Although more than ten years have passed since September 11, 2001, it still feels like a very recent event. I still find it hard to believe that everything that has happened from the War on Terror to our $15 trillion in national debt has been the effect of a single day. The issues that have sparked from that attack continue to be left unsolved. How do we win a war when the enemy does not show us their face? Do we just invade countries on a hunch that their governments may be harboring terrorists and weapons of mass destruction? Does the new age of technology mean less privacy and more surveillance? When we finally kill the man responsible for the attack, does it end there? No? How far are we willing to go to “win” a war? In the world that we have drifted towards after 9/11, anger and terror are spread like butter on a hot piece of toast. The day of September 11, 2001 will not feel like history until the world decides to let go

Everyone who was in New York on the day of the attack has his or her own story of the event. Although I only began the third grade at the time, I remember vividly what happened. From my classroom in Bayside, Queens I could see the New York City skyline in the distance. It was a sight that felt so special because I thought Manhattan was extremely far away. Although I didn’t realize it till afterwards, on the day of September 11 I gazed at the skyline and saw an excess of black smoke. I was so excited with joy I said, “Hey, look a factory!” I was only eight years old at the time and I didn’t know what was really happening. When I was finally picked up from school that day my brother told me the World Trade Center blew up, to which I responded, “COOL!”

Cool wasn’t the word I should have used, nor was it the word anyone else was using. They all used words like attack, tragic, terrorism, and Muslim. As a Muslim, I’ve never felt differently than anyone else until the word terrorist was coupled with the word Muslim. My parent’s families lived in the United States since the 80s and I was born into this Pakistani-American Muslim family. I felt it was only until after the attacks when Muslims began to be recognized as a separate group. A group that contained a smaller group of radical terrorists hell bent on destroying America. The separation between Muslims and terrorists although obvious, was not apparent to many Americans protesting the recent “Ground Zero Mosque.” I was astonished like many other New Yorkers that these protesters actually believed that the people building the place of worship were the enemy. I like to blame the outsiders who came into New York City just to protest their hatred of Muslims in general. My friends and I did not take any of these protests to heart. It was a real “haters gonna hate” type of moment. It did open my eyes though to the affect that the fear of terrorism had somewhat led to the fear of the Muslim American population in America.

Although the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001 is a national issue, post 9/11 New York City started an era of its own. I believe New York has drastically changed in terms of its message to the rest of the world. It changed from a city of dreams to a city that will continue to dream no matter what the world decides to throw at it. The point of the attack was to show everyone that even the best city in the world could have a bad day. They wanted to destroy the iconic image of the city of dreams, but instead they did the opposite. New York after 9/11 is a stronger city with stronger people. Americans living outside of New York did not witness the way in which our city recuperated and was back on track to being the best city in the world. We overcame our loss in a way that no other city could have done. I do not necessarily remember ever living in a city before 9/11. What I have seen is a city that has gotten back on its feet and continues to express its glamor to the rest of the world.

I believe artists can express the traumatic events of 9/11 in a meaningful way only if they tell a real story. After watching “Fahrenheit 9/11,” I felt that Michael Moore effectively portrayed his hatred towards the government in the handling of the attack and its aftermath. Although his story was extremely biased, I felt it was also true in many aspects. It showed some of the shortcomings of George Bush’s presidency as well as the misinformed decision to invade Iraq. The documentary told a story that was not told before and it was a story that people wanted to listen to. The attacks of September 11 are still a current issue and any type of artwork that elucidates the reality of that day in a new way will be successful. I feel like works such as “The Mercy Seat” will only be successful when September 11 feels more like history. Because the issue is still current, a documentary that elucidates the government handling of 9/11 is more effective than a fictional story about a man pretending to be dead.

Having been very young when 9/11 happened, the gravity of that day did not truly take effect until years later. I remember sitting in a classroom and wondering why so many of my classmates were getting taken out of school early. When my turn came around, I was naturally excited. However, this excitement was soon met with confusion once I asked my mom what brought on this (fortunate) early dismissal from school.

