In the terror and rubble of 9/11, We found aspects of ourselves we often forgot were there. Building them required boldness verging on hubris. The Twin Towers were designed to stand out, not to fit in, and their vast, windswept plazas embodied an ideal of city planning that was passé almost as soon as it was hatched. It was easy to forget that behind their forbidding metal skin was a daytime population the size of a small city. This is one of the truths revealed on September 11: Despite New York’s boastfulness, our story is a human one, of strength and courage and struggle.