Browse Items (826 total)

Elisa Karp's audio journal--"a New York Everyman's Journal"--documents her experience at home on Manhattan's Upper East Side on September 11. She kept her tape recorder rolling as she made telephone calls and exchanged instant messages with friends…

French aerialist Philippe Petit caused a sensation in New York City in 1974 when he walked a tightrope stretched between the two towers. In this radio segment, recorded in 1978, he describes what he heard while crossing the high wire.

Ben Cheah and Eliza Paley recorded ambient noises at the WTC in August 2001. These revolving doors sound like a heartbeat.

Classical guitarist Andrew Schulman's first regular gig was at the WTC. His composition "Molly's Dance" was recorded live in June 2001 for a program hosted by John Schaefer on WNYC.

Two young hiphop artists, Colin Travers and Eric Minor made a three minute dedication piece sampled from news clips. It is being played on WKCR. They poured their hearts into their piece "RIP WTC." Colin grew up in Brooklyn Heights and witnessed the…

As part of his sound installation Buildings [New York], artist Francisco López recorded ambient nighttime noise in the World Trade Center between January and March 2001. The piece, commissioned by Creative Time, was exhibited in the Brooklyn Bridge…

Photographer Joel Meyerowitz started taking pictures at the WTC in 1981. In this interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, recorded on October 23, 2001, he talks about trying to photograph the events of 9/11. Part 3: The importance of…

On August 17, 2001, a month before the attacks, Jose Mangual Jr. and his band Sonboriqua performed this upbeat piece, Boricua Blues, at the WTC. The piece was written with the towers in mind.

Les Robertson, the WTC structural engineer, explains how the acceptable sway for the building was determined.

Musician Lynn Skinner recorded her composition for piano and voice on December 28, 2001. She describes it as a reflection on September 11 and a moment of hope.

Ellen Lytle, who lives six blocks away from Ground Zero, saved the voicemails she received from concerned friends and family on 9/11.

Folk singer and songwriter Janis Ian, performing at the Twin Towers on August 1, 2001--just three weeks before the attacks--talks to the crowd and then plays an encore that now seems somewhat prescient.

Brooklynite Felicia Herman remembers the elevator observation deck elevator. She chose Windows on World for tenth birthday dinner and was especially impressed by the fancy bathrooms.

Stephanie Brody Lederman was one of the artists whose work was exhibited in the mezzanine of the WTC in the 1980s. She describes fellow exhibitor Louise Nevelson's dramatic entrance at that art opening.

Standing on the WTC observation deck, Marjory Johnson heard a cricket chirping. She recalls wondering how it got all the way up there.

Musician Tilman Reitzle has a sound library of recordings made in 1986 at the WTC. Among the ambient sounds in his collection are the noises of the escalators and the turnstyles.

Patty Gras wrote a song in Spanish for the undocumented Latino workers and those who jumped from the building. She translates the song and plays a tape of it.

Michael Kubin threw a surprise birthday party for his wife's 30th at Windows on the World in 1982.

Abigail Kafka recalls the sound of the busy signals she kept getting at pay phones on 9/11 and talks about the lines of people waiting to use the phones.

Lori Pike, a visitor from California, recalls the sound of the revolving doors at the WTC as a metaphor for energy of the city.