I remember my mother’s expression when she tried to explain the tragedy in simple terms for me. For my eight-year-old mind, my largest concern was that my younger brother (who was born a month later) would never be able to see the two towers. I remember the chaos that was each and every supermarket that day as everyone stocked up on the necessities, and expected the worst.

Looking back, I’m glad that I was young enough to grasp some but not all of the aspects of that day. As a child, my biggest frustration was that no channel seemed to be showing cartoons. What good is getting out of school early if you can’t watch cartoons? Alas, most television watching was closely monitored in my house in the month that followed because the doctors felt that if my mother watched the news it would be too much stress for the baby.

There is no doubt that the events of 9/11 changed the perception of many Americans. America was no longer invincible, out of reach, and out of harm. America was now vulnerable, and that was a concept that brought fear to many Americans. Talk of the war on terrorism and a growing feeling of “Islamaphobia” began to fill the nation. Unfortunately, the latter is a sentiment that still fills many Americans with a misplaced sense of hatred and prejudice.

As a New Yorker, I can say without a doubt that 9/11 is a great deal more meaningful to those that live here. While the effects of that day spread not only around the country, but around the world, only an actual New Yorker can say that they witnessed the towers fall that morning. The image of the twin towers was a monumental figure in New York culture, featured in every skyline. After that day, the skyline for those living in the boroughs has an empty space, a gap left by a tragic, tragic event.

Like any event, artists of all trades have worked to portray the trauma of that day. I believe that it is crucial that artists incorporate 9/11 into music, film, exhibits etc. because it is crucial to keep 9/11 in our collective memory. We must never forget the lives that were lost, and the sense of unity that was felt as Americans worked to help those in need during that period of chaos. I think there is great meaning in art dedicated to 9/11 because it represents a moment that is crucial to this nation’s history, and can be analyzed through a variety of perspectives. Art pertaining to 9/11 helps us to establish a greater sense of understanding of the event, rather than settle for complacency.

9/11 – a day that New Yorkers who were old enough to remember it, will always remember when and where they were for the rest of their lives. I was in my third grade class and suddenly, my classroom was receiving multiple calls and the kids were being taken home. I didn’t know why everybody was being picked up, and thought why wasn’t I being picked up, but other than that, I didn’t really think too much of that until I came home and saw all the planes crashing into the towers and the buildings falling. I will admit, even until this semester, I was indifferent towards these events, mainly because it did not affect me directly and because nobody I knew died, but for many others–about 3,000 others, their associations with 9/11 were very different.

In the larger scheme of things, the tragic events that took place on 9/11 did not have a lasting impact on peoples perceptions of New York, but it did have an impact for the a few years following the attacks. Today, if you were to ask a foreigner from another country, or even another state, “What do you think of New York?” I’m sure the first answer they give wouldn’t have any relation to the burning towers as long as they didn’t know anybody who died that day, which most, fortunately do not. Although we may never forget these events, New Yorkers have learned to move on and take steps towards the healing process. One of these steps that we have taken is the building of the 9/11 memorial and the reflecting pools, it is a place where we can reflect on the past, and heal from it. The new towers that are being built as a replacement, are being called the “Freedom Towers” which will be a symbol of freedom in New York.

New Yorkers have a special bond when it comes to 9/11. It is a special experience that we all share together; we have experienced first hand the devastation of 9/11. People from other parts of the country and world have a way less meaningful association with 9/11 because you have to be here, in New York, to truly understand the impact that 9/11 has had. Somebody from Flat, Alaska undoubtedly has a different understand of the events that took place on that day from somebody who was in New York at the time.

