Closings and cancellations following the September 11 attacks

Many closings and cancellations followed the September 11th attacks, including major landmarks, buildings, restrictions on access to Lower Manhattan, and postponement or cancellation of major sporting and other events. Landmarks were closed primarily because of fears that they may be attacked. At some places, streets leading up to the institutions were also closed. When they reopened, there was heightened security. Many states declared a state of emergency.

Closings

United States

• The New York Stock Exchange did not open on September 11 even as CNBC showed futures numbers early in the day. As Wall Street was covered in debris from the World Trade Center and suffered infrastructure damage, it remained closed until September 17.
• The Washington Monument.
• The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and ferries to both.
• All state capitols and many government buildings surrounding the capitols.
• Many landmarks in the United States, including the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.
• All federal buildings in Washington, D.C., including the White House. Across the country approximately one million federal workers were sent home.
• D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles (although all other D.C. government offices remained open) ^[1]
• The United States Patent and Trademark Office ^[2]
• NASA, including all field centers and the agency's headquarters in Washington ^[3]
• The United States Supreme Court building
• Resorts and vacation spots including:
  • Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm (only on September 11)^[4]
  • Walt Disney World (only on September 11)
  • Universal Studios Florida
  • SeaWorld
• All television and movie studios in Hollywood.
• All Westfield shopping centers, malls and shoppingtowns nationwide, as they owned the underground shopping mall at the World Trade Center.

Canada

• In Toronto, the CN Tower was immediately closed and evacuated, which was followed by the closures of the Toronto-Dominion Centre and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
• Parliament Hill in Ottawa was evacuated.
• All Canadian airports were shut down and the Canadian airspace closed to commercial flights.^[5]

Evacuations (in light of perceived threat of attack)

• United Nations headquarters in New York City.
• Sears Tower in Chicago^[4]
• Most of downtown Cleveland^[6]
• John Hancock Tower in Boston.^[4]
• Several skyscrapers in downtown Houston
• Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco
• Renaissance Center in Detroit
• Parts of Washington, D.C., and New York City
• Bank of America and Wachovia headquarters towers in Downtown Charlotte
• International flights bound for the USA were diverted to Canada (known as Operation Yellow Ribbon)
• In London, Canary Wharf tower and the Stock Exchange Tower
• Empire State Building in New York was evacuated several times on September 11 and after due to false reports of potential threats.
• Chrysler Building in New York
• OneAmerica Tower in Indianapolis
• HSBC Tower in Buffalo, New York
• AXA Towers in Syracuse, New York
• Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood evacuated in the wake of the attacks for a few hours.
• Walt Disney World theme parks were reported to be under threat for a short time.
• AOL Headquarters in Dulles, Virginia
• All foreign Embassies and Consulates in Israel
• The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are evacuated after a false bomb threat.

Cancellations

In an atmosphere reminiscent of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, everyday life in the United States came to a standstill in the days after the September 11th attacks. There was a widespread perception immediately following the attacks that recreational events and sports were not appropriate out of respect for the dead and wounded. For this reason, as well as for reasons of perceived threat associated with large gatherings, many events were postponed or cancelled, including:

