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It's largely a construction site now—the wreckage of twisted metal, concrete and ash is long gone—but Ground Zero still draws throngs of visitors looking to pay their respects to the victims of September 11. Crowds converge at a viewing wall that runs along Church Street where the information boards detail the horrific events of 9/11 (even as tourists in knock-off FDNY T-shirts pose for photographs). Not content to focus exclusively on the past, the site makes a deliberate attempt to addressing its future: On the west side, a second exhibition shows how the World Trade Center will be redeveloped. Scale models depict the Freedom Tower, a glass-encased office block 1776 feet high, as well as Reflecting Absence—the tributary pools that will fill the footprints of the former Twin Towers. Admittedly, this consecrated ground has lost most of the more personalized tributes. Port Authority has done away with the flowers, letters and hand-painted banners but nearby, in Saint Paul’s Chapel, memorialized pews still bear the scuff marks of the 9/11 rescue workers who rested, ate and slept there. — Gabriel Packard

The Liberty Firehouse (or "Tenhouse") at Liberty and Washington Streets still contains physical reminders of that day, including the original Liberty Street road sign.

Special Events
On the anniversary of 9/11, two searchlights, placed where the Twin Towers once stood, shine pillars of light vertically up into the night sky. The anniversary is also marked by a reading of the names of those who died.