In this day age, the media, and artists are always trying to capture these events, and cement them into our memories forever. While there are movies, pictures, paintings that all try to depict what happened, it is impossible to accurately do so, without actually being in New York at the time. These forms of art only add to what we know about 9/11, but it doesn’t give us the foundation that can only be given by actually experiencing the event. The Mercy Seat, is the fictional account of a couple who wants to take advantage of this devastating day, to elope from their families. Even though I think this play does speak to the altitude and havoc that this event brought, to me, it just seems totally unrealistic. I don’t think that after this, any sane—or even insane human being would try to take advantage of this and run away from their families, making them think that they are dead. The 9/11 peace story quilt on display at the Metropolitan Museum also makes another attempt at portraying the traumatic events and it definitely does have meaning to a lot of people, but again, only to those people who were old enough to remember. Children growing up now will not care about the art depicted because they don’t remember anything that happened that day but they will still know that it happened, which is actually a good thing. Because of these events, the nation has become united and stronger.

911- a number that once rescued people and represented safety and security, suddenly became horrific and took a dreadful turn to symbolize agony and fear. Who knew it’s meaning would change so drastically and painfully? A single day became so historic as made its way to newspapers, movies, books and even magazines. New York was shook with an earthquake of infinite magnitude as the terrorists ruthlessly hit the Twin Towers.  The sleepless and miraculous city of lights that inspired awes and wonders was suddenly forced to a foreign feeling of piercing silence. Looking back, one would wonder how much NYC has changed since the attacks…I would say, so much has changed yet so little is different.

Growing up in New York City and having almost all of my memories constructed after 9/11, my perception of NY lacked a true before and after effect. I was too young to notice New York’s unique aura and life. Every city was filled with yellow cabs, bright lights and wondrous skyscrapers, wasn’t it? Like any other city, we were terrified and enraged by the attacks. The event was difficult to swallow as we fell in a state of chaos, grief, and commemoration. I knew that the attacks were a harsh reality all along. Overtime however, I came to learn that the post 9/11 perceptions and atmosphere of a unique city such as New York were worth noticing as well.

At the very beginning when the wounds of 9/11 were raw and vulnerable, the world realized that it took a serious hit such as these attacks to truly stop the NYC. A sudden fear for safety and terrorism was born, and NYC’s image of being undaunted and full fantasies was shattered. This city too could be touched and attacked; it was not as amazing as the world drew it to be. New Yorkers themselves drowned in confusion, for what they thought was a highly admired place was now being attacked. They lived in a never-ending state of fear and alarm, for their city was no longer safe. Overtime however, the city slowly began to take its original shape again. It walked out of its darkness and confusion by taking the tragedy and pain to become even stronger. It proved its miraculous nature by keeping its inhabitants and even attracting more tourists than ever. People began to marvel at NYC’s phenomenal strength to continue as a fashion, business, art, and cultural capital. People’s perceptions today highly revolve around the city’s ability to overcome its loss. Granted that the city takes paranoid and strict measures to avoid safety today, it can be seen that it learned from its experience and made sure to keep the colorful bubble of NYC floating.

9/11 is definitely much more meaningful to New Yorkers compared to those who don’t live here. Watching an attack unfold solely through television miles away is nothing like experiencing hysteria and attack in one’s home state. To an extent, a television or newspaper story is just like that of a history book. It’s filled with facts and perhaps forced emotions that one cannot possibly grasp unless they stand amidst the event. We lost friends, family members, and an icon of NYC. People who don’t live here can express sympathy, but condolences fall too short to fill in the gaps of members lost and the throbbing pain of the incident. Only a New Yorker can understand how life has changed and he/she will experience it every single day. The world will forget this incident and newspapers will begin covering crime and finance again, but NYC will remain forever changed. It will not be the same for the New Yorker who has either lost a family member or was just too used to the twin buildings towering over the city. Whether it’s the tragedy of 9/11 itself or the post atmosphere of NYC, every New Yorker has been affected by 9/11 and his/her experience cannot match that of someone who does not live here.

