By JOSEPH KELLARD
Erected on the top of Schaefer's garage, the six-foot tall towers are made of wood, sheet metal and plexi-glass. They look out onto the Sands Shopping Center's parking lot next to the recently-constructed Express and Ann Taylor stores.
Prior to living in his current home for 34 years, Schaefer, 74, a life-long Oceanside resident, grew up in a house on nearby Mott Street. Back then, before Daly Blvd. had been constructed, he could see the towers from his window.
"I built the towers because I wanted to be different," Schaefer said, "but mostly because I always admired them. Every Fourth of July at my bay house we could look right across due west and see them standing there. It was great."
For 22-years, Schaefer worked maintenance and mechanics at the Town of Hempstead's Highway Department. He began by putting up barricades on dead ends and building storm drains. Later, his woodworking skills were employed to build various materials, such as cabinets, at Town Hall and in their offices.
At home, his garage is largely filled with woodworking tools and machines. There he's built many items, such as lawn chairs and a decorative water well, which are spread out across his yard. The towers were his latest creation.
"People on my block came by and told me, 'George, I love your towers.' And people who've seen them from the shopping center have come by my house just to see if they can see them through my yard, and then they drive off."
Schaefer is toying with the idea of building a replica of the outer steel-beam that was the only thing left standing of one tower after the collapse.
"Once I get a photo of it I'll be building that next," he promised.
