Reclaiming Ground Zero
Film Screening Followed by A Conversation
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DateSeptember 16, 2026
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Event Starts7:00 PM
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LocationLoreto Theater
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Doors OpenLobby Opens 1 Hour Before Show | Doors 30 Mins Before Show
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Ticket PricesPay-What-You-Can starting at $25
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AvailabilityAugust 18 at 12:00 AM
- Wednesday, September 16, 2026 7:00PM 7:00 PM On Sale Soon
Event Details
After the 9/11 attacks, no one could agree what should be done with Ground Zero. And so New York decided to do one of the bravest—or stupidest—things in the history of city planning. They gathered 5,000 representative New Yorkers and asked them to decide. People expected chaos, yelling, maybe even a fistfight. But what happened was democracy.
Timed to the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and America’s 250th anniversary, the film revisits one of the most ambitious experiments in participatory democracy in modern American history and asks what it can teach us about rebuilding public trust today.
About Carolyn Lukensmeyer
Carolyn Lukensmeyer is a nationally recognized leader in democratic innovation and public engagement and founder of AmericaSpeaks. She has advised cities, states, federal agencies, and international institutions on participatory governance and democracy reform. After 9/11, Lukensmeyer helped design Listening to the City, the 2002 public forum that brought New Yorkers together to shape the rebuilding of Ground Zero.
About Josh Sabey
Josh Sabey is the co-founder of Matters Media. He is the filmmaker behind American Tragedy, The Basement Talks, Blue Baby, Going Sane, and 9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero. His films have been featured on PBS World, NPR, and have ranked on Amazon Prime's coveted top ten lists.
About Robbie Shinder
Robbie Shinder is a producer at Matters Media. His work includes The Basement Talks and 9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero, as well as projects such as This Ordinary Thing, The Choice, Once Upon a Time in Queens, In Her Element, and Wrong Man.