Watch The Little Known Story Of The 9/11 Boatlift Fourteen years later, we forget all but the horror of September 11, 2001, the morning our safety and security was gone forever. That day, the day New York City lost so much, thousands of people turned hero without even thinking twice. Among them were the owners and captains of the various ferries, tugs, and party boats that operated around Manhattan. Due to security concerns, following the attack that morning, all transportation was cut off to and from Manhattan. As a result millions of people were stranded on the island. Weve all seen the photographs of the millions of people who walked across the Brooklyn Bridge that morning, but not everyone knows about the 500,000 people evacuated via the water. The call from the Coast Guard went out, and the boats went to Manhattan to take the people home. This is their story. 