It is undeniable that New York continues to shudder every time it remembers the 9/11 attack and the nearly 3,000 people who died two decades ago, but the city has also been able to look to the future and rebuild it almost completely afterwards. of the terrorist attack that changed the world.
A few days before the birthday party, the images of the event, now projected on a huge screen just 400 meters from where the Twin Towers were, are too harsh for some spectators.
“I can’t, I’m sorry,” says a New Yorker as she walks away dodging the rest of the audience, gathered in the Rockefeller Park Gardens to watch one of the episodes of Spike Lee’s new documentary series, “NYC Epicenters: 9/11 – 2021 1/2 “, which recalls minute by minute what happened that day.
Much of the attendees are visibly affected, covering their faces and bowing their heads every time images of people appear throwing themselves into the void from the windows of skyscrapers, or when the impact of bodies is felt against the ground.
The pain still evoked by the memories of September 11, 2001 contrasts with the reality of an energetic New York that has been reinventing year after year and leaving behind the worst moment in its history.
PERSISTENT SECURITY MEASURES
One of the first changes implemented by the city after the attack was strict security measures, which lasted two decades later both in the vicinity of Zero Zone and in New York’s means of transportation.
The square where the tribute to the victims is now located is surrounded by police stations, pylons, metal barriers, and, in some areas, signs indicating the prohibition of the presence of pedestrians, an unequivocal sign of the deep concern over the possibility of another large-scale terrorist attack.
On New York public transportation, the “If you see something, say something” campaign constantly reminds passengers to alert authorities to any abandoned packages or bags.
The phrase was born on September 12, 2001 and was adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) a few months later, and has since been a source of anxiety for passers-by, who are incessantly reminded of the danger. of an attack on the city.
For the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, Jeff Schlegelmilch, this is a campaign that has been effective, avoiding for example a car bombing in the busy Times Square in 2010.
“Still, we would be fooling ourselves if we thought something (like 9/11) can’t happen again,” Schlegelmilch warns.
THE LIKELY RISE OF SKYSCRAPERS
Even more visible two decades later is, against all odds, the proliferation of skyscrapers even though such structures turned out to be his Achilles heel.
“The almost universal opinion of commentators and experts was that there would never be another skyscraper, that people would be too scared to work there, to live there. That banks would be afraid to lend money for such projects.” , explains to EFE the founder and director of the Skyscraper Museum, Carol Willis.
Nothing could be further from the truth, because as Willis says, these buildings have multiplied in the Middle East, China and Southeast Asia, and also in New York.
And not just to house offices, as was the case for most of them in 2001, but for homes that will end up in the hands of the wealthiest.
“Twenty years after 9/11, New York has more super skyscrapers — defined by our museum as those more than 380 feet high — than any city in the world,” Willis points out.
In total, 7 of them exceed 380 meters, and 17 exceed 300.
A VERY RESIDENTIAL FINANCIAL DISTRICT
In the Financial District, where the Twin Towers were located, not only has the horizon changed, but also the type of companies that have chosen it to settle.
In 2001, 55% of building tenants were financial companies, but today they account for only 30%, according to data from the Wall Street Journal.
In addition, since 2003, 188 buildings have become residences in the southern tip of Manhattan, according to figures from the real estate agency Property Shark, so the population census has doubled since the in the year 2000.
CHANGES TO NEW YORK SOCIETY
New York society has also changed, very different now from twenty years ago, according to Hunter College sociologist Nancy Foner.
“There has been constant immigration to the city, so the demographics are different. In 2001, for example, the Mexican population was still quite small, and now it is very large,” says the expert, who points out that they have also grown substantially. African and Muslim communities.
But Foner points to another contemporary phenomenon that could change New York society more than 9/11, such as the number of deaths left in New York by the coronavirus pandemic, which also hit the economy hard. the Big Apple.
“With the pandemic, how many people have fallen ill or lost their jobs or can’t go to school? (…) It has had a huge effect, much more than 9/11,” concludes Foner.