Retired FDNY Battalion Chief John Ricketts has dedicated the past five years of his retirement to constructing 78 to-scale models of the Twin Towers, each incorporating rusted steel salvaged from Ground Zero.
Ricketts, who worked for weeks on the smoldering pile after the September 11, 2001, attacks, began the project shortly before his retirement in December 2021. His initiative to create keepsakes for his family gained momentum when FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro approved his request for recovered steel. Ricketts received a substantial plate of steel, approximately 1.5 times the size of a manhole cover and half an inch thick.
He spent months meticulously sanding the steel and cutting it into small pieces, which he then precisely fitted into 8.25-inch-tall wooden towers. These towers are mounted on stands designed to replicate the slant of West Street in Lower Manhattan.
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The timber for the towers comes from personally significant sources across New York City, including family furniture, discarded blocks from Steinway & Sons, and even branches from a tree that grew outside his childhood home in Bayside, Queens. The inclusion of steel from Ground Zero holds particular meaning for Ricketts, as his father was an ironworker who helped construct the original World Trade Center. Ricketts himself had signed his father's name, along with his own and those of fellow probation firefighters, on an exposed beam during a training visit to the buildings in the 1980s.
Ricketts was on vacation and attending a PTA meeting in Nassau County when the attacks occurred. He was among the more than 15,000 first responders who rushed to the World Trade Center site.
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Of the 78 towers he has created, Ricketts has already gifted 65 to FDNY heroes who responded to the attacks, as well as to the families of those who perished or have since died from 9/11-related illnesses. He aims to distribute the remaining 13 models before Christmas.
Many of the recipients have shared photographs of where they have placed the tributes. Ricketts also hosts some of the honorees for woodworking projects, aiming to foster shared activity and positive memories. "We have fun, instead of … [think about] that terrible, terrible day," he stated.
The completed structures are displayed in various FDNY offices, including the Uniformed Firefighters Association, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, the Office of the Fire Commissioner, and several firehouses. However, Ricketts prioritized these tributes for those who were present at Ground Zero and the families affected by the tragedy.