A new documentary about the celebrated restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center will premiere on CNN Monday evening, days before the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“Top of the World” tells the story of Windows on the World, which occupied the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. The restaurant became a symbol of New York City’s resurgence before the attacks destroyed it and killed all 170 people there that morning — 79 employees and 91 guests.
The CNN Films and Time Studios production will air at 7 p.m. Central on September 7. It will become available on demand Tuesday through CNN’s website and connected television and mobile apps, according to the network’s official announcement.
Told Through the People Who Worked There
Directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West built the film around firsthand accounts from former members of the restaurant’s staff. Interviewees include former head chef Michael Lomonaco, longtime cellar master Kevin Zraly, former hostess Nathalie Tolentino and former prep cook Sekou Siby.
Food writer Ruth Reichl and former WNBC anchor Carol Jenkins also appear. Actor Denis Leary provides the voice of restaurateur Joe Baum using Baum’s words preserved in archival recordings.
The documentary was inspired by Tom Roston’s book “The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World.” Its release also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the restaurant’s opening in 1976.
At its height, Windows on the World was the highest-grossing standalone restaurant in the United States, according to CNN. More than 60 languages were spoken among its international staff, and the restaurant provided professional opportunities for generations of immigrants.
A Human-Scale Account of September 11
By focusing on one workplace, the documentary approaches September 11 through daily routines, professional relationships and the community whose members were separated by the attacks.
The 170 people killed at Windows on the World were among the 2,977 victims of the attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This total does not include the 19 hijackers.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum maintains educational material explaining the attacks and their continuing consequences.
This year’s anniversary marks a quarter-century since 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two aircraft struck the World Trade Center towers, one hit the Pentagon and passengers and crew members resisted the hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 before the plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
How to Watch Monday Night
“Top of the World” will air on CNN at 7 p.m. Central time Monday. Pay television subscribers also can stream the live broadcast through CNN.com and CNN’s connected television and mobile apps.
The documentary will be available on demand to CNN streaming subscribers beginning Tuesday. The film had a limited, Academy Award-qualifying theatrical engagement in New York from August 28 through September 3 before its CNN premiere.
The documentary short does not treat Windows on the World solely as the setting of a tragedy. It first reconstructs the restaurant’s role as a workplace, cultural destination and pathway to opportunity before recounting what happened there on September 11, 2001.
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