'Eyewitness to 9/11: Behind the Lens' reveals untold stories, rare video of America's darkest day

NEW YORK CITY -- The images of September 11, 2001, are seared into our memory, the moments broadcast live to the world.

Now, more than two decades later, we hear from the WABC-TV Eyewitness News journalists who were there, in the streets, in the air, and in the newsroom, reporting on the events as the tragedy unfolded, capturing the unforgettable video of that day, and risking their lives to tell the world what was happening.

What began as a local news breaker on a clear blue-sky morning in lower Manhattan soon became one of the darkest days in American history, and an hour-long streaming special that premiered in 2021, "Eyewitness to 9/11: Behind the Lens," documents the heart-pounding, moment-by-moment response of the Eyewitness News team at WABC-TV, with never-before-seen footage from that day and dozens of powerful interviews that resonate with raw emotion.

"Doing my job and documenting it pays tribute to the people who actually never survived," WABC-TV photojournalist Glenn Mayrose said.

The special takes viewers "behind the lens" of 9/11 to tell untold stories of those who were on the frontlines of newsgathering -- from field crews and newsroom staff to Eyewitness News anchors and reporters, past and present, including Bill Ritter, NJ Burkett, Sandra Bookman, Joe Torres, Nina Pineda, Lauren Glassberg, Anthony Johnson, Jim Dolan, Michelle Charlesworth, Diana Williams, Lucy Yang, Stacey Sager, Marcus Solis, John Del Giorno, Jim Hoffer, Tim Fleischer, and Jeff Rossen.

"As for us, we were covering it," reporter Nina Pineda said. "These families that never were the same again have a much, much bigger burden than we do."

'Eyewitness to 9/11: Behind the Lens' is NOW STREAMING. You can watch it on Hulu or stream it on ABC7NY's apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV. To download our app, viewers can search "ABC7 New York" in the app store.

CREDITS

Kim Dillon | Senior Executive Producer

Emily Sowa | Senior Digital Producer, Videographer and Editor

Stephen Cioffi | Videographer and Editor

Rolando Pujol | Executive Producer, Digital Content, Innovation, and Strategy

Peter Kunz | Senior Executive Producer

Laryssa Demkiw | Production Assistant

Jim Gorham | Vice President, Marketing

Johanna Trupp | Senior Marketing Producer

Rehan Aslam | Vice President News

Chad Matthews | President & General Manager

Debra OConnell | President, Networks Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution

SPECIAL THANKS

Townsend Davis