On the morning of 9/11, between 350,000 and 500,000 people were evacuated from Lower Manhattan by water in just a few hours. These and other interesting maritime factoids will be presented at an exhibit held at the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Lilac, stationed at Pier 25 at North Moore Street in Tribeca starting Thurs., Sept. 8.
PortSide New York, a maritime nonprofit organization, is organizing the multi-media exhibit and presentation, which will depict the role mariners served in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, from evacuation to rubble removal.
“Doing this exhibit is a way to both commemorate what happened ten years ago and to help the city move forward with its new waterfront plan Vision 2020,” said organization’s founder and director, Carolina Salguero. “Portside hopes that, by illuminating how those boats worked ten years ago — and the impediments they found — we can help the city better plan its future waterfront, for both good days and bad.”
“As a ship-based museum, our role is to educate New Yorkers about our maritime heritage and the story of the heroic role of mariners in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, [which] has received little attention,” said Lilac’s Museum director, Mary Habstritt. “We are really honored to help recognize their contributions and to share this story on board a ship, at Pier 25, which itself played a role as a shipping point for debris removal.”
PortSide New York is hosting the exhibit’s opening on Sept. 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. On Wed., Sept. 14, Salguero, also a 9/11 photojournalist, along with journalist Jessica DuLong, will give a talk aboard the Lilac. The exhibit will be open on Thursdays from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., plus scheduled after-hour visits by school groups. Additional hours will be announced by early September.
