Tribute in Light

Tribute in Light as seen from Jersey City in 2020
The Pentagon's Tribute in Light seen from the White House in 2021
Tribute in Light as seen from Brooklyn in 2014

The Tribute in Light is an art installation created in remembrance of the September 11 attacks.[1] It consists of 88 vertical searchlights arranged in two columns of light to represent the Twin Towers. It stands six blocks south of the World Trade Center on top of the Battery Parking Garage[2] in New York City. Tribute in Light began as a temporary commemoration of the attacks in early 2002, but it became an annual event, currently produced on September 11 by the Municipal Art Society of New York.[3][4][5] The Tribute in Light was conceived by artists John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian LaVerdiere, and Paul Myoda, and lighting consultant Paul Marantz.[6]

The Tribute's illumination begins at dusk and ends at dawn, with the lights being turned off for 20-minute periods to allow migratory birds to escape as needed. On clear nights, the lights can be seen from 60 miles (97 km) away,[7] visible in all of New York City and most of suburban Northern New Jersey and Long Island. The lights can also be seen in Fairfield County, Connecticut, as well as Westchester, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York.

The 88 xenon spotlights (44 for each tower) each consume 7,000 watts.[8] As of 2011, the annual cost for the entire project was about $500,000.[9]

A similar Tribute in Light has also appeared on occasion at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and at the crash site of United 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, which were also targeted during the 9/11 attacks.[10]

  1. ^ Chan, Sewell (September 11, 2007). "Will Tribute in Light Go Dark After '08?". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  2. ^ "Tribute in Light". 9/11 Memorial. National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  3. ^ "Tribute in Light". creativetime.org. Creative Time, Inc. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Munson, John (September 10, 2015). "Tribute in Light shines bright every year since 2002". NJ.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  5. ^ "Tribute in Light". mas.org. The Municipal Art Society of New York. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  6. ^ "Tribute in Light | National September 11 Memorial & Museum". www.911memorial.org. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  7. ^ Yong, Ed (June 13, 2022). "How Animals Perceive the World". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023.
  8. ^ Chaban, Matt (August 18, 2011). "The End of Tribute in Light: Memorial Goes Dark Forever on 9/12". observer.com. Observer. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  9. ^ Caruso, David B. (September 7, 2011). "9/11 light tribute still dazzles; future cloudy". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on January 28, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  10. ^ "This is why you may see a blue light in the sky at night this weekend". wusa9.com. September 9, 2021. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2023.