THE MALL AT WORLD TRADE CENTER - PRE & POST 9/11 - THE UNTOLD HISTORY

THE MALL AT WORLD TRADE CENTER - PRE & POST 9/11 - THE UNTOLD HISTORY

Music :

Undertow by Scott Buckley

Bryce Miller

Betamaxx -

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

[margaroacevedo]

I was at the mall on 9/10 around 430pm, I had lunch there. I haven't forgotten how it looked and felt that day. Not knowing in a few short hours it would be taken from us.

[keytar_minaudiere]

Each year on 9/11, the skylight retracts at 8:46am and stays open for 102 minutes. The lights in the oculus are dimmed, and a strip of light shines down the center of the room. You feel like you’re standing in the shadow of the original towers in those moments.

[Nick-mcob]

First off, thank you for this. My wife, GF at the time worked as the 1st manager at Warner Bros store. She was late that morning opening the store because we spoke on the phone till 1am. I never got a chance to see the store. Today I did. Thank you. I'm going to share this with her.

[andymurphy]

Thanks for making this video. I came up the escalators from the PATH train into that mall on 9/11 shortly after the first plane strike. I remember seeing smoke pouring out of the doors from the elevator lobby, and the security guard at the top of the escalator instructing us to get out of the facility. Everyone running, for the first time of many that day…

God bless the people of NY who lost loved ones that day. We will never forget.

[TheBuccaneer]

I'm a Brit who has never had the opportunity to visit the States, but I can honesty say that no other single event in history has been burned into my memory quite like that day. I can remember crowding around the old computer in our workshop with the other engineers to read what what happening on the news, remember calling my dad who's immediate reply I will not repeat but was strangely prophetic of the things to come, remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when watching the news that night and for many nights afterwards.

Some years later I took my family to the Imperial War Museum in London, I did not know at the time but they have a large twisted section of one of the towers on display. There were no signs leading to it, because it needed none - you simply round a corner and it's 7m bulk there in front of you. The emotion upon seeing it is like a gut punch even for a bloke who was three and a half thousand miles away on that horrible day. So many people in the UK (myself included) have shed tears for those that were lost and for those that have lost. Please remember that you will always have friends amongst us.

[DirtyBlueshirtAU]

At the time, I had just turned 20 four days prior. I worked in a customer service call center for United Airlines just outside Detroit, and had gotten off the midnight shift. I worked 5p-2a that day. I was asleep at the time, of course, and a family member woke me up after the second plane hit. It took me several minutes to comprehend the magnitude of what had happened, and watching the impacts over and over again, one thing stuck out, the distinctive grey and blue paint scheme of United planes of that era.

I ran upstairs to tell my parents “that was one of our planes”, long before it was reported by any source at the time. This was about the time the reports came in about the crash at the pentagon, and the possibility of a fourth plane going down somewhere in Pennsylvania.

As the news slowly filtered in, and after the first, then second towers fell; there wasn’t much I could feel at the time outside of just the pure shock of what was happening. How could this happen? This couldn’t be an accident. What does this mean? What comes next?

Shortly after I called back to work and asked what was happening there. The company had authorized unlimited overtime for any employee who wanted to come in and help. Nobody knew what to expect. The global grounding of flights had just begun, and our planes were being put down anywhere and everywhere. It didn’t matter if it was an airport serviced by our airline… or any commercial airline for that matter. If it had a runway that could accomodate that plane; it landed there, no questions.

As I got into work, there were notes on our internal messaging system to direct any media inquiries to the corporate office, and that the company was deploying crisis counsellors to the airports and offices for employees. I sat down at a workstation, plugged in my phone headset, and waited for the flood of calls to come in. They never came. In a typical 8 hour shift, I’d usually field about 250 calls from customers. I worked a full 8 hours and only fielded four calls.

At the start of the shift, my coworkers were able to (internally) identify the flights before they were confirmed in the media. Once the flights were confirmed, they were locked out of our systems. Before then, we were able to see the flight manifests, and someone had printed out the two United flights that went down in an effort to see if anyone we knew was onboard.

I worked United’s 1K flyer desk at the time, so there were several customers we would know by name, since it’s a smaller pool of customers, and they were always calling in for one reason or another to change flights or whatnot. Some of my coworkers knew some of the crew, and there were more than a couple passengers some of us knew. It was the worst work shift of my life.

The next day, as the shock was wearing off and people were stranded anywhere and everywhere across the globe, the word from the company was just to get people where they needed to go, whatever means necessary.

