Twenty Years Ago, Lower Manhattan Changed Forever

The events of September 11, 2001 left a hole in the city, wounding our neighborhood so deeply some believed we’d never recover. The grief born of that calamitous day endures in our hearts, and is embodied in the two memorial pools that now sit in the footprints of the Twin Towers. 

At the same time, we’ve come a long way since 9/11. Among the most powerful rebukes to the evil that visited us that day has been our collective determination to rebuild and remake Lower Manhattan. Instead of floundering, our neighborhood has flourished. The World Trade Center campus itself is a visible example of how Lower Manhattan has rebounded and then some, with new infrastructure and buildings like One World Trade and the Oculus earning their spots in the city’s skyline and its collection of landmarks. 

In the 20 years since 9/11, dozens of new developments have popped up in Lower Manhattan, opening space for downtown to transition from the city’s financial center to a thriving commercial, culinary and residential destination. In this document we are highlighting 20 developments other than the new World Trade Center Towers that have helped define the kinds of changes we have seen in post-9/11 era in Lower Manhattan — new construction, billions in private investments to renovate office space, impressive conversions, new office and residential space, a host of now-iconic developments that tell the story of our rebirth in the face of tragedy. 

It has been so heartening to watch the neighborhood grow and thrive in the past two decades. The businesses, office workers, residents and tourists that come through Lower Manhattan every day are a testament to the resilience of downtown and New York as a whole.