September 11, 2001

The view on 9-11 from Jersey City.

The September 11, 2001 attacks consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly targeting civilians. That morning, 19 terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767-223, wide-body aircraft crashed into the north side of the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) at 8:46:30 a.m. local time. United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767-222, crashed into the South Tower at 9:02:59 a.m. local time. Both towers collapsed shortly thereafter. The pilot of the third team crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. Passengers and members of the flight crew on United Airlines Flight 93 attempted to retake control of their plane, which ended crashed into a field near the town of Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

There were 2,973 fatalities: 246 on the four planes, 2,602 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. Among the fatalities were 343 New York City Fire Department firefighters, 23 New York City Police Department officers, and 37 Port Authority police officers. 1366 of those New Yorkers were at or above the floors of impact in the North Tower (1 WTC). As many as 600 people were killed instantly or trapped at or above the floors of impact in the South Tower (2 WTC). An estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths from the burning towers.

In addition to the 110-floor Twin Towers of the World Trade Center itself, five other buildings at the World Trade Center site, including 7 World Trade Center and the Marriott Hotel, two New York City Subway stations, and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church were destroyed or badly damaged. In total, in Manhattan, 25 buildings were damaged and all seven buildings of the World Trade Center Complex had to be razed. Two additional buildings were later condemned: the Deutsche Bank Building across Liberty Street from the World Trade Center complex, due to the uninhabitable, toxic conditions inside the office tower and Borough of Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall at 30 West Broadway due to extensive damage in the attacks.

In 2007, the World Trade Center was ranked #19on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list.