 World Trade and other newer towers, like Silverstein Properties’s 7 World Trade Center, allow is part of the draw for tech and creative firms, but Mr. Riguardi also believes there is simply more need in general for quality space for tech tenants. In New York City, he said, “our product is so dated.”

1 W.T.C.’s Shadow

One World Trade’s automatic cachet was the entire draw for its second-biggest client after Condé Nast—the China Center, a complex consisting of just under 200,000 square feet on floors 64 through 69, which is being built out and rented by Beijing-based real estate firm Vantone.

“The Chinese feel the site represents validation that you are a global firm,” said Mr. Riguardi, who represented Vantone. Xue Ya, president at Vantone, says 1 World Trade was the only address in New York City that is widely recognized in China.

The 20-year lease with two 10-year renewal options was signed in 2009, though the parties had been in discussions since 2004. While work allowances were a concern, the one thing Vantone would not compromise on was accessibility. The firm wanted easy flow from its offices—which includes an events space, a conference center, a private club and a Chinese restaurant—to the ground level.

Ms. Ya suggested that her company’s move was not only strategic, but prescient, particularly given the past decade’s pessimism regarding development at the World Trade Center site. “We believed in the project from day one,” she said of 1 World Trade. “Too many people questioned us.” The firm hopes to create a haven for Chinese business at the landmark address, and Ms. Ya believes the investment in infrastructure is the key driver for the area. “In two more years, everything will change. The government’s investment will create value.”

As 1 World Trade has finally become a physical presence, other buildings downtown have benefited. For instance, SL Green took control of 100 Church about two years ago, and it is now 80 percent leased, according to Steve Durels, the REIT’s leasing director. Three full floors are still vacant, though Mr. Durels said he is in talks to lease “a significant portion” of what remains. He said asking rents were $36 per square foot. Meanwhile, 4 New York Plaza, where the Daily News moved last spring, has reached full occupancy.

As for perhaps the most closely watched prospective tenant for the area, Mr. Riguardi does not believe that Citigroup will make the move downtown. “They are still evaluating lots of alternatives. There is emotion,” he said, “and then there’s economics.”

gvoien@observer.com

The Commercial Observer: So, why don’t you assess your progress over your first 60 days at Brookfield?

Mr. Rudin: It’s been terrific. I wouldn’t quite call this my midterm report card, but I’ve been here for two months, and to the extent that there have been any surprises they’ve all been pleasant.

What kind of surprises?

I wouldn’t even call them surprises, but the quality of the people, the strength of the office, and the individuals in New York and the other people I’ve met, both in New York and around the country, have been outstanding.

How have you been spending your time since joining Brookfield?

One of the things I endeavored to do was get to every office right away, which I did. My last visits were to Denver and Minneapolis, and I accomplished that two weeks ago. And I was very impressed, as I said, by the portfolio and the people.

I’ve been to, in this order, Boston, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and, finally, Minneapolis. I would say that, certainly, each marketplace has a different dynamic, but I would say we have top professionals in each of those markets. Each one has a different dynamic depending on where the market is.

When I started, I wanted to get an understanding of the organization, both with and without New York City, and I’ve really gotten the opportunity to understand the capability of the key individuals here. And I happened to join at an opportune time. We really have a tremendous amount of leasing activity throughout the portfolio—so part of my job is not to get in the middle of anything and not foul anything up.

Do you worry that, as you continue working at Brookfield, your allegiances will shift to Canada? Is there any chance of your turning into a Canuck?

Well, I have been to Toronto, and I’m catching up on my hockey rules.

It’s probably not a huge surprise to many real estate brokers here in New York, but I wonder if a lot of people forget just how big Brookfield is? Behind SL Green and Vornado, it’s the third largest office landlord in the city.

We’re a very understated organization, with one of the best portfolios in the city. But I’ll tell you one thing: when I thought about making this change I was coming from a 100-plus-year organization with a very strong culture and going to a 100-plus-year-old organization with a very strong culture. And that’s what facilitated my decision; and now, whether we call it a midterm review or just two months, the transition has been as easy as can be.

And, while I look back very fondly at the years I spent with CB Richard Ellis and its predecessors, this opportunity has proven to be extraordinary in the short term, and I expect even better as we move into midterm and long term.

What is the latest to happen with Brookfield’s mixed-use project on the Hudson Rail Yards near Ninth Avenue? Is there any progress since earlier this year?

