May 25, 2013
A pear tree that miraculously survived the Sept. 11 terror attack blossomed at ground zero on the first day of spring.
The "Survivor Tree" -- as it's been dubbed -- was discovered amid the smoldering rubble, limbs lifeless, roots snapped, trunk blackened. Workers freed it and it was nursed back to health in a Bronx park before it was replanted.
Now topping 30 feet -- four times its size in 2001 -- it towers above other trees in Memorial Plaza at the World Trade Center.
On Tuesday, it sprouted white blossoms, seen for the first time by visitors to the 9/11 memorial that opened last September.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the tree is a testament to New York's "ability to endure" and "unshakable belief in a brighter future."
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
