09/11/2026
Did you know?
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the bridges were closed. The tunnels were closed. The subways were dead.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Lower Manhattan had one way out: the water.
At 10:45 a.m., a Coast Guard lieutenant keyed the radio and said the words that still give mariners chills:
“All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of Lower Manhattan, report to Governors Island.”
The boats were already coming.
Ferries. Tugs. Dinner boats. Pilot boats. Fireboats. Yachts. Even little dinghies.
In less than nine hours, about 150 vessels and 800 mariners moved as many as 500,000 people off Manhattan.
No boat went down.
It was larger than Dunkirk.
Ordinary people who work on the water did what mariners have always done. They answered the call.
We remember the lives lost. We honor the first responders. And we remember the captains and crews who turned New York Harbor into a lifeline.
Never Forget. September 11, 2001
#911