We’re going ahead with the platform in the first quarter of next year. It’s been designed and we have most of the approvals in place. We’ve substantially value-engineered it so that it will be coming in at some number well under $300 million.

And with the site itself—while we have been fairly quiet—we’ve had a number of selective and good conversations with people about it. Many of them were unaware of a few things: first, that the cores of the two lead buildings will be on terra firma; also that we can develop and deliver the first building in 2015; and that the deck, as I mentioned, is designed, approved and being brought in at a manageable price.

One thing Ric Clark had mentioned to me earlier this year is that, while many other developers were scrambling at the outset of the downturn, Brookfield immediately contracted a new engineering study at the site, which resulted in a lot of savings.

We definitely put that time to good use. And we’re seeing that, with new technology, it will be safe, secure and also completely value-engineered.

Nearby that site, Brookfield is also repositioning 450 West 33rd Street, the former Daily News and U.S. News & World Report building. What’s happening at the site now?

We’re in the process of developing a scheme for that building. We have an architect engaged to start looking at some different scenarios. That has attracted a lot of attention, both because it sits in the middle of that neighborhood and also because its footprint provides a cost-effective alternative for a lot of different types of users, from financial services to those in the publishing or advertising arenas.

Do plans for that building run in tandem with the plans for the rail yard project, being as they’re so close to one another and that they’re both being envisioned as part of a project to create something of a brand-new neighborhood in Manhattan?

There is a separate ownership, in part, but we think that they’re going to be synergistic. So you have an opportunity to go into a state-of-the-art new product or you have the opportunity to go into a more cost-effective alternative in a building that’s among the most solidly built in the City of New York—and with larger floor plates and ceiling heights in a location that’s only going to be improving with time.

It’s an interesting building. I used to work there.

And, as the world goes around, in my prior life at Edward S. Gordon, I was part of the leasing team for the building many years ago. So it’s déjà vu all over again.

jsederstrom@observer.com

Mr. Lieber joined Silverstein in 2003.

Uniformed men milled about, waiting for Leon Panetta, the newly appointed Secretary of Defense, to embark on his morning tour of 7 World Trade Center. At the same time, the leader of one of the city’s most powerful trade unions was being greeted as he crossed from the building’s elevator bank to a floor model of the World Trade Center site. Heavyset and stoic, that labor leader was there to address the members of Helmets to Hardhats, an organization that assists soldiers in their transition from battlefields to construction sites.

A few hours earlier, Mayor Bloomberg had arrived in Lower Manhattan along with his own entourage, calling for the end to “Ground Zero” as the shorthand to describe what, over the course of a decade, has changed from a pile of smoldering ashes to the early metallic seeds of a transit hub, a memorial site and a massive complex of skyscrapers.

Such was life at the World Trade Center complex in the week leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. City, state and federal officials come and go, events flood in and out, and security clearances are de rigueur.

“It is always emotional—every single day,” said Janno Lieber, the man who, probably more than anyone else, is responsible for making sure that the World Trade Center project remains on course. “If there are bumps, and if there are slow-downs, and if there is not progress, or if there are any struggles—it’s always a challenge, and it’s all right outside of our window. So that never goes away. That sense of mission and that special importance rises up as we come up toward the anniversary every year.”

In the eight and a half years since Mr. Lieber and other colleagues working with the developer Larry Silverstein relocated offices to Lower Manhattan, Ground Zero, and all that it has come to represent, has been a daily presence. But mixed among the fear and sadness, Mr. Lieber insisted, is an emerging story of hope.

With all but three higher-story floors leased at 7 World Trade Center since construction ended five years ago, any lingering doubt of whether businesses would return to the area following the terrorist attacks has diminished. Besides Moody’s Corporation, which occupies 17 floors and 670,000 square feet of space at the 52-story tower, others like law firm Darby & Darby and West LB, the German investment bank, have inked deals for many of the top floors while Silverstein Properties occupies a 38th-floor office overlooking the main site across the street.

More recently, WilmerHale, among the nation’s largest law firms, chose to relocate its longtime headquarters from Park Avenue, a traditional hub for the legal industry, to four of the high floors at 7 World Trade Center. That 210,000-square-foot deal, which was inked in April, includes a clause that will allow the firm to share in energy-efficiency costs and benefits linked to the tower, which in 2006 became the city’s first LEED gold-certified asset.