Artists can uptake different lens to portray the traumatic events of 9/11 in an impacting and tearful way. However, I don’t think any artwork can embody the ecaxt heart felt shock and emotions that actual 9/11 footage stirs. Artwork is after all, a work of art that’s created to represent something. It cannot ever be the actual thing. In the same way, books, paintings and movies can recreate characters and stories of 9/11, but they can’t possibly come to represent the true trauma of the event. Every person experienced 9/11 extremely differently. Artwork can’t represent the very experience and emotion experience by an individual. The Mercy Seat is just one example of an uncommonly displayed, yet probable experience of people. All sorts of people were affected. People lost loved ones during the attacks, whether the victims were workers at the buildings or firemen just trying to help. People suffered from diseases and serious traumatic disorders as a result of the attacks. People became victims of post 9/11 racism, despite being innocent and equally grief struck. Seeing racism inflicted on my fellow Muslim friends and family as I grew up, I emphasize that there is this other world of victims that don’t come to mind when an average person thinks of the 9/11 attacks. Hence, only the actual 9/11 footage can evoke those strong emotions within each type of victim, because it is that sole scene that caused so much to happen in people’s lives in different ways. It is that sole scene that every victim wishes to undo somehow. Different artworks cannot do justice in delivering the trauma of the event for everyone.

It’s funny—my view of New York has not changed much, if at all, since 9/11.  It’s probably because I don’t remember New York City before 9/11, before the National Guard swarmed around Penn Station and before the city’s unofficial motto became “If you see something, say something”.  It also definitely has to do with how my family handled the event.  I know each family had to deal with it in their own way, but my parents were actually exceedingly calm about it (at least in front of my brother and me).  A few minutes before nine on September 11, I was getting ready to leave for school when my mom clicked over to the news because the picture on the cartoon I had on was fuzzy.  As chance would have it, the image in front of us was of smoke pouring out of the North Tower.  At that point no one knew what was going on, but my mom instantly reassured me that my dad was nowhere near the World Trade Center (at the time he worked at Teachers College).  From that moment on my parents tried to keep things as normal as possible.  They decided not to pick my brother and me up early from school that day, and although my dad came home late that night, he still went back to work at 7 in the morning the next day, just like he always did.  (But to be fair, my dad is also infamous for going to work in snowstorms and hurricanes.  And to think he hasn’t been a mailman for 40 years.)

Although my view of New York City was not really affected by 9/11, that certainly wasn’t the case for everyone.  I feel like at least in my town of Seaford, Long Island many people now view the city as an unsafe place.  There are plenty of people around here who never go to the city anymore because they’re terrified, and a bunch of my district’s field trips to the city were cancelled for years and years after 2001.  I also definitely think people began to view New York as a target.  I had never been on a plane until this past April, but you’d have to live under a rock to not know how much airline security has been tightened in the past decade.  I witnessed it for myself for the first time when I went with my school’s foreign language classes to France from JFK—I knew I had received my airline initiation when I had to take my shoes off and put all my belongings into that plastic cubby.  Even in this very class we witnessed New York being seen as a target when our first performance was cancelled because of the threats of terrorism on the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Although I do think the attacks on the Twin Towers are more meaningful to people who lived in New York at the time, I also think there are other things we need to remember about September 11 that don’t directly involve New York.  The Pentagon was also hit, the planes originated from Boston, DC, and Newark, and we’ll probably never be 100% sure where exactly the fourth plane was headed.  My brother Chuck was actually in DC for a meeting that day and said it was the eeriest thing—there was one guy in the meeting who had one of the original Blackberries, and everyone was watching the events in New York unfold on the tiny screen when the news cut in to show the Pentagon up in flames.  So while I think that more people from New York have a direct personal connection to the Twin Towers collapsing, I wouldn’t necessarily say that all of the events of September 11 are most meaningful to New Yorkers.

Now, as for the art—I definitely think it’s possible for artists to accurately portray the events of that day.  We read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which I think captured the essence of a child missing a parent who had died in the event.  We also read The Mercy Seat, which conveyed that sense of “…well, now what?”  We watched Fahrenheit 9/11 which, despite (or perhaps because of) its sometimes unfair anger towards President Bush, serves as a manifestation of the post-9/11 disillusionment and anger.  We saw the 9/11 Peace Quilts at the Met, which show September 11 through the eyes of children in New York City.  There have been various concerts over the years in tribute to 9/11, and Bruce Springsteen’s album The Rising focuses on the aftermath of the tragedy.  The one thing that makes the emotions in these pieces believable is that each artist was personally moved by the events.  But really, I think for any work of art to be believable, the artist needs to have an emotional connection to the subject.

