New York City Remembers
New York City Remembers: The Guides Association of New York City (GANYC) Commemorates the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 and its Recovery
In commemoration of the significance that the events of 9/11 had on New York City (as well as the rest of the nation and the world), the Guides Association of New York City (GANYC) invited our neighbors to join us on a series of free public walking neighborhood tours and virtual tours in early September that shared in the memory of that day from various perspectives.
GANYC is the country’s largest association of independent, professional, and licensed tour guides in the greater NYC metropolitan area.
“For the past 20 years GANYC’s tour guide members have been chronicling the events of 9/11 and their lasting impact on the city in all manners of tours. Offering free tours to the public that touch on various themes connected to 9/11 is the perfect way for us to help commemorate this important anniversary,” stated GANYC President Emma Guest-Consales. “This is just a small way for GANYC to give back to New York City as we remember one of the worst days in our city’s history. ”
We were proud to offer excellent opportunities to commemorate and reflect upon how 9/11 even after 20 years continues to live on in our memories, our neighborhoods, in our infrastructure, and in our memorials.
Here are videos of the virtual offerings, with thanks to all participating guides:
Live Virtual Tours
“How Broadway Responded to 9/11,” by Karen Nowosad
Description: Broadway shows closed for several days after the attacks of 9/11. In response to requests from City officials to have Broadway reopen, a lot had to be considered. This tour will cover how Broadway responded to those requests and the impact it had on the area. It also covers the making of the famous "I Love New York - Broadway Commercial" filmed in Duffy Square. The tour concludes with a special tribute to Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9, also known as Broadway's firehouse, which lost 15 of their company in the World Trade Center Disaster.
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“The Original World Trade Center – Architecture and Planning,” by Anthony W. Robins
Description: Two decades have passed since the disaster of September 11th, 2001. As a new World Trade Center rises on the site, we can remember what the original was like — “a city-within-a-city” that housed 50,000 employees, and welcomed 80,000 to 100,000 visitors every day to its Twin Towers, briefly the tallest structures in the world. This virtual tour reviews the story of the Trade Center's creation: post-World War II Downtown redevelopment, the origins of the Trade Center concept, the search for an architect, the evolution of the design, the urge to build the world’s tallest buildings, the engineering feats required for the towers’ construction, and the critical response. It then walks through the complex and the towers. The tour is offered as a reminder of a more innocent time, when the Center stood as a symbol, certainly, of hubris, wealth and power, but also of the conviction that in New York, Americans could do anything to which they set their minds.
Please join Anthony W. Robins, author of "Classics of American Architecture: The World Trade Center," which has been called "the first serious book" on the subject, for this engaging topic on the original World Trade Center.
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“The Tear Drop Memorial in Bayonne, NJ,” by John Semlak
Description: On September 11, 2001, the presenting tour guide (John Semlak) was living nearly halfway around the globe in Moscow, Russia. Though far away, the events had a massive impact on him. This presentation will focus on how Russians reacted to September 11, from laying flowers at the US Embassy that very night to to donating a massive 11-storey monument to the events known as the Tear Drop Memorial, located in Bayonne. The presentation will also look at this monument and its controversial sculptor, Zurab Tsereteli
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“Manhattan Chinatown After 9/11,” by Wang Yue
Description: After the attack that took place on 09/11, Manhattan's Chinatown was one of the first and the largest neighborhood disaster areas. Many people's lives were destroyed and many people suffered from the lack of timely rescue at that time as their family members and neighbors desperately looked for relatives and friends.
Chinatown residents, most of them are American Chinese, immediately joined the city community of support to help others, and some of them lost their lives trying to save others. Mr. Zhe Zack Zeng, for example, came from Guangdong China and he volunteered as an EMT when he relocated to NYC in 1998. On the morning of September 11, Zack was working at the Bank of New York building (located three blocks from the World Trade Center) when the first plane struck. When the tower fell, Zack and his fellow employees were ordered to evacuate; but when Zack saw what was happening, he ran back into his building to gather first aid kits and medical supplies, then responded to the base of the WTC to aid the injured. When the second tower collapsed, Zack became a victim himself at age 28.
Chinatown has been rebuilt, but many people remember Zack and others just like him. On this tour, we will share these stories to visitors and encourage people to understand that American Chinese are members of American society who are part of the tragedy and heroism witnessed on 9/11.
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“The 9/11 Living Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel,” by Melvyn Wasserman
A one-hour Zoom webinar.
Description: This presentation will cover the various Israelis who perished in the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent memorials that were built throughout Israel that culminated in the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem. The planning and construction of the memorial as well as its dedication ceremony will also be covered. Please join Mel Wasserman, a 9/11 survivor, to explore this moving memorial.