On September 11, 2001, members of FOL were working in the Loew’s, still finishing up some of the repairs that would allow us to reopen the auditorium for stage productions and movie screenings.
Then the world changed. When the Twin Towers collapsed after being struck by the hijacked planes, people began gathering helplessly outside the PATH station. An endless line of ambulances drove through Journal Square on their way to a staging area. One of us walked to the old Medical Center to give blood, but was told the hospital wasn’t set up to take it. In the streets, hundreds of people were streaming up from the waterfront – scared, angry and confused. Back at the Loew’s, we went up to the roof and stared in disbelief at the column of black smoke where the World Trade Center had been only a few hours before. Overhead, Air Force fighter jets circled with their weapons racks loaded.
It was frustrating to feel that there was nothing we could do. But then we thought that maybe the Loew’s marquee could at least help people feel not so alone in that awful moment. After putting up the message, we left the letterboard – but not the chase lights and flashing neon – on all night. Later, people who had struggled for hours with the tunnels and trains shut down to get back from New York, reached out to say how seeing the marquee made them feel – finally – at home.
A few days later, the Loew’s became a collection point for donations of supplies for rescue workers.