September 11 Facts

The World Trade Center towers used to have two zip codes, 10047-10048, one for each building.

When the towers fell on September 11, the Coast Guard put out one call on marine radio: all available boats. Ferry captains turned mid-route. Tugboat operators dropped everything. Fishing boats, private yachts, dinner cruises - hundreds showed up. In nine hours, they evacuated nearly 500,000 people by water. The largest maritime evacuation in history. Larger than Dunkirk, which took nine days.

The John J. Harvey was a New York fireboat the FDNY retired in 1994, and volunteers bought her at auction in 1999 and restored her. On September 11, 2001, the water mains at Ground Zero were broken, so the fire department radioed the old boat back to ask if her pumps still worked. Her volunteer crew pumped beside two FDNY fireboats for 80 hours. She is 95 now and still gives free public trips.