Pre-September 11
This is what it looked like from my apartment on September 11, 2001. Right before the tragedies. The Twin Towers — standing tall, as they always had.
#01
September 11, 2001 — The Day It Happened
Sixth Avenue — September 11, 2001
I had awoken at 3 AM in a sweat. I had no idea why. I was supposed to fly to Montana that evening and had packed my bags. I even brought jeans — which I never do on a business trip.
#02
Sixth Avenue — September 11, 2001
I learned of the incident via AOL IM and eventually found out the towers fell. I took my bags and headed from my office to my sister's office down Sixth Avenue.
#03
Bar on Sixth Avenue
Apparently life went on. People sat at bars, watched the news. The disconnect between midtown and downtown was surreal.
#04
Central Park
After all of the chaos that transpired on this day, I was unable to go home — I live 1.5 blocks (500 feet) from WTC Tower 2. The second to be hit, the first to fall.
#05
Central Park — Life Goes On
I ended up getting about 20 invitations to stay at people's places on Tuesday night. It was very nice. People's generosity was overwhelming.
#06
Sailboating in the Park
My firm even offered places. I had a friend on the upper east side and decided to stay there. These are the sights I saw walking from midtown to 96th Street.
#07
Upper East Side
Seemed as though people up here were somewhat less affected by the events of the day. But the streets were empty, nonetheless.
#08
Emergency Vehicles
Emergency vehicles continued to travel down 2nd Avenue and Lexington most of the evening.
#09
September 12 — The Walk Downtown
"I woke up at around 6 in the morning on Wednesday and was overcome with even more anger than the day before. I assume most of you felt the same way."
View from 96th Street
I had decided I was going to try to get downtown to see my apartment and the surrounding damage myself — however, the city was closed off below 14th Street.
#10
Tickets
The city went on. This man was getting a ticket as he waited on a corner for the volunteer van to pick him up. I woke Robyn up and told her to get dressed — she had volunteered to walk downtown with me to see if my apartment was still standing.
#11
Trip Downtown
We walked — there was no mass transit — and I think we needed to expend some pent up energy. Brian indicated he would go with me if I were to try to sneak into Battery Park City. (OK, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.)
#12
Blood Lines
As Robyn and I walked, we passed by numerous hospitals and there were lines and lines of people waiting to give blood. No cars on the streets — just people.
#13
Dirty Trucks
Of those trucks that had survived the fall, some were already being cleaned, getting ready for the next days — weeks of work.
#14
NYU — Got Brian
Robyn and I called Brian and met him at his apartment on 36th Street. As I didn't have clothing, Brian loaned me a pair of sneakers (I was wearing my Cole Haans) and a few pairs of socks. More people lined up at NYU to give blood and report missing persons.
#15
Morgue
At NYU, a morgue was set up, which is somewhat visible in this picture.
#16
Ghost Tower
We walked over to the FDR (East River) and started walking downtown on the bike path. Thank God that we walked along the river.
#17
Emergency Vehicle
More emergency vehicles than I had ever seen in my life continued to stream down the FDR.
#18
Bombed Out Emergency Vehicle
These apparently were the remnants of a vehicle — however, we were still a few miles from the site.
#19
Cops Sleeping
There were cops all over the streets stopping people from going downtown — but not along the river. These cops were lying on the sidewalks exhausted, sleeping, eating, drinking. Cops in cars with windows open, sleeping anywhere they could. You cannot imagine the sight it was.
#20
I Am Sure This Company Changed Its Name!
This car was parked at South Street Seaport. Enough said.
#21
Ground Zero — The Sight That Will Never Leave Me
"We passed 14th Street easily with nobody saying anything to us. We kept walking until we could start to see the smoke from the WTC. It was really eerie. Nobody on the streets, nobody anywhere."
First View of Ground Zero
At this point you couldn't smell the fires, but you could see the smoke on the other side of the city. We walked down the east side — the WTC is on the west. As we walked my legs began to hurt. I have not worked out or walked this much in about 10 years. Brian said he was fine. He is so stoic.
#22
Battery Park Entrance
We walked by South Ferry — the southernmost tip of Manhattan — and Brian put a bandana on. Notice he didn't offer us one. But he did offer us water, which we desperately needed. The smoke and dust were awful. It was hard to breathe. Nobody stopped us.
#23
Battery Park
Ambulances, cops, doctors — all over the place. Just waiting to pick people up and take them to hospitals. The worst part was that there was nobody to pick up.