“Interestingly, that was much less of a concern than anyone could have really anticipated,” said Mr. Lieber, 49, who noted that remaining floors are expected to be leased up by the end of 2011. “The premium and attraction of views have remained in this building as much as it has always existed in the rest of the New York City office tower market.

“We have a couple of tenants who are seriously looking at the space,” he added. “It’s financial service firms, it’s creative companies and it’s the law firms—but this is the premium space that’s available right now downtown, and there are a lot of companies that want to take advantage right now.”

With occupancy nearly full at 7 World Trade Center, Mr. Lieber, the president of Silverstein’s World Trade Center Properties LLC, has been shifting his focus to the construction of 3 and 4 World Trade Centers and 1 World Trade Center. The latter, of course, is where Condé Nast in May signed that one-million-square-foot lease that seeks to do for Lower Manhattan what the magazine publisher helped do for Times Square nearly two decades ago.

With the publisher expected to move its 5,000 employees—from a litany of titles that includes The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vogue—to floors 20 through 41 by 2014, many analysts believe the deal will prompt others in publishing and new media to follow suit. For Mr. Lieber, however, the Condé Nast deal confirmed what he and many at Silverstein Properties already knew.

“It validated what we’ve been talking about for quite some time, which is to push the diversification of downtown away from financial services and more and more toward creative companies who want to be here,” said Mr. Lieber. “I mean, Anna Wintour and Graydon Carter live in the West Village, and one of their senior decision makers lives in Brooklyn. I think they looked at their work force demographics and realized that writers, editors and people in the magazine industry are more likely to live in Brooklyn, New Jersey or Lower Manhattan than over in Connecticut.”

Mr. Lieber would know. An Upper West Side native, he currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three children, and was once a journalist at The New York Republic. A Harvard and N.Y.U. Law grad, he worked as an attorney and in the Clinton-era Transportation Department on his way toward the real estate industry.

Even with all the activity of late—and the understandable spotlight it draws globally—late last week was a time for Mr. Lieber and others to once again mourn the 2,819 men and women killed in the attacks.

“Every year we stop work and observe at the same time that other people are observing outside at the site,” he said. “But the other thing that’s happening is that all of the things we hoped about downtown are really starting to come to pass. That’s exciting and positive.”

jsederstrom@observer.com

Always Be Kissing

Alec Baldwin has a lot of good things going for him-- he's a great actor, the most successful sibling out of four brothers, and will one day be mayor of us all. But the one black mark on Baldwin's card is his home life: his bitter divorce from Kim Basinger in 2002, the tabloids documenting his rocky relationship with his daughter, the subsequent custody battles that inspired him to write  A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce. Baldwin's 30 Rock alter-ego has a less abrasive track record with women...and Jack Donaghy dated Condoleezza Rice.

So when Alec Baldwin told "Late Show" audiences last month that he had a girlfriend named Hilaria Thomas, we were happy for him. She's a yoga instructor! She doesn't own a TV! She doesn't eat meat! She's your dream stepmom, really.

The two are very much in love, which you can tell because of their constant tweeting at each other, including pics of the actor holding puppies, putting his feet in the sand, and playing baseball. Still, you'd think that a guy who had his dirty laundry aired in public before would be more reticent to put personal love notes on a public forum like Twitter. Especially because some of these exchanges are little personal.

1. He's a workplace stalker:

hilariathomas: @DiscipleOfTodd @alecbaldwin where did you go? Come to Vida! Alec, stop scaring away the students from my class!

2. Baldwin knows Spanish, but not anatomy:

alecbaldwin: Played tennis for the first time this Summer. My spine came out of my ass.

hilariathomas: @AlecBaldwin "pelvis" corazón mío.... Not "ass"... "pelvis"

3. Either the sex is amazing or dinner sucks:

hilariathomas: olives, wine, coffee and honey... You take care of me like no one else

4. No, it's definitely the sex:

@hilariathomas: @AlecBaldwin @discipleoftodd "savasana" means "corpse pose", my love. How about Warrior 3?

5. We thought Hilaria was Spanish?:

AlecBaldwin: @DiscipleOfTodd: @AlecBaldwin what's the most fun sin..” Tweeting in the nude. While eating corned beef. With Russian.