To bring everything full circle, I’d like to leave off with a little anecdote.  I mentioned that a lot of people in Seaford are afraid of the city—one person who surprisingly isn’t afraid is my mom, who is a chronic overreactor.  After our trip to the street performance got cancelled, we were talking about all the terrorist warnings and how they affect everyone’s lives.  She put it to me like this:  “Em, Dad is in Manhattan every day.  If something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen and he’s going to be there.  But I can’t live my life being afraid of that every day.”  Even ten years after the events occurred, we as a nation still fear an attack of that caliber or even worse.  Now I’m not saying I don’t sometimes fear that myself—I actually didn’t want to go to the city on September 11 of this year.  But I think it’s so important to work toward realizing that while being afraid is a lot easier than being brave, our strength and unity as a nation is just as powerful as any weapon.

On the day of 9/11, my family and I were coming back from Canada. We started our trip at 8 in the morning, hoping to avoid traffic. While sitting in the passenger seat with my dad driving, I heard the tragic news of the twin towers collapsing. At that moment, I did not understand why it was such a big deal. My dad was shocked and turned up the volume. I didn’t understand what was going on really so I took a nap. When I woke up from my nap, I saw we were stuck between cars and couldn’t go anywhere. There were cops everywhere, not allowing anybody to pass through. We had to drive around for five hours, just so we could get home. When we finally got home at 9, my dad turned on the television and we all saw the repeating footage of the planes attacking the towers and collapsing. Even though I saw what happened on television, it never impacted me a lot. I feel for the victims and their families but I’ve been able to move on. I wasn’t in the city on the disastrous day to experience the chaos and commotion and that’s probably why I feel differently.

I don’t think people’s perceptions of New York have changed drastically. New York is still a thriving city and the center of almost everything. With the collapse of the twin towers and a big hole in the ground, the site has become a tourist attraction. 9/11 has demonstrated that New York City is an important city, thus the reason it was attacked. People have glorified New York and that’s why the city was attacked- because it’s so important to so many people. One of the things that has changed about New York is that even though it’s a large city, it’s still a city that can be attacked. September 11 is a day that is definitely more important to the people of New York City because they experienced the attack and the chaos and the confusion. It’s a day that has been etched into people’s memories and will never be forgotten. It still matters to others who don’t live in this city; newspapers from different cities were published on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 commemorating its anniversary. It may not be as important to those not living here, but it still matters because it affected the whole country and even other countries in one way or another.

No matter how the traumatic events of that day are portrayed, they are going to evoke different kinds of emotions in different people. Some people may begin to cry when presented with certain artwork while others may feel proud. I agree with Rui Yan when she says that it won’t heal people’s wounds because it will refresh their memories and force them to remember what happened that day, their loss and suffering. It may be any form of art but it will trigger some sort of memory or emotion and will leave people with no choice but to remember. I don’t think artists can portray the events in a meaningful way.

Let us take a break from our busy schedules to take a moment to reflect and discuss the tragic day that changed our beloved New York forever. September 11, 2001. I remember going to school, going about my day as usual. Then I took my bus and walked home. As I entered through the door my mother, brother and grandmother were glued to the television screen. When they told me what happened, I was utterly befuddled. I don’t think I really understood what had happened until I saw the images and eventually went to New York City in person.

It’s quite daunting how one day, in a mere hours, a whole city can be shaken. Since I was so young there isn’t much I can say about how my perceptions of New York changed then. Although, based off the experience Professor Healey told us in class it is evident that people were completely changed by the event. I think for many of us it was a wake up call. The fact is that there are twisted individuals out there who see us as their enemies and will do whatever it takes to hurt us. I think after 9/11 people saw New York as a much more vulnerable and sadly, destructible place. After all compare the last decade to the times before 9/11. The amount of airport, train, subway security that has increased is insane. The motto that can be find all around New York, even on your metro cards, “See something, say something.”

