The 21st Century has had its share of events that shocked the world. One of them is the September 11 attacks in 2001. This will be forever remembered as one of the most devastating times in modern history.
September 11, or 9/11 for short, is very important because it was not only a traumatic time, but it also changed the United States and the world in more ways than one.
Nearly 60,000 individuals helped to rescue people and clean up the debris caused by the demolished Twin Towers.
History
On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists took over four passenger planes and launched attacks on the United States, including the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan. As a result, thousands of people were killed.
I was 10 when this tragedy occurred. All of the students at my school, including myself, had to be sent home for their safety. It was a very stressful time, and my therapist and I wrote down how we felt about the attacks. In February 2003, my family and I participated in the anti-war march in New York City.
Impact
Although the attacks had terrible ramifications, they did lead to some positive results in Lower Manhattan. More and more people moved there to build businesses and start careers. In 2001, there were only six hotels in Lower Manhattan. Nowadays, there are 37 hotels. There are virtually 1,200 retail shops, restaurants, and bars in this area.
Says John Maher, the vice chairman of CBRE (Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis), a commercial real estate and investment services firm, “Before 9/11, less than 20,000 people lived here. And now, we have over 65,000 people that are here.”
Lower Manhattan is becoming a tourist and residential destination, and a place for tech companies to settle. In addition, since the aftermath of the attacks, Lower Manhattan’s population has grown due to net migration and natural increase, with births outnumbering deaths by over a three-to-one gap. For 9/11’s tenth anniversary, the people of Lower Manhattan held a public art project to express their feelings and reflect on this devastating time.
Lower Manhattan Today
The September 11 attacks are worth remembering for a variety of reasons. First, Lower Manhattan is going strong, in part because of the city’s response. Second, we gather every 9/11 at the World Trade Center site to read the names of those who perished that day, as well as those who died in the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack of 1993.
The ceremony also honors with silence six devastating moments on 9/11/2001, including when the two towers were struck, when they fell, the crash of flight 93 in Shanksville, PA, and the attack on the Pentagon in Washington D.C.
9/11 reminds us of the devastating consequences of al Qaeda’s actions, and how the attack changed the world and America. Because of it, America went to war against Afghanistan, the Salafi-jihadist group known as ISIS rose to power, security checks in airports became mandatory, Islamophobia increased, and the Department of Homeland Security was created.
We need to learn and remember about times like 9/11 to ensure they never happen again, as well as understand the effects they had, and still have, on us and the world.