#24
West Street
As we walked through Battery Park, our feet got buried in soot — a few inches thick. It was white, grey. It was something out of a movie — not to be believed. As we walked around a building that used to obstruct the WTC, a feeling came over me. They were no longer there.
#25
Missing Skyline
Yes, I had been seeing it on TV for 2 days — but until you see it in person, you don't or can't believe it. And then you don't think it is real. How could these two structures that are huge and have been bombed, hit by a plane before — be gone so seemingly easily.
#26
South End Avenue
The TV doesn't do this disaster zone any justice. It is MUCH worse in person. We walked onward toward Battery Park City. Now we were on the west side of Manhattan.
#27
Strollers
We walked by an area where a lot of young mothers normally sit with babies. The only thing left were strollers covered with soot. It was unreal. A sight not to be believed.
#28
Stopped
Someone finally stopped us. A person dressed in fatigues — can only assume they were National Guard. He indicated that only one of us could go to the building and he checked my ID.
#29
Residential Area
We finally made it to the south end of Battery Park City — the residential area where I lived.
#30
To Dumping Ground
The dump trucks had already been here. They were moving debris from the WTC area and dumping it on residential streets in my neighborhood. Piles of steel, dirt, papers on the street.
#31
Steel
Steel girders 50 feet long, bent like rubber, piled high on a side street.
#32
South End and Rector
Color photos would not show anything much different. The streets were covered with inches of soot and we could hardly breathe. He called over Rakesh to escort me to my building. Brian tried to give me his digital camera and the officer said — and I quote — "Give that camera back to him." I did.
#33
250 South End Avenue — My Apartment
250 South End
Here were my first glimpses of my street. Rakesh walked me to my building. It was hard to breathe — dust in the air and inches (2–3) of dust on the ground. Papers were everywhere — trade confirmations, buy slips, sell slips. It was unreal. It started to hit home.
#34
South End and Albany
Pictures speak a thousand words.
#35
First Glimpses
I got to my building and there were two cops in the lobby asking me who I was, what I was doing there and how I had gotten there. They didn't want to let me in. I finally talked my way in, after showing them ID. I went up to my apartment on the 4th floor, facing the WTC about 500 feet away. I walked up four flights of stairs in the dark.
#36
First View
I opened my door and had my camera out waiting to take a picture of a destroyed apartment. It wasn't. It was intact — but a little dusty. Gail will be busy cleaning for a while when I do get to go back and live there.
#37
South Tower
I walked to the window, as I needed to see this for myself. I opened my shade and there was an inch of soot caked to the window. I opened it and all I saw was smoke and GREY.
#38
South Tower & AMEX Building & WFC One
Here stands the old American Express Building. The black shroud was there before September 11th.
#39
Albany and West Street
It was all grey. What was left of the WTC buildings was bent and very bizarre looking. Pictures on TV don't do it justice. There was no way you could recognize the buildings. The Marriott was not viewable. The old American Express building across the street was also very damaged.
#40
Old AMEX Building & Marriott Financial Center
I will never forget this scene for as long as I live.
#41
The Long Walk Back Uptown
West Street
I walked a few blocks to Brian and Robyn. Brian grabbed a bag and we started walking across town.
#42
West Street and Brian
Back towards the east side.
#43
Brooklyn Battery Tunnel & WTC Through the Center
As we walked across town over the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, I noticed a pair of girls' underwear on some steps. They were black with a little silver star — can only imagine where they came from.
#44
Cleaning
Buildings were already starting to be cleaned — just one day later.
#45
The Bull
The bull still stood.
#46
National Guard on Broad Street
We bumped into some more National Guard and cops. They were guarding the street as the electricity was off. Someone offered us water for free.
#47
Hummer
A Hummer in the street — sights that will be burned in my memory forever.
#48
Crushed Cars
We walked uptown to Canal Street. Brian carried both bags half the way, as I had back spasms. He was great to have with us. Ok, I will never regret having said that. Some streets — Canal to name one — were blocked off. Police were checking IDs and only letting a few people past. It was very surreal.
#49
Subway — 4 Hours Later
Finally we got on the subway and went back uptown. My body ached, back hurt.
#50
Upper East Side Park
We will live on. As fathers and sons and daughters played in the park uptown — as destruction was being cleaned up downtown.
#51
🇺🇸 🕯️ 🇺🇸
Never Forget
This anthology was written and photographed by Adam Gnesin, who lived 500 feet from World Trade Center Tower 2 on September 11, 2001.
These photographs were taken on September 11th and September 12th, 2001 — walking from midtown Manhattan all the way to Ground Zero and back.
"I will never forget this scene for as long as I live."