This Earth Day, the 9/11 Memorial Is A Living Reminder of Resilience and Rebirth

Although the public is not able to visit the site during this temporary closure, this Earth Day we look to celebrate the 9/11 Memorial plaza as one of the most sustainable plazas ever constructed, designed to conserve energy, water, and other resources.

Rainwater is collected in storage tanks below the plaza’s surface, and the tanks supply water for the 413 swamp white oak trees and other vegetation. The American Society of Landscape Architects describes the 9/11 Memorial as a “massive green roof—a fully constructed ecology—that operates on top of multiple structures.”

The most notable tree on the 9/11 Memorial plaza is known as the Survivor Tree. The Callery pear tree endured the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center and was found at Ground Zero in October 2001 severely damaged, with snapped roots and burned and broken branches.

The tree was removed from the rubble and placed in the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation where, after years of recovery and rehabilitation, it was returned to the Memorial in 2010. In contrast to the plaza’s swamp white oaks, the Survivor Tree is the only tree of its kind and always the first to bloom in spring and the last to lose its leaves in autumn.

The Survivor Tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival, and rebirth in the heart of lower Manhattan. While much of the country is social distancing and sheltering in place in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Survivor Tree in bloom represents a visible sign of hope, a reminder that commemoration continues, and a gesture of solidarity with our fellow New Yorkers, especially first responders and members of our community faced directly with the challenges of COVID-19.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff