All Available Boats: Harbor Voices from 9/11

In the chaos following the attack on the World Trade Center, hundreds of thousands of people surged into the streets of Lower Manhattan – desperate for a way to get off the island. Not knowing what might be coming next, authorities closed off all bridges and tunnels, and suddenly the water became the only way out. So, the Coast Guard put out a call for “all available boats” to bring in rescue crews and supplies, and to evacuate an army of wounded and severely shaken office workers. This half-hour documentary tells the story of the harbor workers and other members of the New York City maritime community who made the evacuation possible. All Available Boats is a collaboration between WNPR – Connecticut Public Radio, South Street Seaport Museum and producer David Tarnow. The interviews that make up this documentary were recorded by Tarnow for a permanent exhibit at the museum. The resulting documentary was produced by WNPR, and distributed to public radio stations nationwide for broadcast on the one-year anniversary of the attacks. All Available Boats was first featured on the public radio website, transom.org. Among the hundreds of documentaries produced in the aftermath of 9/11, this was the only one to take an extended listen to these voices of the harbor. It was honored as a finalist in the Scripps Howard Journalism Awards for 2002.