Brooks Brothers Store Near World Trade Center Served as Makeshift Morgue After 9/11 Attacks
A Brooks Brothers store located at One Liberty Plaza, adjacent to the World Trade Center, was utilized as a makeshift morgue following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to Michael Bastian, Brooks Brothers creative director, the men's shirt department of the store was transformed into a holding area for human remains recovered from the World Trade Center rubble. These remains were kept there until they could be transferred to the New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for identification. The store, which had previously been a place where job candidates would prepare for interviews in the Twin Towers, sustained significant damage when the towers collapsed. Despite the damage, the location reopened exactly one year after the attacks. The store eventually closed in 2018 due to planned renovations and relocated a few blocks away. Bastian, who was flying back from Paris on 9/11 and landed in Nova Scotia due to the national ground stop, still finds it difficult to look at images f...
