Unannounced 9/11 Tribute in Hackensack on September 11, 2025
As you may know, I’ve been documenting the construction of a residential building for the last few months that’s straight out from my living room window, albeit 1-2 blocks away.
I have a camera on a tripod aimed at that window at all times so I can shoot as soon as I see (or anticipate) something.
For the last couple of months, one of the things I’ve been documenting is the construction of the side-by-side elevator shaft and stairwell. All work is currently on the third floor. I think the shaft and stairwell are now as tall as they’re gonna be.
I took the below picture of both on 9/11. Later, while looking at the picture, it slightly reminded me of the Twin Towers – a rather appropriate day for that.
Fifteen minutes later, I saw a worker climbing the scaffolding between the two structures with something colorful in his hand. I zoomed in and saw it was a US flag. He disappeared behind the elevator shaft. Two minutes later (third pic), I saw his hard hat just above it (this was on the front side of the building facing Main St). Click to enlarge:
Hmmmm……..Given what day it was, it seemed that a two-block walk was in order. It also seemed right to wear a shirt I bought on eBay almost a quarter-century ago:
Front:
Back:
Closeup of the badge:
“Not genuine merchandise”, you say?
(Back to our show)
As I neared Main St, I took the first picture. I took the second one ON Main St:
This was not exactly a difficult guess.
OK, all you Hackensack readers – did anyone know about this in advance? Has anyone else even noticed the flag up there?
I didn’t know if it was a one-day thing or not, so I went back the next day and shot these (how nice of them to remove all the scaffolding that was there yesterday):
I’m guessing it’ll stay up for the duration.
Oh – back to that shirt………I used to get a LOT of comments whenever I wore it. But this time – even after going food-shopping later………….nada.
Actually, I think I may have gotten ONE comment while I was shooting on Main St on 9/11. I was near the curb and some guy was walking behind me, facing the back of the shirt.
I’m guessing he read it because just as he passed me, I heard him say, “YUUUUUUP!” (sort of like Dave Hester from “Storage Wars”).
Or maybe he was just talking on his phone…………….
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