West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT US
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • GET WSR FREE IN YOUR INBOX
    • SEND US TIPS AND IDEAS
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result

No Result
View All Result

Favorite WSR Stories

  • Developers Aim to Construct 145-Foot Building Above Upper West Side Grocer
  • Imposing Upper West Side Sidewalk Shed Comes Down After 12 Years
SUPPORT THE RAG
Get the neighborhood news that matters.
Sign up for our free newsletter

UWS Photographer Stephen Harmon Captured the Twin Towers

September 11, 2026 | 7:26 AM
in ART, HISTORY, NEWS
35
Photographs by Stephen Harmon.

By Stephen Harmon

I was a very big fan of the Twin Towers.  Many people found them ugly and most New Yorkers ignored them or took them for granted. I photographed them year after year from many different vantage points and had several hundred pictures, but I lost them when my computer died a few months ago. I must have backed up some photos though, because I found these recently on a CD in the back of a drawer in my studio. I would love to share them with the readers of WSR.

Steve

Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.

Share this article:
SUPPORT THE RAG
Leave a comment

Please limit comments to 150 words and keep them civil and relevant to the article at hand. Comments are closed after six days. Our primary goal is to create a safe and respectful space where a broad spectrum of voices can be heard. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage readers to engage critically with one another’s ideas, but never at the expense of civility. Disagreement is expected—even encouraged—but it must be expressed with care and consideration. Comments that take cheap shots, escalate conflict, or veer into ideological warfare detract from the constructive spirit we aim to cultivate. A detailed statement on comments and WSR policy can be read here.

guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

35 Comments
Cathy
Cathy
1 month ago

Beautiful pics 🌹

12
Reply
Rochelle Katzman
Rochelle Katzman
1 month ago

I always enjoy looking at your wonderful art, especially today. So glad you found these and shared with us

6
Reply
Judy
Judy
1 month ago

Beautiful photos.

4
Reply
Jake Smith
Jake Smith
1 month ago

Nice images .
Particularly like rail track and fog shots.

2
Reply
UWS Cat Lady
UWS Cat Lady
1 month ago

Thank you for sharing these amazing photos!

4
Reply
Patrick
Patrick
1 month ago

Love this. Great photos

1
Reply
Carolina Jules
Carolina Jules
1 month ago

Glad some of your pictures were saved!! They are beautiful… and sad.

2
Reply
Lorraine
Lorraine
1 month ago

Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos

1
Reply
Andrew C
Andrew C
1 month ago

Thank you for sharing! Far more elegant and prideful than “ugly” to me.

1
Reply
Kat
Kat
1 month ago

My deepest thanks to you for taking and sharing these beautiful images. I will never forget the moment I first returned to the site and saw the gaping hole where the towers used to stand.

2
Reply
Susan
Susan
1 month ago

Thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs of the Twin Towers. I also loved them and don’t think the Freedom Tower gives the same symbolic sense that those two buildings did.

4
Reply
Helene
Helene
1 month ago

So glad that you were able to save these unusually beautiful and varied pictures of the twin towers.

0
Reply
Debby
Debby
1 month ago

I also found the Towers ugly, but valued them as a kind of North Star because I have a terrible sense of direction and I used them to orient myself geographically. Of course, they have a very different resonance post-9/11.

1
Reply
Life-long Upper West Sider
Life-long Upper West Sider
1 month ago

Thank you so much, Steve. I have missed you/your weekly posts. This one is tragic and stunning, and how kind you are to share it with us.

3
Reply
Jeff French Segall
Jeff French Segall
1 month ago

Lovely portfolio. I’m glad these survived your computer’s crash. Thanks so much for sharing. They’ll become an important element to the Twin Towers’ legacy.

1
Reply
Jane
Jane
1 month ago

These are lovely! It’s difficult to remember that they are gone.