Of course, the weirdest part of this Twitter romance is the inclusion of @DiscipleOfTodd in nearly all of Baldwin/Thomas' exchanges. Who is this mysterious Twitter friend, who only has 292 followers and goes by the pseudonym Harry Longabaugh. Could Baldwin be participating in a digital menage-a-trois with The Sundance Kid?

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

The deal at the base of the 24-story, Harbor Group International-owned building brings occupancy to 95 percent occupancy, brokers told The Commercial Observer. The company, which operates at 750 locations worldwide, has, until now, not peddled its iced coffee, green teas or signature brews from a Manhattan store.

“We are very pleased that a world-renowned brand sought us out for its New York flagship,” said Jordan Slone, chairman and chief executive of Harbor International, who added that the deal was a direct transaction between the landlord and tenant. “The property has quickly become a success story for HGI, and in the nine months since its acquisition has already achieved a high level of occupancy.”

jsederstrom@observer.com

The deal for 76,483 square feet will allow the company to expand to a total of 114,815 feet on the Trinity Real Estate-owned asset’s fourth, seventh, eighth, 15th and 16th floors. Asking rent at the building is in the mid-$40s-per-square-foot range. The deal—which brings the building to 100 percent occupancy—was handled by Peter Fontanetta and Marc Packman of Trinity Real Estate.

“While Hudson Square has emerged as a hub for creative, media and arts tenants, Two Sigma’s expansion underscores the neighborhood’s appeal to a broad spectrum of businesses,” said Jason Pizer, president of Trinity, in a statement. “This area is home to a rapidly diversifying community of tenants and we are delighted to count Two Sigma among them.”

jsederstrom@observer.com

Worth it? (Getty)

Amidst all the commemoration and solemn ceremony for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Charles Bagli took time off from his book leave—for his Stuyvesant Town opus—to file his first story since June 15, "Downtown’s Rebirth, 10 Years and $24 Billion Later." Mr. Bagli, always the development skeptic, reminds us just how much rebuilding the World Trade Center has cost.

• $20 billion in federal funds, of which:
• $6 billion for 9/11 clean-up
• $8 billion in rebuilding dollars
• $6 billion in rebuilding grants and tax incentives
• There was a $4.5 billion insurance payment to Larry Silverstein
• $3.2 billion spent on 1 World Trade Center
• Where Condé Nast got $47.5 million in tax breaks
• $1.65 billion in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds kept Goldman Sachs downtown at its new $2.4 billion headquarters
• Larry Silverstein only got $2.6 billion in Liberty Bonds for his three $6.9 billion WTC towers
• Another $1.6 billion for 15 luxury apartment buildings, with only 5 percent of the units set aside for low-income tenants
• $313 billion in tax grants for local businesses, "although there was little chance that the American Stock Exchange, Century 21 or the law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan would leave."

And then there's the greatest indignity, the soaring Santiago Calatrava transit hub, which Mr. Bagli sees as little more than a glorified PATH station. (It's also a mall and connector for neighboring subway lines, not to mention a symbol, if an incredibly expensive one.) "The hub’s cost has swelled to $3.44 billion from $1.9 billion over the past decade, though it will serve only 80,000 PATH riders daily. Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan serves seven times that number, and yet its planned renovation has largely stalled." Mr. Bagli might be biased, though, since he lives in northern New Jersey.

And really, how much money is this compared to the $3.3 trillion The Times estimates the U.S. spent directly or indirectly responding to 9/11.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

President Obama addresses the crowds before the opening of the memorial. (Getty Images)

It was a day of quiet grace, open grief and occasional grumbles, a time for solemnity, reflection and togetherness. The 9/11 Memorial was commemorated today not with the cutting of a ribbon but the ringing of a bell, the same bell that had clanged for the past nine years, calling out the impacts of those four planes, the collapse of those twin towers. Amidst the silence, there was only the echo of the bell and the distant rush of waterfalls, the signature voids of the 9/11 memorial.

The sun had been streaming across the sky as the ceremony got under way, but as if sensing the lingering darkness of this day, just as the second bell chimed to signal the crash of Flight 175 into the south tower, the clouds set in, giving but a glimpse of that perfect weather a decade. It was also at this time, minutes after 9:02, that the memorial was opened, and families of victims began to hurriedly file toward it.

Many people complained of crowding and poor planning, but it could just be there was such overwhelming crowds for a reason. This was the first chance to visit the partly completed memorial, which was the primary reason many of the families The Observer spoke with had come out to the 10th anniversary at all.

