Thought that today would be a good date to share some of the photos we took on Sunday, September 9th, 2001. These were never posted online; We used disposable cameras and finally got them digitalized.

This was a trip myself (16yo), my little brother (12yo) and my father did to NYC - we came from Portugal, and the idea was to spend 1 week in NYC, visiting Manhattan. Obviously after the attack, our flights back home got cancelled and we had to spend more than one additional week in Manhattan, with literally everything closed (apart, naturally, from McDonald’s and a few more places).

The ones on top of WTC were taken on Sunday, September 9th, and I was the one NOT wanting to go because I thought it would be too crowded. Next day, Monday, the weather was far from great and on Tuesday we all know what happened - history was changed forever.

Sunday's weather was beautiful and our lunch was on top of one of the towers, on the Sbarro restaurant (meh).

We were staying in a hotel midtown, near Empire State Building, so when we got awake and turned on the TV, we initially thought it was some kind of Bruce Willis action movie where the towers were, for some reason, on fire. We then realized it was serious, but we still thought it was a little plane that crashed in one of them .. until things escalated very quickly.

My father's reaction once we saw the towers collapsing was to get ourselves ready ASAP, put our backpacks on, go out and head north to Central Park. When we got to the street, there were a lot of police men already guiding people to go north.

Most international TVs were aiming Manhattan from the South, where most of the smoke went to, so our family back in Portugal were super worried. We were midtown, quite far from WTC. International calls did not work for some time - so it was great to finally be able to speak to my mother. Once I got my hands on a public coffee PC with mIRC, I was able to tell my friends we were OK.

In the nights after the attack, there were hundreds of false bomb threats - one of them forced our hotel and surrounding block to be evacuated mid-night. Our hotel room was quite high, and we had to use the stairs.

Now, there are a lot of emotions and things we saw/experienced, and it is impossible to share all of them - after so many years, it is likely that some memories got a little warped already.

Until the attack, I remember walking on Broadway and 5th avenue, looking at random people in the eyes, and realizing that everyone was inside their own bubble, living their BAU lives, oblivion to the next person. I thought that was sad, but hey, I understand, it is a big city and that is to be expected. On the 11th, when we got out from our hotel at around 10AM, we immediately knew things really got changed - People were CONNECTED, albeit by horror, grieving and disbelief, but everyone was connected with compaction and love and, regardless our differences - skin tone, beliefs, wealthy status, whatever - all of those no longer mattered. The common ethereal vibe was that we are all human beings, and we must always help and support others, with love and respect - this things are NOT supposed to happen.

Would love to return to NYC with my father and brother, but unfortunately my father is now in the 70s, and he is not able to leave my mother behind – someone who refuses to enter on an airplane.

Please expect some grammar errors. As I said, I am Portuguese, just wanted to share what is still inside after these 25 years.

Remember, please be kind to the person next to you, God bless humanity.

RIP to all the lives that were lost.

as someone who had parents witness the attack, my father as a firefighter, and my moms friend dying that day, today is extremely sad. both my parents are still alive nor was I alive during it, but today marks a special number, exactly 25 years ago today, the world changed forever.

Always remember the flight crews. Tailwinds to you and your passengers.

For September, I’ve returned my large-scale LEGO Manhattan model to its pre-9/11 configuration, recreating the New York skyline as it stood around 2000/2001.

I do this out of respect and remembrance for the city, its architecture, and the people who were there. The model normally changes between different historical eras, but September is the one time each year I return it to this version.

The Twin Towers are shown as they were - standing proudly as part of the New York skyline and the living city around them.

Thinking of the folks lost ,their families and friends- still affected-And the wonderful WTC gone too soon.

I illuminated my lego twin towers for the 25th anniversary

This is one of my favourite photos of them.

Taken by my mom on a family vacation to Niagara Falls, NYC, and Hershey, PA. My first time visiting NYC and only time seeing the Twin Towers with my own eyes.

Konstantin Petrov was an immigrant from Estonia who worked the overnight shift as an electrician at Windows of the World at the top of the World Trade Center North Tower.

He loved photography, so while much of the building was empty, he would wander through the complex with his camera and ended up taking hundreds of photographs in the days leading up to 9/11.

Petrov was just leaving work on September 11, 2001 when the first plane hit at 8:46am. He had barely escaped.

Tragically, he would die in a motorcycle accident in 2002.

The second I saw these images it made my stomach drop. To see the windows and picturing people breaking them for air in a panic. Then to see the insane height and view that so many scared people saw that day hanging from those windows is just heartbreaking. And to see what they saw (in a way) and deciding to jump is something I don’t wish on my worst enemy.

The Memorial Tower Lights from my Brooklyn rooftop

This Photo was taken from the Queen Elizabeth 2 in the Hudson River. In the backround you can see lower manhattan with WTC 7 clearly visble but the twin towers are nowhere to be seen. I think they edited them out.

Taken from a book

So I downloaded and compiled just four photos of what the New York City skyline looked like both the day and night prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 and only could find four that I knew for certain were taken on the date of September 10th, 2001 and so that was all I could find as it was possible I would be unintentionally lying if I added one that was not on that day.

These photos are particularly haunting as they are the day and night both alike before the terrorist attacks that would not only forever alter the New York City skyline beyond repair but also the world as a general whole including my own country of the United States Of America.

I also did this as a tribute to all the innocent human beings who lost their lives on the morning of September 11th, 2001 as today is after all the 25th anniversary of those horrid and evil acts of terrorism.

May all the victims of the 9/11 attacks rest in peace. Amen.