0
Reply
Silvia
Silvia
1 month ago

I love these pictures ,today a very sad reminder .I used to see them from my apt in Queens ,Astoria .

0
Reply
Silvia
Silvia
1 month ago

Just beautiful pictures you are sharing with us im so happy you found them especially on this day.

0
Reply
Dora-Faye Hendricks
Dora-Faye Hendricks
1 month ago

Wow! I hadn’t thought of all the different people, from all different locations, and how they could have seen the twin towers BEFORE they fell. So, thanks for your comments and pictures!

2
Reply
Peter
Peter
1 month ago

I found them really ugly, even among the beautiful buildings surrounding them, but when people ask me where I was born, I tell them right where the twin towers were.

Last edited 1 month ago by Peter
1
Reply
Carol
Carol
1 month ago

I remember 💕

0
Reply
LEE APT
LEE APT
1 month ago

BEAUTIFULPHOTOS! THANK YOU FOR SHARING.

0
Reply
Sby
Sby
1 month ago

Thank you for sharing these—very interesting how you captured the towers in so many different views or conditions—wonderful photographs which also for me bring on nostalgia for the city as it was then

1
Reply
S G
S G
1 month ago

Awesome pictures….those two buildings were iconic. WTC 1 is nice, but certainly not like the original!s

0
Reply
Michael T.
Michael T.
1 month ago

Thoughtful composition beautifully done…. Thank you for sharing!

0
Reply
MSA
MSA
1 month ago

Thank you

0
Reply
Matt
Matt
1 month ago

Thanks, Steve. Did you have a brother named Billy?

0
Reply
Steve Harmon
Steve Harmon
1 month ago
Reply to  Matt

I did not.

0
Reply
Rhoda Fairman
Rhoda Fairman
1 month ago

Steve: You know I Iove your work. These should be in a museum. Rhoda.

0
Reply
Steve
Steve
1 month ago

Very beautiful nice pictures, thanks for sharing. I played jazz and Latin music concerts in frint of the towers back last century that were enjoyed by the many people that worked there everyday and were of a wide spectrum. Anyone who thinks it was just a ‘financial center’ is dead wrong.

Last edited 1 month ago by Steve
1
Reply
Harry
Harry
1 month ago

I wish our memories lasted as long as these photos

https://babylonbee.com/news/nation-forgot

2
Reply
Jane Gordon Julien
Jane Gordon Julien
1 month ago

Thank you for sharing these photos – memorable and heart-rending.

0
Reply
Lin
Lin
1 month ago

Your photos are beautiful and of a NYC that once was. It’s too much to process.

0
Reply
Blanche
Blanche
1 month ago

Thank you!!

0
Reply
Ellen B. Schwartz
Ellen B. Schwartz
1 month ago

So glad you found them. So glad you shared them. I thought they were amazing.

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Popular Cold Stone Creamery Will Open on the Upper West Side
FOOD

Popular Cold Stone Creamery Will Open on the Upper West Side

October 23, 2026 | 11:09 AM
UWS Weekend: Great Things To Do in the Neighborhood
COLUMNS

UWS Weekend: Great Things to Do in (and Around) the Neighborhood

October 23, 2026 | 8:35 AM
Previous Post

UWS Weekend: Great Things to Do in (and Around) the Neighborhood

Next Post

‘9/11’ From the Vantage Point of the Upper West Side: Poetry

this week's events image

Next Post
‘9/11’ From the Vantage Point of the Upper West Side: Poetry

'9/11' From the Vantage Point of the Upper West Side: Poetry

Remembering 9/11: From Upper West Side Dad to Daily News Deadline

Remembering 9/11: From Upper West Side Dad to Daily News Deadline

Upper West Side Teen Holding Court at the U.S. Open

Upper West Side Teen Holding Court at the U.S. Open

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2026 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT US
    • GET WSR FREE IN YOUR INBOX
    • SEND US TIPS AND IDEAS
  • WSR SHOP

© 2026 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.