A week from the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a MTA bus mechanic has finished a 12-foot replica of the twin towers on the front lawn of his home in the Country Club section of the Bronx. "I made a promise to the victims 10 years ago that if there was something to do for them, I would do it," Matt Galcik tells the Daily News. "This is me keeping my promise."
Despite not having any previous carpentry experience, Galcik crafted the towers from plywood, 2x4s, and even a golf club for the north tower's antennae. A retired MTA worker who snapped pictures of the monument said, "I think it's a nice tribute to those we lost." A model of the twin towers in Beijing didn't receive the same warm welcome.
Galcik, who has repaired buses for the MTA for 30 years, spent $2,000 on materials and worked from July 4 until this weekend on the project. He drew 12,000 holes into the towers and mounted bulbs inside them to authentically recreate how they looked at night. "This is for everyone. It's a place people can come and reflect," he said. "Even if you didn't know somebody, we all lost something that day." You can see pictures of the towers when they were still under construction on Galick's Facebook page.
