9/11: 20 Years Later
Remembering Manhattan’s day of infamy
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The entire issue of The Villager, Chelsea
Now and Downtown Express
this week is dedicated to the 20th
anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, and all those who died in the horrifi
c tragedy — or paid the ultimate price
saving the lives of strangers that fateful day.
We’re proud to share with you some of
the stories of that fateful day and the years
that followed.
Two decades later, it still hurts. We
remember the agonizing morning as if
it were yesterday —the horror of seeing
hijacked planes crashed into buildings full
of people; the shock of trapped men and
women leaping to their deaths because
they had no escape from the fl ames and
smoke; the bravery of the police offi cers,
fi refi ghters and EMTs who raced in when
everyone else went out; and the hideous
sight of Downtown’s biggest landmarks
collapsing to the Earth, and taking most
every soul within them.
A flag waves amid the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center
on Sept. 11, 2001.
So much has happened in the past two
decades, including the reconstruction of
the World Trade Center itself into a modern
center of commerce and progress. Those
who were children on 9/11 are now adults
building their own lives, with some dedicating
themselves to public service in honor
of those they knew and loved who perished
that fateful day.
But for those of us alive to bear witness
to that terrible morning, the memories have
not faded from the passage of the 7,305
days that followed.
We gather as a city once more this
Saturday to pause and remember the 20th
anniversary when terrorists struck a shocking
blow at the heart of our city — crashing
hijacked airliners into the World Trade
Center and precipitating their collapse,
killing close to 3,000 people in the process.
We gather once more to honor the
sacrifi ces of the more than 350 fi refi ghters,
police offi cers, EMTs and other fi rst
responders who ran into the burning Twin
Towers to save lives as thousands of people
fl ed from the danger.
We also gather once more to remember
the brave men and women who worked at
“Ground Zero” for months on end searching
for survivors and remains of victims
— and are now dying of illnesses related
PHOTOS BY REUTERS
to their heroic work.
And we do this not only to ensure that
we “never forget” 9/11 — but also to live
out Virgil’s words that the passage of time
won’t ever erase from our consciousness
those whom we lost that fateful day.
On Saturday, Sept. 11, thousands of
families and survivors of the attacks
will participate in the annual memorial
ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial. As the
victims’ names are read, the ceremony will
pause for moments of silence marking the
timeline of the tragedy:
• 8:46 a.m., Hijacked American Airlines
Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of
the World Trade Center.
• 9:02 a.m., Hijacked United Airlines
Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of
the World Trade Center.
• 9:37 a.m., Hijacked American Airlines
Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon outside
Washington, DC.
• 9:59 a.m., The South Tower of the
World Trade Center collapses.
• 10:07 a.m., Hijacked United Airlines
Flight 93 crashes in Shanksville, PA, after
passengers revolted against the terrorists.
• 10:28 a.m., The North Tower of the
World Trade Center collapses.
May the memories of all those murdered
on 9/11 live on forever in New York City.
The World Trade Center’s Twin Towers burn after being impacted by hijacked
aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001.
Schneps Media September 9, 2021 3