At this time, almost all major carriers worldwide shared flight load data across their different proprietary computer systems. Some airlines like Southwest didn’t share this data, and under normal circumstances we were unable to “protect” a passenger on southwest if there was a flight problem. Now, no holds were barred. We had customers in the tundras of Canada, some in Greenland, others in tiny airstrips in the middle of Kansas. Places we didn’t have planes normally. Places no commercial carrier had planes normally. But we had to get these people where they needed to go. It didn’t matter where they were headed originally, but for a solid week or two, we rerouted people where they wanted to be, however we could make it happen. Originally going to Los Angeles and wanted to visit mom in Duluth? Done. Call southwest to see if they had a seat for a passenger? Done. Only seat I can find is First Class on American Airlines? Done. Rental car? Done. Amtrak? Done and done. It didn’t matter, we just had to do what needed to be done. Our office also had a walk-up ticket office, which was closed. One distraught customer found his way to out break area outside and I lent him my cell phone, and I dialled into our 1K desk so he could talk to an agent and rearrange his travel plans.

Over the next few weeks, we had a scrapbook set up on the call floor with letters and cards we had received from other airlines, customers, and strangers offering their support and condolences for the teammates we lost that morning. It still moves me to tears today thinking about it.

One story I tell is that a good coworker of mine knew immediately about a customer on Flight 93 which crashed in Shanksville, PA. As soon as the flight number was known, she said “I put a guy on that flight last night. He was supposed to leave on an earlier flight, but wanted to stay home to spend time with the family.” Later, when the list of names was released, she looked and said “That’s him!” It was Todd Beamer. He was a 1K flyer on United, and an overall nice guy. I’d spoken to him a couple of times, pretty routine stuff. He’s now famous for being the man on flight 93 who called the Airfone operator (those satellite phones they used to have in seat backs in the 90s). He was part of the group of passengers who attempted to retake the cockpit and said the famous words “Let’s Roll”. It’s generally believed that Flight 93 was headed to Washington DC, and likely the White House. The passengers sacrificed themselves and were successful in stopping that from happening.

20 years later, and an entire generation who never knew the event, or what things were like before then, I guess my only analogy I can think of is that this is what the generation of Americans who lived through Pearl Harbor felt like, and then seeing the slow march as the event gets forgotten and marginalized. There is a certain pain in that, and emotions that get stirred up. Just as my grandparents vowed to make sure we never forgot the lives lost in that attack, we must work to make sure we never forget that Tuesday morning, when so much changed in the blink of an eye.

[monicamac]

I was a young mother in Australia, when the events of 9/11 took place. I spent days being glued to the TV, crying, shaking my head, and thinking that the end of the world was surely coming. I haven't felt safe, since. I will never, ever forget. And the courage of those first responders, the flight attendants and just the everyday New Yorkers who helped each other out that day, has stayed with me. My heart breaks for all those people who lost their lives, those who had to grow up without parents or siblings and those whose health has been badly affected. And for what reason, exactly? That is what bothers me the most. Take care, all of you.

[loveanddreambig]

Thank you so much.
My cousin (by marriage) had to run for his life when the towers fell; and his dad was killed in one of the towers. My cousin is now 50 and is dealing with many health issues from everything he had to deal with that day.
Nearly everyone knows about and remembers those who died (rightfully), but often forget about the tens of thousands of people who survived the initial attack but still suffer from horrific health effects.
So thank you, for bringing awareness to them and the causes that support them.

[SR-ocfc]

Thank you for this. I've been searching for photos of the pre-9/11 mall since it happened. I can't shake my obsession with the day or the property because both have made a major impact on my life. I spent many hours at the concourse shopping center as a young working adult. Those buildings were...powerful and a symbol that I was no longer a kid (I worked directly across the river at Exchange Place). We would hop on the PATH train at Exchange Place and grab lunch. There are clothes that I purchased at the mall's shops that I still can't throw away. I know remembrances will become fewer in the years ahead since the 20th anniversary, but there are a few of us out there who still feel the loss. RIP to Susie and Jim who perished that day. I appreciate this video so much. You jogged memories I didn't realize I had.

[annem]

I was obsessed with those towers from about 1977 when I first heard of them. I was a poor teen then. In 1986, a coworker took a trip to NYC. My only request was that she bring me something from those towers. I got several cool postcards. I always hoped to someday get there. Married the hubby and he knew of this dream. Feb. 26, 1993, he woke me (it was 9:17 am our time) to tell me someone bombed the WTC. I answered, "No, they didn't!" because I was in denial. Sept. 11, 2001. again, I was asleep. Husband woke me around 8am our time(pacific) to tell me that someone hit the towers and they were gone. I said, "No, they aren't!" I just couldn't believe it. I got up and saw it for myself, since it was replaying over and over on the tv. That night, I had a horrible nightmare where I was in one of the towers and it was burning and I can honestly say it is the worst thing I've ever dreamed. It felt so real and gives me a small idea of what people went through. I'm still poor and unable to get to NYC. If I ever do, I'll visit that Memorial for sure.

