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My father, pointing towards the Empire State Building, 1997.
It fascinated me how Tower 1 seemed so close to Tower 2 from the Observation Deck. Everything from there was tiny and distant, except for a huge practically identical building only a few steps away. I would try to look over and see people in their offices, or in Windows on the World (a bar/restaurant on the top floor of Tower 1). I also wished I could somehow just step over to the other tower, because it blocked the view.
From the Observation Deck you could see railings on the roofs of both buildings. Although I did notice them on several visits, I never thought much about what they were for (my guess was right- I imagined somehow they were used to wash the windows), how exactly they worked, or who operated them. Now I know that Mr. Roko Camaj operated the automatic window washer. The washer would start at the top and "roll" all the way down to the 9th floor. Then the roller would come up and he would move it over to the next column. It would take 5 days to clean one side. 20 days to clean each building. Then the process would start over again. Mr. Camaj went to work on September 11th, 2001. He is missing since that day.