• Broadway theater shows until September 13 when they resumed with dimmed marquees^[7]
• Major sporting events cancelled in the North America included:
  • Major League Baseball - Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called off games for one day,^[8] extending cancellations for three days, then all games through September 16 were postponed. The games were tacked on to the end of the regular season, delaying the postseason until October 4. This was the third time in MLB history that games were cancelled due to war or national security reasons.^[8] Games were cancelled on D-Day and the 1918 season was shortened due to World War I.^[8]
  • Minor League Baseball. All championship series were cancelled. Teams that had led their respective series were awarded league championships, or teams which were scheduled to play in such series were awarded co-championships.
  • The National Football League postponed football games on September 16 and Monday night game the following night. Those games and the playoffs were pushed back at the end of the regular season. The Super Bowl had been scheduled on the first Sunday in February since then (except 2003).
  • NASCAR postponed the September 16 Winston Cup New Hampshire 300 race at New Hampshire International Speedway until November 23 while the IRL Chevy 500 was moved to October 6.
  • Division I college football games to be played on September 13 and 15 were called off.^[9] This was not an insignificant decision; in 1988, Syracuse University was severely criticized for allowing a basketball game be played hours after 35 of their students were killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Some games were played in early December, others were cancelled. Other games were added as a result of teams being unable to find makeup dates.
  • The PGA golf tour cancelled the World Golf Championships at the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. This was the first time in five years the PGA cancelled a tournament. In 1996, the PGA Tour cancelled the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am because of weather conditions, and subsequently added a new rule that a tournament would not be official unless 54 holes were played. This event was not made up and purse monies were donated to charities.
  • USA Cycling canceled the BMC Software Tour of Houston scheduled for September 16, which was a key event in that year's Pro Cycling Tour, involving elite domestic and international cyclists.^[10] The decision was made despite the fact that athletes, staff, and equipment were actively en route to Houston from the inaugural San Francisco Grand Prix, which had been held on September 9, 2001.^[11]
  • Army Ten-Miler road race at The Pentagon.
  • The Canadian Football League scrapped all games for the ensuing week.
• The following overseas sports events:
  • Games scheduled by UEFA, the European governing body of soccer, that were scheduled for September 12 and 13 were postponed (games had been played on the 11th as the first plane strike took place at 2:46 PM CET).
• Voting on September 11 in the City of New York Mayoral Primary Election was halted. Elections in Syracuse, New York and Buffalo, New York were also delayed.
• Months after the attacks, events were still impacted, with Blockbuster Entertainment cancelling its Spring 2002 Awards Show and the 2003 Grammy Awards being held at Madison Square Garden instead of Staples Center as planned.
• Cartoon Network cancelled Mobile Suit Gundam after the attack as the series focused on war and took an episode of Cowboy Bebop that dealt with terrorist bombings ("Cowboy Funk") out of the Adult Swim lineup for nearly a year afterwards.
• The NPR weekly news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! was not broadcast on September 15.
• A number of Jeopardy! episodes were not aired until GSN aired them; one noticeable was an episode did not air at all in its original run, and was not seen at all until it aired on GSN in 2005.
• Episode 2 of the first season of The Amazing Race was not aired on the evening of September 12 as scheduled. The rest of the series after the first episode a week before was delayed one week.
• The NBC reality series Lost ended up with a truncated run as the second episode of the show was to air on the night of the 11th and subsequently edited down from six to five episodes airing in December 2001, with copious editing done due to the show's finish line being shot at a pre-attacked Statue of Liberty. The program subsequently was canceled.
• Rock band Aerosmith canceled three shows originally scheduled for September 11th, 13th, and 15th, all on the Eastern Seaboard, during their Just Push Play Tour. They resumed their tour on September 17 in Atlanta, for gig proposing.
• The 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards were cancelled. It was supposed to be aired on CBS on September 11. The show was not re-scheduled, but the winners were announced at a press conference on October 30.
• An alternate ending of an episode of the show Invader Zim was taken off since it featured a scene where all of New York is destroyed, Nickelodeon acted quickly and changed the ending.
• The 2001 Boshears Skyfest was canceled due to closed airspace following the attacks.^[12]
• Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch canceled its Christmas 2001 issue of A&F Quarterly because the company felt the tone of the publication was not suitable for the mood at that time.^[13]

Postponements

• The 2001 Emmy Awards: scheduled for September 16, 2001, the show was rescheduled twice (the first rescheduled date was the day the United States started Operation Enduring Freedom) before taking place on November 4, with a somewhat somber atmosphere after surviving rumors of cancellation.
• The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), with the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations to be held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, was postponed. The organizers of the meeting claimed it was not so much a fear of terrorist attack on the meeting itself, but a desire by many Commonwealth leaders to stay at home in case of any further crisis-making world events (such as the commencement of overt military action in Afghanistan or elsewhere). The CHOGM was eventually convened at Coolum Beach, Queensland.
• The Mexican Independence Parade scheduled for September 16 in Mexico City was delayed one day in a show of compassion, many other Independence celebrations were held on the 16th sans the fireworks.
• Though normal television programming resumed after nearly a full week of news coverage following the attack, some daily talk shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show and Late Show with David Letterman took additional time before beginning to broadcast new installments, with Letterman in particular stating that he was not sure he wanted to continue to do the show.
• The fall season premieres of a number of American TV series were delayed, including several that were scheduled to air on September 11 itself.
• The release date of several motion pictures was held back, including Big Trouble, which depicted an attempted terrorist attack and was originally scheduled to be released on September 21, 2001.
• The 2001 Ryder Cup of golf, held at The Belfry in England, was postponed a year. Subsequent Ryder Cup tournaments were moved from odd-numbered to even-numbered years to retain the two-year gap between stagings. The Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup, staged in off-years of the Ryder Cup, were moved from even-numbered to odd-numbered years beginning in 2003.
• The first airing of the anime Full Metal Panic! was delayed because the first episode involved a terrorist hijacking a plane.
• Singer Madonna postponed a concert performance in Los Angeles, California.
• In the United States and United Kingdom, planned television screenings of films and fictional programs where terror, plane crashes, bombs or other related disaster were the primary subject were postponed or canceled.

