Ground Zero at Night — Walking Lower Manhattan, October 29, 2001

On the night of October 29, 2001, my friend Mike Minto and I walked through Lower Manhattan after seeing Stereophonics perform live earlier that evening. That concert is also preserved here on the Project Rewind channel, which is how I can date this footage exactly. This was only seven weeks after September 11, and public access this close to Ground Zero had only recently begun opening up. As late as October 16, Broadway itself was still excluded from some of the city’s reopened Lower Manhattan streets. By the time Mike and I arrived on October 29, civilians had been able to reach this part of Broadway for only roughly a week to a week and a half. The Ground Zero site itself remained a restricted recovery zone. We walked down Broadway to St. Paul’s Chapel, where the fences were covered with memorials. Just south of St. Paul’s was one of the very limited places where the public could look through the perimeter and actually see into the ruins of the World Trade Center. It was close to midnight. Recovery work was continuing under powerful lights, smoke was still rising from the ruins, and television news crews were positioned throughout the surrounding streets reporting from the site. Mike and I talked as we walked about what we were seeing and about the large particles of dust still moving through the air. Dust from the collapse remained on windowsills, in corners and throughout the surrounding area. We also spoke, in real time, about the terrible realization that what covered Lower Manhattan contained not only pulverized buildings and everything that had been inside them, but the remains of people who had died there. This is not retrospective narration. It is two New Yorkers talking to each other on October 29, 2001, while standing there and trying to comprehend what was still happening around us. Credits Mike Minto — New Yorker #1 Stuart Taranto — New Yorker #2 / Camera 📼 Project Rewind is my ongoing effort to preserve and share original analog video recordings of everyday life, music, people, places and historical moments as they were actually experienced. Historical References / Context National September 11 Memorial & Museum — 9/11 Timeline Documents the original “frozen zone” below 14th Street and the gradual reopening of Lower Manhattan after the attacks. https://timeline.911memorial.org/time... NYC Mayor’s Office — September 17, 2001 Contemporary city announcement detailing the restricted Ground Zero secure zone and the reopening of portions of Lower Manhattan. https://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2001... NYC Mayor’s Office — October 16, 2001 Shows that access restrictions were still being relaxed less than two weeks before this footage was recorded, with Broadway still excluded from certain reopened areas at that point. https://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2001... The Washington Post — October 21, 2001 A contemporary account of the public approaching Ground Zero along Broadway, including the view at Broadway and Fulton Street beside St. Paul’s Chapel, only eight days before this recording. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archiv... © 2001 Stuart Taranto / Project Rewind. Original video footage personally recorded by Stuart Taranto. All rights reserved in the original footage and recording. Unauthorized reproduction, re-uploading, redistribution or commercial use without permission is prohibited. Any third-party music, trademarks or incidental material remain the property of their respective owners. Digitally preserved and published in 2026.