From September 11th to September 12th

September 11th has never felt distant to me.

I saw the planes fly into the World Trade Center. I watched the buildings collapse. I walked uptown through the soot alongside thousands of other New Yorkers. Twenty-five years later, the weight of that day is still very real.

Years later, I had the opportunity to play a role in rebuilding the World Trade Center when I was appointed Vice Chairman of the Port Authority in 2011. By then, the redevelopment had become incredibly complicated. There were different stakeholders, competing priorities, strong emotions, and real disagreements about what the future of the site should look like.

We eventually found a way forward.

And when I think about that experience today, I keep coming back to something beyond September 11th itself.

I think about September 12th.

What Happened After the Tragedy

September 11th is a day to mourn the people we lost and honor the heroes who ran toward danger to help complete strangers.

But what followed showed another side of New York.

People came together. First responders continued searching. Restaurants fed people. Businesses offered space and resources. Civic leaders, business leaders, healthcare workers, community members, and countless others asked what they could do to help.

There was a collective commitment to take care of one another and eventually to rebuild.

I use “September 12th” somewhat figuratively. It wasn’t only the day after the attacks. It was the entire period that followed and the sense of civic duty that carried New York through it.

Building for the Future

The rebuilding of the World Trade Center could have resulted in a site focused entirely on remembering what was lost. Remembering had to be central to it, but we also had an opportunity to create something that contributed to the future of Lower Manhattan.

Today, the site includes the memorial alongside a park, a performing arts center, millions of square feet of office space, restaurants, and a growing residential community around it.

During the rebuilding process, Mayor Mike Bloomberg once asked me how long it took to build Central Park and how much it cost.

I didn’t know.

His point was that almost no one does. What people know is what Central Park means to New York today.

That perspective stayed with me. When you’re building something meant to last for generations, you have to get it right. The ultimate measure isn’t simply how difficult the process was. It’s what you leave behind.

Keeping the Lessons Alive

Twenty-five years later, there’s another responsibility we have to think about.

Roughly 100 million Americans were either not born yet or were too young to remember September 11th. For many of us, 9/11 is a memory. For them, it’s history.

That means we have a responsibility to keep teaching what happened and why.

We need future generations to understand what can happen when extremism and hatred are allowed to grow unchecked. But I also hope we teach them what happened afterward.

They should know about the sacrifice, the service, the civic responsibility, and the people who chose to help their neighbors and rebuild their city.

September 11th showed us humanity at its worst. The period that followed showed us some of its best. Twenty-five years later, both lessons are worth remembering.

-Scott Rechler