Travel effects

For at least a full day after the attacks, bridges and tunnels to Manhattan were closed to non-emergency traffic in both directions. Among other things, this interrupted scheduled deliveries of food and other perishables, leading to shortages in restaurants.

With the unprecedented implementation of Security Control of Air Traffic and Air Navigation Aids (SCATANA) plan, all civilian airplane traffic in the United States and Canada was grounded until September 13, 2001. All non-military flights needed specific approval from President George Walker Bush and FAA. There were only a few dozen private aircraft which received the approval in that time period. United Airlines cancelled all flights worldwide temporarily. First, the stranded planes were allowed to go to their intended destinations, then limited service resumed. All incoming international flights were diverted to Canada in Operation Yellow Ribbon. Some of the incoming international flights coming from South America were diverted to Mexico as well, but its airspace was not shut down. On Thursday night, the New York area airports (JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark) were closed again and reopened the next morning. The only traffic from LaGuardia during the closure was a single C-9C government VIP jet, departing at approximately 5:15 p.m. on the 12th^th.

Civilian air traffic over central London was rerouted around the city's airspace and all flights to the United States and Canada were suspended.

Much of Lower Manhattan below Canal Street was closed to pedestrians after the attacks. From September 27, 2001, one-occupant cars were banned from crossing into Lower Manhattan from Midtown on weekday mornings in an effort to relieve some of the crush of traffic in the city (the morning rush hour lasts from 5:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.), caused largely by the increased security measures put in place.

New York City mass transit

New York City Subway

The Cortlandt Street IRT station, which was directly below the World Trade Center, after the September 11 attacks

Immediately after the attacks and more so after the collapses of the Twin Towers, many trains running in Lower Manhattan lost power and had to be evacuated through the tunnels. Some trains had power, but the signals did not, requiring train operators to reset the brakes once for each car every time their train passed a signal.

The IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, which ran below the World Trade Center between Chambers Street and Rector Street was the most crippled. Sections of the tunnel as well as Cortlandt Street were badly damaged and had to be rebuilt. Service was immediately suspended south of Chambers Street and then cut back to 14th Street. There was also subsequent flooding on the line south of 34th Street – Penn Station. After the flood was cleaned up, express service was able to resume on September 17 with 1 trains running between Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street, making local stops north of and express stops south of 96th Street, while 2 and 3 trains made all stops in Manhattan (but bypassed all stations between Canal Street and Fulton Street until October 1). 1/9 skip-stop service was suspended.

After a few switching delays at 96th Street, service was changed on September 19. The 1 train resumed local service in Manhattan, but was extended to New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn (switching onto the express tracks at Chambers Street) to replace the 3, which now terminated at 14th Street as an express. The 2 train continued to make local stops in Manhattan and service between Chambers Street and South Ferry as well as skip-stop service remained suspended. Normal service on all four trains was restored September 15, 2002, but Cortlandt Street will remain closed while the World Trade Center site is redeveloped.^[14]

Service on the BMT Broadway Line was also disrupted because the tracks from the Montague Street Tunnel ran adjacent to the World Trade Center and there were concerns that train movements could cause unsafe settling of the debris pile. Cortlandt Street, which ran under Church Street, sustained significant damage in the collapse of the towers. It was closed until September 15, 2002 for removal of debris, structural repairs, and restoration of the track beds, which had suffered flood damage in the aftermath of the collapse. Starting September 17, 2001, N and R service was suspended and respectively replaced by the M (which was extended to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue via the BMT Montague Street Tunnel, BMT Fourth Avenue Line, and BMT Sea Beach Line) and the J (also extended via Fourth Avenue to Bay Ridge – 95th Street). In Queens, the Q replaced the R while the W replaced the N. All service on the BMT Broadway Line ran local north of Canal Street except for the <Q>, which ran normally from 57th Street to Brighton Beach via Broadway and Brighton Express. J/Z skip-stop service was suspended at this time. Normal service on all seven trains resumed on October 28.

