This is an opinion piece recalling the author's personal experience of witnessing the aftermath of 9/11 while working at the Toronto Film Festival. The article highlights the human connections that were revealed in the wake of the tragedy, including the fact that 2,977 people were killed and many more lost loved ones. Specifically, it focuses on the story of Windows on the World restaurant staff, where 79 workers and 91 guests perished, as well as the chef Michael Lomonaco's harrowing experience. The author reflects on how the event changed the city and its residents, leaving behind a sense of collective grief and existential unease.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-03,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Watching the rays of the sun spread over the city.
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rays → watch → city
Stealing a moment like this was a coveted morning ritual for some of the breakfast staff at Windows on the World, the restaurant that was on the 107th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
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that → steal → Center
This was the meeting place where New Yorkers and out-of-towners went to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries; to revel with food and drink and to mark life milestones.
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Yorkers → go → milestones
“I would have worked there just for the insurance,” says Windows sommelier and waiter Paulo Villela, who immigrated from Brazil in order to get medical care for his son, who had a rare medical condition.
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who → work → condition
He would tell his friends on staff, who hailed from dozens of countries—Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Peru, China—“I’m never going to leave this place.”
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who → tell → place
On Sept. 11, 2001, so much changed.
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much → change → Sept.
So much was lost.
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much → lose → ?
Most tragically, there are the 2,977 people who were killed, including 79 workers from Windows, and 91 of its guests.
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who → be → guests
Those victims and their families are at the heart of this dark moment in history, which millions of us experienced from close or afar.
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millions → experience → us
How one feels is at least partly determined by one’s proximity to the event.
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feels → feel → event
On that day, I was covering the Toronto Film Festival as a journalist.
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I → cover → journalist
As a native New Yorker, I felt like I’d left my post.
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I → feel → post
I was watching an 8:30 a.m. screening of Monsoon Wedding, a movie directed by Mira Nair, the mother of then 9-year-old Zohran Mamdani, who is now New York City’s mayor.
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who → watch → Mamdani
It’s a tenuous connection I mention because that’s what happened on 9/11; the attack cast in stark relief the myriad connections that are otherwise invisible in this city.
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that → ’ → city
Suddenly, we found out that our daughter’s fifth-grade teacher’s cousin worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, or a neighbor’s brother was a fireman who worked at Engine 54.
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who → find → Engine
On that day, the connections were rippled with panic.
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connections → ripple → panic
That manifested with the missing posters that filled the city for weeks; desperate pleas that became heartbreaking tributes.
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that → manifest → weeks
You could smell the smoke almost everywhere for weeks.
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You → smell → weeks
The randomness of the event—we were flooded with stories of those who died and those who didn’t by happenstance—draped over the city like an uncomfortable, existential veil.
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who → flood → veil
He was in the basement of the World Trade Center, having decided at the last second to get his glasses fixed before he took the elevator to work.
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he → decide → work
He felt the ground shake, saw debris raining from the sky, watched United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the South Tower, and observed people stranded above the 91st floor waving large sheets that were probably tablecloths from his restaurant.
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that → feel → restaurant
“The memories are so vivid,” says Lomonaco, who helped start a fund for the families of his staff and who has gone on to run several successful restaurants in the city.
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who → say → city
“A generation has grown up since then, but it still seems like yesterday to me.
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it → grow → me
A 25th anniversary marks a swath of time that can be illuminating because, to someone who is younger than 30, it feels like an eternity.
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it → mark → eternity
But to someone who is over 50, as I am, it feels like a chapter.
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it → feel → chapter
9/11 is a hinge of time that separates generations.
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that → separate → generations
It shouldn’t be surprising—but it always is—when I ask young folks about 9/11, and they just can’t get their hearts around it.
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they → ask → it
It’s something that they learned about in class or saw on YouTube.
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they → ’ → YouTube
They don’t feel it like I do.
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I → feel → it
Like we do.
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we → do → ?
Those of us who are moved by this anniversary—no matter how close we were to the actual tragedy—should find some way to talk about it.
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we → move → it
“We have an obligation,” Lomonaco says.
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Lomonaco → have → obligation
“When we talk about the people who died, we’re acknowledging the significance of their lives.
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we → talk → lives
Many of us want to avoid the sadness: say “Never forget,” and move on.
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Many → want → sadness
Over 25 years, Lomonaco says he’s gone through the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—and I would contend he has wisdom to share.
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he → say → wisdom
“When we mourn with someone else, we’re actually mourning our own loss at the same time,” he says.
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he → mourn → time
“That creates a human bond.”
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That → create → bond
He emphasizes the connections between us, which were so palpable in the days after 9/11, when lines of New Yorkers wanting to donate blood wrapped around the block.
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lines → emphasize → block
For me, the interminable years that it took to clear Ground Zero and eventually build the new World Trade Center felt like a void.
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it → take → void
I won’t overstate it.
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I → overstate → it
…and 27 more, not listed.
