9/11: Then and Now 25 Years Later

9/11: Then and now - 25 years later

THEN: The remains of the World Trade Center stand amid the debris following the terrorist attack, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Alexandre Fuchs/AP)
NOW: Traffic heads south on West Street past the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

A lot can happen in two decades. Friends, feelings, possessions come and go, like blips on the timeline of life. But tragedy endures all.
It’s why each August and September – as summer fades into fall – photographer Gordon Donovan finds himself in familiar places, taking pictures of the area where terrorists slammed hijacked jetliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I do it because I love the city, the history of the city, and how we’re not going to be put down,” the native New Yorker says. Growing up on Staten Island, Donovan could see the towers – once the tallest in the world – as they were constructed from across the harbor more than 50 years ago.

In the 25 years since the attack, Donovan has purposely taken pictures from the exact positions where photojournalists captured heartrending images on that awful day. He says the then-and-now project attests to the city’s strength, preserves history for others, and honors the courageous journalists who took the original 9/11 images.

It’s fascinating to see how it has changed over the years, because it was just this big pile of rubble the first time I went down there, about a week afterward,” said Donovan, then a graphic artist at CBS News. He was at work on the Upper West Side the morning of the attack.
Today, a memorial and museum honor the nearly 3,000 people killed. “Now, you can’t even recognize what happened,” Donovan said. “What they’ve done down there is beautiful and just revitalized the whole area after such a tragedy and brought it back to life.”

Drag the slider across each pair of images to see changes in the New York City landscape.

Looking downtown from Rockefeller Center

THEN: The twin towers of the World Trade Center burn behind the Empire State Building, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Marty Lederhandler/AP)
NOW: One World Trade Center is seen towering above the landscape in lower Manhattan behind the Empire State Building on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Trinity Church Steeple

THEN: Smoke spews from a tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes hit the twin towers in a terrorist attack on New York City. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
NOW: A transformed skyline stands over the Trinity Church Cemetery on Rector Street in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

The Brooklyn Pier

THEN: Bystanders along Brooklyn's waterfront near the Brooklyn Bridge watch the twin towers of the World Trade Center burn on Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: AP)
NOW: Tourists wait for the ferry at Pier 1 near the Brooklyn Bridge Pier, across the East River from where the World Trade Center once stood, on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Fulton Street

THEN: People run from the collapse of one of the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Suzanne Plunkett/AP)
NOW: Twenty-five years after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, a modern subway hub on Fulton Street connects to the World Trade Center on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Engine on Murray Street

THEN: A piece of debris, possibly from one of the crashed airliners, is roped off by investigators near the World Trade Center site in New York, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: AP)
NOW: People walk near the corner of Church and Murray Streets on Sept. 7, 2026, several blocks away from the World Trade Center site, where a plane engine was found after two passenger jets crashed into the Twin Towers on 9/11. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Across the Brooklyn Bridge

THEN: Women wearing dust masks cross from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the Brooklyn Bridge following the collapse of the World Trade Center's twin towers, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP)
NOW: People take photos on the Brooklyn Bridge on a beautiful day in New York City on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Workers covered in debris

THEN: People struggle through debris near the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Gulnara Samoilova/AP)
NOW: Pedestrians make their way along Fulton Street next to St. Paul’s Chapel of Trinity Church on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Cortlandt Street Subway

THEN: The Cortlandt Street subway station near Ground Zero shows heavy damage on the evening of Sept. 12, 2001. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP) NOW: Traffic heads up Church Street past the Cortlandt Street subway station on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Beekman Garage

THEN: Pedestrians on Beekman Street flee the area of the collapsed World Trade Center in lower Manhattan following a terrorist attack on the New York landmark, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Amy Sancetta/AP)
NOW: Pedestrians walk past the same parking garage on Beekman Street in lower Manhattan on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Firefighters on Cortlandt Street

THEN: With the skeleton of the World Trade Center twin towers in the background, New York City firefighters work amid debris on Cortlandt Street after the terrorist attacks in this photo taken Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP)
NOW: People walk along the same wall on Cortlandt Street across from the World Trade Center site on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Trinity Church Graveyard

THEN: The cemetery at Trinity Church is covered in debris after terrorist attacks in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)
NOW: The courtyard and cemetery of the historic Trinity Church in New York City on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Fire engine covered in debris

THEN: A fire engine is covered in dust and debris near the site of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Bernadette Tuazon/AP)
NOW: Pedestrians enjoy a summer day along the intersection of Greenwich and Rector Streets in New York City, Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

McDonalds on Broadway

THEN: Broadway is covered in debris on the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP)
NOW: McDonald’s is open and serving breakfast via mobile on Broadway, Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Rector and Washington Streets

THEN: Dust and debris cover the ground and cloud the air near the site of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Bernadette Tuazon/AP)
NOW: One World Trade Center is seen from the intersection of Rector and Washington Streets, Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Vesey Street covered in debris

THEN: A firefighter walks amid the rubble near the base of the destroyed World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Peter Morgan/Reuters)
NOW: A pedestrian walks by construction for Two World Trade Center on Vesey Street near Greenwich Street on Sept. 8, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

WTC Cortlandt Street subway station

THEN: The Cortlandt Street subway station near Ground Zero shows heavy damage on the evening of Sept. 12, 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP)
NOW: The restored downtown entrance of WTC Cortlandt Street subway station, which reopened in 2018, shown on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Guardsmen on Church Street

THEN: National Guardsmen march past the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers in New York, Sept. 13, 2001. (Photo: Stephen Chernin/AP)
NOW: People and traffic go past the Oculus on Church Street on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Damaged fire engine on Vesey Street

THEN: A destroyed fire engine sits near Ground Zero on Sept. 14, 2001. (Photo: Stuart Ramson/AP)
NOW: People walk along the Federal Building on Vesey Street with ongoing construction, Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

The North Tower

THEN: Firefighters pour water on the still-smoldering wreckage at Ground Zero where the remains of New York's World Trade Center stand, Sept. 27, 2001. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)
NOW: A view of Lower Manhattan from one of two reflecting pools at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum where the original One World Trade Center once stood, Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

The South Tower

THEN: Remains of the facade of Two World Trade Center are all that stands on the World Trade Center site, Sept. 12, 2001. (Photo: AP)
NOW: Visitors take selfies along the victim panels at one of two reflecting pools at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

The Sphere at the World Trade Center

THEN: Fritz Koenig’s "The Sphere," the 25-ton sculpture that once graced the plaza at the World Trade Center, stands amid the wreckage following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. (Photo: Shawn Baldwin/AP)
NOW: The statue "The Sphere," damaged on 9/11 but still standing, rests at its new home across from the World Trade Center buildings and National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Ground Zero

THEN: Firefighters pour water on the still-smoldering wreckage at Ground Zero where the remains of New York's World Trade Center stood on Sept. 27, 2001. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)
NOW: A view of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum grounds and One World Trade Center on Sept. 7, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Cortlandt and Church Streets

THEN: A firefighter walks amid the rubble near the base of the destroyed World Trade Center on Sept. 17, 2001. (Photo: Peter Morgan/Reuters)
NOW: People cross the busy intersection at Cortlandt Street and Church Street, Sept. 8, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

Broadway and Maiden Lane

THEN: The skeleton of one of the twin towers is seen as emergency personnel keep the area secure on Sept. 19, 2001. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)
NOW: Pedestrians walk across Broadway at the intersection of Maiden Lane just down the street from the World Trade Center site in New York City, Sept. 8, 2026. (Photo: Gordon Donovan)

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9/11: Then and now - 25 years later