9/11 In Memoriam — Point Thank You
In honor of the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, Village Preservation has assembled over 500 donated images documenting the World Trade Center, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the days and weeks following September 11, 2001. See all the images here.
One of the many incredible collections we have received was donated by Villager Lenore Mills. In the days and months following 9/11, emergency and construction workers traveled up and down the West Side Highway, traveling to and from Ground Zero. Mills and many of her neighbors and out-of-town volunteers gathered on the corner of Christopher and West Streets to cheer on the workers. This dedicated group showed up and supported these rescue and recovery workers every day until the last beam was removed from Ground Zero in May 2002. They also returned on many anniversaries of 9/11. This intersection became known as “Point Thank You.”
This collection documents their volunteer efforts, including a trip the group took to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 was brought down by its passengers on September 11, 2001, in an effort to free the plane and prevent it from being used as a weapon by the terrorists. It was later claimed by 9/11 planners Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shibh that the intended target of Flight 93 was the U.S. Capitol Building.
This quote from New York Police Department Emergency Services Unit member Anthony Conti recalled via 911memorial.org illustrates the significance of the group’s volunteer efforts, “Every night we would drive up West Street. . . there were people in the streets with American flags, and signs, thanking us, waving to us, screaming at us… They had no idea what they meant to me.”
These are just a few of the incredible images from this and other 9/11 collections in our historic image archive.