[CK-EDITS_edit]

My nephew moved to NYC six years ago and last summer, my sister went to visit him. One of the places they visited was the 9/11 Memorial Pools and museum. She told me how she poignantly learned that the memorial is not only the most visited place in NYC, but also, it is the quietest place in NYC. ❤️

[VitaminSteve]

My mom was one of the ones who got out through that mall on 9/11. Thanks, mall.

[FireFox]

I live in Manhattan and I remember that day clearly. It was my first day of Middle School. Class had just started a couple minutes ago. The librarian came in and told the teacher there was an accident downtown. I in my young innocent mind thought a MTA bus had crashed and flipped over. The librarian came back and said “a plane crashed into the World Trade Center” I didn’t at the point know it was the other name to the Twin Towers. She then said parents are going to be picking kids up. My mother picked me and my brothers up. We all went to same school. We started walking to my grandparents apartment. In the air I saw fighter jets zoom up. Finally got to grandparents. Started watching the new. Then I saw LIVE the second plane crash into the other Tower. “It’s just a playback of the first plane” said my mom. She quickly learned it wasn’t.

Why can’t the helicopters save them? My aunt came followed my uncle. Trains had stop running. They walked far to get there. I still remember the people falling… the sound of people hitting the floor. Kept watching the news seeing everything unfold. I’ve been to the site. Went to community college near there and actually saw freedom tower being finished. I do remember I had class on 9-11-2010(?) and looked up. I was on the corner looking at the Freedom Tower. I looked at the time. It was around 8am it was chilly as I thought about the people walking to class and being interrupted by the sound of the first plane hitting. Gave me goosebumps.

Well thank you to anyone that read my story. Great video btw.

[U.S.Government]

I'm from England and I visited New York back in 2015, I started every day off by spending time at the memorial pools to pay my respect. With all the hustle and bustle in New York, very much like London, there is an eerie silence over the memorial pools. I will never forget that tragic day. Lest We Forget 🇬🇧❤️🇺🇸

[chicpixstudios]

The manager of the WTC mall used to manage the mall in my town. He was only filling in that day. He went back for some radios just as the towers fell and lost his life. He saved tons of people. I met him a few times many years ago when I worked in his old assignment at my mall. He was such a nice man. Even allowed me to do my college final at my mall for my project. Forever grateful to him. I’m surprised he wasn’t mentioned here. There is a memorial plaque for him in my mall. His name was Bruce Eagleson.

[rag]

This was one of the most amazing and respectful tributes I’ve seen to the people lost on 9/11! The cadence and tone of your narration was very reflective and respectful to the victims. The brief history you covered gave the site and events of 9/11 a proper context. Thanks 🙏 a million for this thoughtful and professional presentation of such an important event in New York City’s and America’s history!

[JoseMorales-lwnt]

17:20/ As a native New Yorker, you're not mistaken about the specifics of the designs that make up the Occulus. The slitted windows soaring over the middle of the mall were meant to invoke the original exterior of the Twin Towers! The choice of warm marble was no accident, either. The floors and walls utilize the exact same marble that was used for the original WTC mall. The spinal aspect of the Occulus was meant to invoke a dove as it begins to soar onto flight. Just look at the structure from outside, and you can picture the aviary connection.

[garygeleski]

Thank you for bringing the mall to peoples attention as a conduit to safety from the horror unfolding above the mall
I was there in the mall
I came off the E train, and was swept up into a sea of humanity trying to exit
There was no stampeding, but the sheer volume of people swept me up the stairs, and I found myself in front of Century 21, loo, ing at a burning World Trade Center
Evrrytime I tell my story, I always emphasize thr, e safety of the mall, and all the people that hurried me along, and upmthe stairs
I will never forget that day, and all the people that helped each other both physically, and by offering words of comfort and encouragement to each othrt

[charleslaine]

One of my friends and coworkers was in this mall when the first plane hit. He had a business meeting that morning but his airline had lost his luggage, so he went there to buy some business attire for the meeting. He was outside on the street directly below the second attack. As large chunks of debris rained down, some firemen urged him to seek cover under a truck until there was a relative pause in the chaos. He then escaped the immediate area on foot and was at a safe distance when the towers fell.

Anyway, when I saw this story about the mall at the WTC, I immediately thought of him. It was just by chance he was there that day for a sales meeting and for no other reason. It always reminds me of how we can be taken at any moment without reason or warning.

[gman]

Probably the most peaceful reflection of a truly horrific day in the history of humanity. Thank you for your remembrance and work of art.