2,753 Empty Chairs Fill New York Park To Honor 9/11 Victims

Rows of 2,753 empty chairs covered the lawn at Bryant Park on September 11, marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Each chair represented one person killed at the World Trade Center. The chairs stretched across the grass in dense rows, facing south toward the site of the former Twin Towers.

Filmed by X user NYC Photographer, the scene shows visitors walking between the chairs as the New York Public Library and Midtown skyscrapers rise behind the memorial. The Empire State Building is also visible above the trees.

White carnations had been placed on several seats, while a handwritten card attached to one chair read, “25 YEARS LATER / NEVER FORGET.”

Visitors could write notes and place a white carnation on a chair. A nearby table offered carnations with a sign reading, “Carnations / One per person.”

The memorial was open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bank of America pledged $25 for each of the first 3,000 carnations, totaling $75,000 to be split among three organizations.

The 2,753 chairs represented those killed at the World Trade Center. The total number of people killed in the September 11 attacks was 2,977.