On Wednesday, September 9, a moment of quiet beauty rose above New York Harbor. A commemorative public art installation — created with the voices, memories, and hearts of 9/11 families, survivors, and responders — was unveiled in the night sky. This free, open act of reflection was offered as a gift to the city, supported by the New York Foundation for the Arts, and shaped by the people who lived the story we continue to carry.
As darkness fell, 2,977 lights lifted into the air, rebuilding the Twin Towers at their full architectural height — one light for every life lost on September 11, 2001. For a few sacred moments, the harbor became a gathering place of remembrance, unity, and love.
The artwork was guided by voices from the 9/11 community: Brenda Berkman (FDNY First Responder, Artist), Tim Brown (FDNY First Responder, 1993 and 2001), Terry Strada (family of Tom Strada, President of 9/11 Families United), Jim Smith (family of NYPD Officer Moira Smith), and Genevieve Siller (daughter of Stephen Siller).
Each contributed their perspective, while acknowledging that no single voice can speak for all — yet together, they shaped something profoundly human.
Inspired by the iconic Tribute in Light, “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” suspended each individual light as part of a living constellation. The lights gathered in a gentle helix, swirling upward like breath, memory, and ascent — before forming the Twin Towers once more in the sky.
The helix recalls the THINK team’s unbuilt World Cultural Center proposal: a vision of open latticework towers rising around the original footprints, carrying public space upward without touching the ground where so much was lost. This installation brings that civic dream back into the air, honoring what was imagined and what remains.
This work is the result of a deeply collaborative effort between artists, producers, and members of the 9/11 community — including creative director Addison Mehr, Sky Elements, designer Yan Paul Dubbelman, artistic advisors Studio Drift, and architects Shigeru Ban and Dean Maltz.
The installation is accompanied by music chosen for reflection: works by Philip Glass, John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls — written for the victims of 9/11 — and selections by Max Richter, including On the Nature of Daylight. Together, the lights and music create a space where memory can breathe, and where the city can pause to honor every life, every story, and every moment that changed us.
