Images of a Shattered City

Stan Grossfeld, a photographer with The Boston Globe and a 1992 Nieman Fellow, returned to his childhood city, New York, to take pictures of and write about the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. His images and personal reflections follow.

All photos by Stan Grossfeld, The Boston Globe.©

Jennifer Stewart of Brooklyn says she has raised more than $13,000 for the Red Cross and her local Engine Company 205 in Brooklyn since September 11 by posing with tourists near Wall Street.

When I first saw Ground Zero, I literally felt as though I had been punched in the stomach. And the despair continues. Now New York has a 1950’s skyline again, and people are nicer to each other just like they were when I was growing up in that city.

Marie Donofrio, 80, weeps in Uncle Sam’s Army Navy Outfitters on West 8th Street in New York City as she looks at gas masks. Comforting her is assistant manager Aboubscar Tours.

The first thing I noticed about Ground Zero was the reverence people had for each other. This is sacred ground, where innocent people lost their lives, and you can feel that. The massive movie klieg lights and lack of unnecessary chitchat give this place a surreal feeling. It is devoid of laughter and one of the few places in the world where you can feel the energy and the horror and a sense of history washing over you at once. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is like this, as is Gettysburg and Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

A firefighter throws up his hands in despair at Ground Zero in New York.

The rescue workers, firefighters, police and EMT’s left every ounce of energy at the site. They worked basically until they dropped, and then they slept. Not even heavy machinery could rouse them.

A New York City firefighter naps at first light after a night of searching in vain for bodies at Ground Zero.

A parking lot several blocks away from Ground Zero becomes a graveyard of melted and mashed cars.

Burnt cars from the World Trade Center explosion in Lower Manhattan.