I think the whole country was traumatized up by the event, after all New York City was not the only target. However, it definitely is more meaningful to the people of New York City. It was our city that was attacked, our families that were destroyed. New Yorkers had to stare in disbelief as the towers collapsed to rubble, while the rest of the country saw it in their television screens. Moreover, for non-New Yorkers the Twin Towers were just an iconic image however, for actual New Yorkers they had to go on with their commutes to the city and stare at an empty space where the towers used to stand.

To a certain extent yes. I think through art artists can portray their personal reactions to a traumatic event like 9/11. For instance, when I read Mercy Seat I didn’t have a meaningful connection to 9/11. Instead I was just reading a story, set at the time of 9/11 and experienced the characters reaction/perspective on it. However, I had a much more meaningful connection with Fahrenheit 9/11 but that’s only because of the way Moore portrayed the film. The fact that he used images and movies of the towers falling is what made it meaningful. When I visually saw those scenes it was as if I was there, I felt what the people there felt. I cried and suffered with them.

I remember sitting in a circle cross legged on the blue carpet of Ms. Marsh’s third grade classroom. I remember being so confused, kids were going home one after another, the number of children remaining was dwindling to a mere ten or twelve. All I could think was, Is this some kind of holiday? Where’s my mom? No one could tell us what was going on, they simply said that some parents wanted to be with their kids that day. Again, all I could think was, I want to be with my mom every day. When I got home from school that day, I remember my father was watching the news in the den. This struck me as really odd for him to be watching tv in the den during the middle of the day for he typically only chose to watch tv out there when he was watching a tv show we weren’t allowed to, like Sex in the City. I remember my mom sitting at the dining room table, tears were falling silently down her face. When I entered the room, she grabbed me, and she held me very close.

That day was one of confusion and disorientation; it was only in the days after that that I realized what was actually going on. It was everywhere, all over the radio, the tv, the news. My dad was watching the coverage twenty four seven, he couldn’t stop. I began to think that the coverage would never stop, and that people would never go back to being happy again. That the death toll would keep climbing and the tears would keep falling.. The entire country was in a perpetual state of mourning; a state of mourning that seemed eternal.

You would think that after such an event that people would flock towards the suburbs and New York City would experience a major shift in population, its massive eight million people fighting to get out. But that didn’t happen. People stayed, despite the fear, despite the terrible loss it suffered, people stayed in New York City. I guess that makes a statement about New Yorkers. While 9/11, I believe, impacted New Yorkers more strongly than any other people in the country, they still stuck around. People around the country heard about it, but New Yorkers lived…no…survived 9/11. The loss, the suffering, the violence. But still, They didn’t care that they were living in the core of what had happened, they weren’t going to move. Typical stubborn New Yorkers, eh?

Today, New York City is still as much of a tourist hub as ever, so one could argue that 9/11 didn’t change how people viewed it much, except that NYC will always and eternally be associated with 9/11. But 9/11 doesn’t stop people from looking at NYC as some kind of fantasy. It’s just what naturally happens in time I guess. When someone mentions Hawaii, the first thing someone thinks of is sandy beaches, mojitos, and sexy cabana boys. Not an attack on American soil that launched us into the second World War. Maybe in time, New York will  be able to dissociate with this tragedy, but maybe that in and of itself is a tragedy.

You can’t have something like this happen and forget about it. We need it as a reminder to ourselves that we as a country can survive anything, that we as people can survive anything, and that we as New Yorkers can survive anything. That is why I think that every piece if art centered around 9/11 is a good thing, whether it be movies, plays, books, sculptures, paintings, whatever. Each one is decidedly different in portraying the event, and that is what we need because everyone had an extremely different experience on that day. We need these artworks so that 9/11 doesn’t just become another chapter in the history books, so that it continues to be a living breathing thing, so that it remains an everlasting reminder of a day when we finally forgot our differences and united as one.