After post-production was nearly completed in 2001 , the film was delayed for over a year . The official justification was after the September 11 , 2001 attacks , certain elements of the picture may have made audiences uncomfortable ; the film 's closing shot is a view of modern-day New York City , complete with the World Trade Center 's towers , despite their having been destroyed by the attacks over a year before the film 's release . However this explanation was refuted in Scorsese 's own contemporary statements , where he noted that the production was still filming pick-ups even into October 2002 . The filmmakers had also considered having the towers removed out of the shot to acknowledge their disappearance , or remove the entire sequence altogether . It was ultimately decided to keep the towers unaltered
September 11 , 2001 attacks
September 11 attacks
Gangs of New York