Nyc Epicenters 9/11–>2021½ S1

As COVID rips through NYC, ravaging Spike Lee’s beloved Brooklyn at a devastating rate, New Yorkerscome together to support doctors and nurses while simultaneously navigating public school shutdowns. Alsounfolding are the NYC demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter as the nation contends with pent-up frustrationand police violence in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

After inflammatory rhetoric emboldens the January 6 insurrection, Lee hears from the New YorkRepresentatives who were in or near the U.S. Capitol Building that day. With the Biden-Harris administrationinheriting a country fractured by racial inequalities and with COVID deaths reaching half a million in January, thenation’s first vaccine recipient – a nurse from Queens – provides hope.

Lee recounts the construction of the World Trade Center in the 1970s and how the bombing in 1993foreshadowed the events of September 11. Survivors and frontline workers who rushed to the scene weave a vividpicture of the attacks as they unfold, including the boat captains who ferried thousands of New Yorkers to safety fromthe southern tip of Manhattan.

Though the city is united in grief and solidarity in the wake of 9/11, health problems of first responders,persecution of Sikhs and Muslims, and wide-ranging perspectives underscore the lasting impact of the tragedy. Lee hears from New Yorkers who reflect on the hardships the city has faced and its determination to emerge strongerthan ever.