The only subway line running between Midtown and Lower Manhattan was the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, which was overcrowded before the attacks and at crush density until the BMT Broadway Line reopened. Wall Street was closed until September 21.

The IND Eighth Avenue Line, which has a stub terminal serving the E train under Five World Trade Center was not damaged, but covered in soot. E trains were extended to Euclid Avenue, Brooklyn, replacing the then suspended C train (the A and D trains replaced it as the local north of 59th Street – Columbus Circle on nights and weekends, respectively). Service was cut back to Canal Street when C service resumed on September 21, but Chambers Street and Broadway – Nassau Street remained closed until October 1. World Trade Center remained closed until January 2002.

There were no reported casualties on the subway or loss of cars, but an MCI coach bus was destroyed. Another bus was damaged, but repaired and is back in normal service with a special commemoration livery.

PATH

The PATH station at World Trade Center was heavily damaged (a train parked in the station was crushed by debris and was removed during the excavation process in January 2002). As such, all service to World Trade Center was suspended. For several hours, PATH did not run any trains to Manhattan, but was able to restore service on the midtown line by the afternoon. Exchange Place was unusable since the switch configuration at the time required all trains to continue to World Trade Center. As a result, PATH ran a modified service: Hoboken-Journal Square, Hoboken-33rd Street, and Newark-33rd Street. Exchanged Place reopened with modifications on June 29, 2003 while a temporary station replacing World Trade Center opened on November 23.

Ferries

Liberty Water Taxi and NY Waterway had a ferry terminal at the World Financial Center. As the area around the terminal was in the restricted zone, NY Waterway suspended service to the terminal with alternate service going to Midtown and Wall Street and Liberty Water Taxi service was suspended.

References

1. ^ "Washington are evacuation and closures". The Washington Post. 2001-09-11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/sep01/localclosures091101.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
2. ^ "Emergency Closure - September 11, 2001" (Press release). United States Patent and Trademark office. 11 September 2001. http://www.uspto.gov/emergencyalerts/emergencyclosure01.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
3. ^ O'Brien, Miles (September 11, 2001). "NASA shuts down in wake of attacks". Cnn.Com. http://articles.cnn.com/2001-09-11/tech/nasa.closed_1_nasa-field-centers-nasa-administrator-daniel-goldin-space-administration?_s=PM:TECH. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Abelson, Reed (2001-09-12). "Absorbing a Blow to the Heart of America's Financial Center". The New York Times: p. C1. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/business/day-terror-reaction-absorbing-blow-heart-america-s-financial-center.html. 
5. ^ http://www.nysing.org/timeline.html
6. ^ Brecic, Max (25 November 2002). "Plan for Emergency Evacuation of Downtown Released". CSUCauldron.com. The Cleveland State Cauldron. http://media.www.csucauldron.com/media/storage/paper516/news/2002/11/25/News/Plan-For.Emergency.Evacuation.Of.Downtown.Released-333866.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-16. 
7. ^ McKinley, Jesse (September 15, 2001). "Lights On, Broadway Dispels The Dark". The New York Times: p. B9. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/theater/lights-on-broadway-dispels-the-dark.html. 
8. ^ ^{a b c} Chass, Murray (2001-09-12). "Selig, in a Sense of Mourning, Cancels Baseball Games". The New York Times: p. C15. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/sports/baseball-selig-in-a-sense-of-mourning-cancels-baseball-games.html. 
9. ^ Litsky, Frank; Williams, Lena (2001-09-12). "Many Sporting Events Called Off or Postponed". The New York Times: p. C18. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/sports/many-sporting-events-called-off-or-postponed.html. 
10. ^ "2001 BMC Software Cycling Grand Prix" (Press release). USA Cycling / BMC Software. March 9, 2001. http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=271. Retrieved November 4, 2009. 
11. ^ Hatchitt, Ann (October 12, 2001). "Each employee looks for ways to reach out (BMC Software Inc.'s community service strategy)". Austin Business Journal. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10148931_ITM. Retrieved November 4, 2009. 
12. ^ Aviator of the Year
13. ^ Stuart Elliott, Bowing to Nation's Mood, Retailer Cancels Issue of Racy Catalog, New York Times, October 17, 2001.
14. ^ Kennedy, Randy. "Tunnel Vision; With Station's Reopening, Even Commuters Smile", The New York Times, September 17, 2002. Accessed October 6, 2007.