Katia Carroll had come in from Beacon, N.Y., with her mother to honor her brother, Darryl, who had worked at Cantor Fitzgerald. "I am still in shock. This is my first time here and it's just so real, so real," she said upon seeing the memorial and the name of her brother and his fiancée, Angela Rosario. "Darryl and Angela's names are together and it's a beautiful thing. They're always together, always. I ran my hands over his name--it was like a piece of him was there."

A gentleman from Roosevelt, Calif., said he had not made the trip since the fifth anniversary, when he came to read out his brother’s name. Nor did he plan on returning again “until it’s all finished.” Though he had not been inside yet, he said the emotions, even with the completed plaza, were too raw.

“It does feel different because the memorial is open and the buildings are halfway built,” Michelle Fallen said. Her brother, David Ruddle, was a carpenter doing office renovations when the towers were hit. Ms. Fallens along with the rest of her relatives, had on custom t-shirts, like so many other visitors, honoring their fallen family. Theirs read “My Hero was a Carpenter/David Ruddle/Before He Became an Angel.”

Ladder No. 7, Big Tito, “Cantor Fitzgerald: United We Stand.” The homemade signs and pictures were just as plentiful, from Jesus holding up the Twin Towers to a middle-school picture of a woman named DebraAnn holding an oversized Sylvester the Cat stuffed animal. Also: buttons, lanyard cards, baseball caps, flags, bandannas.

This is how we remember, through objects, mementos, words.

"All these tokens and totems, it's part of what we do," Debra Burlingame said. "We do it to have some tangible thing we can touch, given we can't touch them." Her husband Charles was the pilot of Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon. She wore a patch on her chest made up of an American Airlines pilot's wings pin over the number 77 with a halo above it. She said it was made by the D.C.-based crew to commemorate the loss of their colleagues.

While the memorial helped some, it seemed it could never help enough.

“You’ve got to let go sometimes,” Ms. Fallen said. “How do you heal if it keeps coming back every year. You bring the pain back and you have to start all over again.”

Sheila Stanley, who was here for her brother-in-law fireman Leo Smith, said she felt compelled to come even if it brought anguish to her and her family. “It still hurts like it was yesterday,” Ms. Stanley said. “Listening every year to everyone reading the names, I just get full up.”

“The 10th anniversary versus the others? It’s good to see new construction--which should have been done six years ago,” Bob Rosenberg said. He had not been down to honor his son-in-law in many years, his family preferring the Westchester memorial. “Hopefully, everything will have a happy ending here. They’re doing a beautiful job with the rebuilding, but it still won’t bring anybody back.”

After the event, all 2,983 names read, The Observer ventured out to Battery Park City, where kids were playing wiffle ball, laughing and chasing each other around. A mom filmed her daughter strumming a guitar on her iPhone. A good many families made their ways across the Liberty Street bridge over the empty West Side Highway, seeking some solace on the banks of the Hudson.

We started to see the deep aquamarine blue that had been used in the commemorative ribbons, said to match the color of the sky that day a decade ago, or even just this morning. Was that person an insider? Had they felt the pain? Were they in mourning? The transformational power of this place, even on a simple color, is confounding. Was it a coincidence the swoosh on those Nike sneakers were the color they were, or had they been picked out especially for this day? Kathryn Teare, who lost here son, spoke of “a little blue parakeet” that had been spotted up in one of the memorial trees. “I think God brings special miracles to our life,” she said. “That little bird made a lot of people feel better.”

Up on Broadway, the crowds were the same as any Sunday, except for the police barricades and officers. Outside Trinitiy Church, where the bells clanged nonstop, a group of Truthers had assembled, causing some arguments with defiant family members. But there were also your average street people. “Tell me your problems for $5.00,” read one man’s sign. Hawkers were selling 9/11 t-shirts and wristbands, $1 American flags. Century 21 was busy, and with not a few 9/11 families. There had been no terrorist attack. Nothing, and everything, had changed.

And, yet, look down any side street, and there were the crowds, thronging, craning, cameras aloft, for a glimpse at this once-drab, now-sacred place. It would probably be weeks if not months before they were ever admitted--the reservation list for one of the timed spots at the memorial is nearly booked that far in advance. But that was good enough. Like the relatives, friends and colleagues who had made the journey from next door and around the globe to be here on this day, they simply wanted to be close to the spirit of this place.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC