(melodic music)
- 9/11 played a pivotal role in the story of New York City.
Today we're gonna get a deeper understanding
of the events that took place on that day
with a walking tour of ground zero
as well as a visit to the 9/11 Museum
and the One World Observatory.
- Hopefully I can tell you a good story,
I can bring you on a good journey.
That is more or less what we do here.
We bring you on the story not just around September 11th,
but around this Manhattan neighborhood,
how it banded together,
and most importantly we tell our own stories about that day.
The Bell of Hope was a gift from the city of London.
It rings every year, not just on September 11th
but when terrorist attacks happen around the world.
- I'm standing inside the Oculus,
which was a structure built after 9/11.
It's incredibly light and airy,
and to New Yorkers it symbolizes a phoenix
rising from the ashes.
We're spending about 90 minutes with our guide.
He's sharing all kinds of stories from that day,
many of them very personal,
so it's just been incredibly moving.
Behind me is the Freedom Tower,
this is where one of the Twin Towers once stood.
It is a beacon of hope for the city
and symbolizes such strength.
- [Guide] This is our survivor.
She's a Callery pear tree who was found
in the rubble of the attacks.
- Being from the west coast it's kinda hard
to put yourself in this place
and understand what people went through.
But it's a must see for New York,
if I had to say so myself.
- This is where tower one used to be,
it's now the reflection pool,
and surrounding it you have all these names
of all the people that passed away.
The names on here aren't alphabetical
or by victim order,
they're actually put on here next to someone that they knew.
After walking around the grounds here at Memorial
we're gonna head into the 9/11 Museum
where we can go and explore on our own.
Inside the museum you'll hear first person accounts
and see artifacts from that day.
This art installation has 2983 individual
watercolor drawings.
Each hand painted square represents
someone who died that day.
You can either walk around or there's also
an audio guide available for additional detail.
We're now gonna make our way over
to the One World Observatory.
Here we go.
As we're going up we're experiencing
New York over the centuries.
So this is one of the fastest elevators in the world.
It takes 47 seconds to go from
the ground floor to the 102nd floor.
- [Announcer] Welcome to One World Observatory.
- On the 101st floor you can grab a bite to eat
or even have a cocktail.
On a clear day you can see up to 50 miles
and almost see the curvature of the Earth.
Make sure to give yourself around one to two hours
to experience the observatory.
Behind me is the city pulse,
which is an interactive multimedia presentation
that connects you to what's happening in the city,
as well as the history and culture of New York.
Looking back at the events that unfolded on 9/11
to see how the city and the people came together
has been extremely moving.
And then finishing at the One World Observatory,
looking out over New York City,
it's empowering to see how New York
is thriving powerfully into the future.