How 9/11 Still Impacts Chinatown Today

WNYC News | Sep 11, 2025

Manhattan’s Chinatown was just blocks away from the World Trade Center when the twin towers fell on September 11th 2001.  

In the months and years following the attacks, Chinatown’s communities dealt with declining tourism, business closures and health concerns.  

Margaret Chin is a sociology professor at Hunter College. Jacob Chin is a retired FDNY lieutenant who worked from a Chinatown fire house. They were both born and raised in New York City. They are unrelated. Both talked with WNYC's Sean Carlson more about how 9/11 affected Chinatown and still does to this day.

A warning - This segment contains descriptions that some may find disturbing.

 

Top Stories

Malcolm Gladwell on “The American Way of Killing.” Plus, Grandmaster Flash on “Birth of a Culture”

NYC's top watchdog launches probe into what mayors knew about post-9/11 air

Advice for Personal Money Management

Neil Patrick Harris Plays a Camp Director for Kids with Cancer

YOU ARE ONLINE