My Account Get a Library Card eNewsletter Signup
Visiting  Hours: 9am-9pm Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri
11am-9pm Wed		 library@pwpl.org

(516) 883-4400
9am-5pm Sat
1pm-5pm Sun
Curbside Hours Same as visiting hours

 

Back

Remembering 9/11: In Pictures

  /  Remembering 9/11: In Pictures

Remembering 9/11

Remembering 9/11: In Pictures

Immediately following the 9/11 attacks, firefighters, police officers and emergency medical personnel from all over the state traveled to New York City to provide assistance in any way they could. Members of the Port Washington Police Department (PWPD) and Port Washington Fire Department (PWFD) were among this wave of responders.

The photos in this series were taken on disposable Kodak cameras by PWFD Firefighters to document what they saw and experienced during their days at Ground Zero. They were given to the Port Washington Public Library by Peter Zwerlein, former PWFD Chief. These images convey the true scale of the destruction and devastation in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks and the bravery of the emergency personnel who responded to the call of duty.

 

  • A group of six men, including PWFD firefighters, rest before returning to work clearing rubble at Ground Zero
  • Two FDNY firefighters survey an immense pile of smoking debris
  • A street view near Ground Zero. Smoke rises from the still-standing skeletal building frame of the South Tower and piles of rubble; trucks, firefighters, and emergency vehicles fill the sludge-covered street
  • Thick black smoke rises from the frame of what was once the World Trade Center’s South Tower. Destroyed vehicles, including a firetruck and an ambulance, lie in the rubble in the foreground
  • A destroyed firetruck rests in the rubble of the Twin Towers near the still-standing frame of the South Tower’s base
  • Emergency personnel and emergency vehicles line the muddy street in front of another building that was heavily damaged in the 9/11 attack
  • Emergency personnel in hard hats stand amongst large oxygen tanks, facing a collapsed building that has blocked the street
  • PWFD firefighters of Protection Fire Company take a rest near a destroyed MTA bus
  • Emergency personnel stand atop a smoking pile of rubble at Ground Zero - a wheel from the landing gear of one of the planes to hit the Towers can be seen in the wreckage in the left foreground
  • Emergency personnel stand amongst cranes and other construction vehicles at Ground Zero
  • A large crowd of firefighters and emergency personnel stand atop the smoking debris of the World Trade Center
  • A massive crowd of firefighters, police officers, and emergency personnel gathered on the street near Ground Zero
  • Another building destroyed in the fall of the Twin Towers appears to be melting as it collapses
  • PWFD firefighters in respirators, masks, and other protective gear work with other emergency personnel to clear debris at the Ground Zero site
  • Emergency personnel in helmets stand on top of a pile of twisted metal. In the background, part of another heavily damaged building appears as if melted
  • Firefighters in uniform traverse the rubble while others look on.
  • Emergency personnel attempt to scale the ruins of the North Tower
  • A small group of emergency personnel stands to the right of the massive pile of rubble at Ground Zero. Part of the South Tower still stands
  • Two NYPD officers climb a ladder to raise an American flag near Ground Zero
  • The interior of a structure near Ground Zero - piles of paper, dust and debris littered staircases and escalators
  • A street near Ground Zero covered in dust, papers, and other debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center
  • Firefighters in uniform, including members of PWFD's Protection and Atlantic companies, seated in front of a brick wall at night - partially obscured by dust particles from the World Trade Center that fill the air and reflect light from the camera flash
  • Seven uniformed members of the PWFD pose for a photo just outside of the Burger King serving as the temporary headquarters for NYPD
  • A group of emergency personnel prepare to enter a still-standing but heavily damaged building near the World Trade Center.
  • Emergency responders rest by a white brick wall bearing the legend “GOD BLESS FDNY.”
  • A Burger King near the site of Ground Zero became the temporary headquarters of the NYPD officers in the area, indicated by the red spray painted message on the building's entrance
  • PWFD firefighters’ helmets, jackets, and personal belongings displaying names and numbers piled on the ground
  • A destroyed MTA bus near the site of Ground Zero served as an impromptu meeting place for PWFD firefighters
  • A crowd of firefighters stand in front of a heavily damaged building near the wreckage at Ground Zero. Still standing but crumbling, the building appears to be tilting backwards
  • Emergency personnel in hard hats stand amongst large oxygen tanks, facing a collapsed building that has blocked the street.
  • The skeletal frame of the South Tower is silhouetted through a haze of smoke, while destroyed vehicles and rubble line the street in the foreground.
  • Emergency personnel stand atop a smoking pile of rubble at Ground Zero. A wheel from the landing gear of one of the planes to hit the Towers can be seen in the wreckage in the left foreground.
  • Firefighters in masks and protective gear work to clear rubble by loading it into five gallon buckets and other containers.
  • Firefighters and police in protective gear stand amongst the smoking rubble of the South Tower.