THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

In Solemn Commemoration of September 11, 2001

A nighttime long-lens view looking down the Hudson River from Riverfront Park in Dobbs Ferry, 20 miles to the north of New York City, taken in 1977.  You can see the dark outline of the George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River.  The Empire State Building and other midtown buildings are to the left of the left tower of the Bridge; the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are seen from this angle as a single large block in the middle of the span.  If you're interested in broadcast history, this was before the installation of the antenna mast on the North Tower. 

This photograph was a 10 minute time exposure; the streaks in the sky are airliners approaching Newark Airport.  Weird juxtaposition, in light of what happened.

Lower Manhattan, seen from the 86th Floor Observation Deck of the Empire State Building, February 2001.  The Twin Towers at the upper right, now showing the antenna mast on the North Tower; the historic Flatiron Building, and below it and to the left Madison Square Park, in the triangular intersection of Twenty-third Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway, in the lower foreground; the Verrazzano Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Staten Island, in the upper left.

Lower Manhattan seen from the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, September 1998.

Same place, a different time.  And a different era in our history.  The cloud of smoke and dust above where the Twin Towers stood is illuminated in this midnight photograph by worklights being used by the rescue/recovery/salvage workers.  Wednesday, September 19, 2001.

The Tribute in Light, some six months after the towers came down, Spring 2002.  Twin upward-shining spotlights illuminated the lower Manhattan sky in tribute for about a month from a downtown site near where the towers stood.   In observation of the third anniversary of the attacks, the lights are to be turned on again from dusk on Saturday, September 11, 2004, until dawn on Sunday.

Our beloved and wounded New York City on fire.  The eerie view from Riverfront Park in Dobbs Ferry on September 11, 2001, at about four in the afternoon, showing the plume of smoke from the WTC disaster site.  Taken from the same location as the photo at the top of this page, but without the telephoto lens.   (Note: the photo at the top of WDFH's home page was taken that day as well, from the same location but looking north up the river.)

Photographs copyright © 1977, 1998, 2001, 2002 by Marc Sophos