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Crowd Sourcing: Who saw the Twin Towers drone show on Wednesday night?
UPDATE!! My pal N. caught this video — so it was not the deep fake that I thought it was. Also, she was sent a Notify NYC notice on her phone that night for “an illuminated memorial drone show over New York Harbor near South Street in Manhattan.”
Here’s the original post:
So all day I have been hearing about a drone show that took place over Lower Manhattan on Wednesday night, creating a three-dimensional outline of the Twin Towers, but not a single person — and I have talked to dozens now — saw it for themselves.
ABC7 had a story about it here, but no other outlets seem to have original footage. I received no press releases about it; my friends were at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum dinner at Cipriani’s and never heard about it; other friends were out strolling last night and saw nothing. Howard Lutnick had a picture of it on his Instagram. And there’s this IG post, but something seems off…
J. found the information below on PR Newswire, which said the drone show was sponsored by the New York Foundation of the Arts, but there is nothing on that organization’s website. And the only video online is a weird assemblage of what I think are renderings on a YouTube channel for APT News, which has pictures of Trump and Putin on its masthead.
How did none of us see it??
Here’s the PR Newswire release; I am not running the images.
NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On Wednesday, September 9, a commemorative public art installation designed with voices of the 9/11 family, survivor, responder community was unveiled in the skies over New York Harbor. The free public act of reflection and unity is a sponsored project of the New York Foundation of the Arts.
2,977 lights rose over New York Harbor and rebuilt the Twin Towers at full architectural scale, one light for each life lost on 9/11, in a community gathering of remembrance.
The aerial artwork was shaped by a collective of voices from the 9/11 community, including Brenda Berkman (FDNY First Responder, Artist), Tim Brown (FDNY First Responder 1993 and 2001), Terry Strada (family of Tom Strada, President of 9/11 Families United), Jim Smith (family of NYPD Moira Smith), and Genevieve Siller (Daughter of Stephen Siller). Its members acknowledge that no one can speak for all.
Designed in dialogue with the iconic “Tribute in Light”, “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” suspends 2,977 individual lights in the night sky as a breathing constellation of lives. The lights gathered in a helix, swirling upward before assembling into the Twin Towers at full architectural scale.
The helix in “2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” intentionally recalls the THINK team’s World Cultural Center, the unbuilt proposal for the rebuilt World Trade Center: a civic and cultural vision rather than another office development, its open latticework towers rising around and above the original footprints without touching them, carrying public space into the sky. The installation carries that civic proposition back into the air above the harbor.
The commemorative art work is a collaboration between artists, producers, and 9/11 families, survivors, and responders; which includes creative director Addison Mehr, producers Sky Elements, designer Yan Paul Dubbelman, artistic advisors Studio Drift, and Shigeru Ban and Dean Maltz.
The work is scored with recorded music chosen for reflection. Featuring works by Philip Glass, along with “On The Transmigration of Souls” from John Adams, written for the victims of 9/11. Additional works were provided by Max Richter, including “On the Nature of Daylight” from The Blue Notebooks.
“2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” was produced by Addison Mehr and Sky Elements.
Production is funded entirely by private philanthropy and in-kind contribution with major support for the public art installation generously provided by The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund and 9/11 family members. Major support was provided by The Blavatnik Family Foundation, with additional support from Pershing Square Philanthropies.
“2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” is given as a gift to the city of New York along with everyone whose life was, and continues to be affected by September 11. The production was made possible by Sky Elements Drone Shows, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and IDEKO who led federal and city permitting, safety and security operations.
“2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor” is a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization founded in 1971 to serve the arts community throughout New York State and the United States.
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Thanks for covering this. It’s so very strange!
It IS sort of weird, but remember that drone shows are often constructed so you can only make out the pattern from one particular viewing point. Also, given the number of drones and the security around lower Manhattan at 9/11 time, it’s likely that a show like this would have to be done away from the city itself, probably over NY Harbor. So I can imagine this being done by (rich) donors for viewing from a spot (Liberty Island?) and for video in a way that nobody in our neighborhood would have seen it or recognized the intended pattern.
It evidently was an art project- I wish that I had seen it!!!
Very curious. Were news outlets informed and kept quiet or were they not informed? It’s also hard to find what time the show actually went on. No news outlets now commenting on it are showing when it started or ended. It seems there were two flights of 15 minutes each (though don’t quote me on that) that ran an hour apart. The NYC skyline was completely dark at 8:47, so it prob started around then. Howard Lutnick was a funder; he was photographed with his wife (in blue jeans) in front of a window at the tip of Manhattan so prob not a commemorative event, just something private for the family. I get he lost a brother and many employees. But there’s something about commandeering public space for private reflection that was perhaps “healing” for a few people, but simply dismissive of many others.
Would’ve had to have been kept quiet. NYPD/other agencies wouldn’t be able to identify unrelated drones in a flock of nearly 3,000 – and that would’ve introduced a serious risk to the public.
I found this article by googling “New York drone show fake?”
It’s really a very weird situation. These drone shows are never announced but are always promoted in hindsight on social media.
Judging from the videos, the alleged drone show was filmed from either a boat or Jersey City over downtown Manhattan.
Thus if this was an art project, they would’ve had to close down a large area in lower Manhattan. Imagine if just one drone fails and causes damage and or injury. An art project like this, cannot be done without NYPD.
So, you should not only have seen the show, but the barriers and NYPD blocking the area, like they did for the Knicks games, Knicks parade, Taylor Swift’s wedding etc.
My guess is this is complete fake and digital art, but not designated as such.
Another option, if we give them the benefit of the doubt, is they put up a handful of drones at a time and did a long exposure, so the silhouettes were only visible on film when composed together or they needed a few drones to place the city in 3D space and then painted the rest in.
I also tried to see it here:
https://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/statueofliberty/?cam=liberty_hd
Nothing of the drone show, but the frequency is too low to rule it out.
Finally,
If this had been announced New Yorkers would’ve been there even at 3am. The city is big enough that there are always people that are crazy enough to show up and camp out.
I want to add, like Vickery Eckhoff said, the Lutnick photo is pretty telling. Another person uploaded a pretty normal video on Instagram putting the drone show directly next to the Staten Island ferry. They filmed from the the upper floor and the drones where right there. over the water (on the other side of the the governors island ferry). I’m not Captain Disillusion, for me those videos looked real. There are also at least two videos filmed from moving cars showing the event. Pretty real looking to me. I’m still perplexed of why this was not advertised or at the very least was done on 9/11 when people naturally remember the event.