In the morning of September 11 , 2001 , hijackers took control of four domestic U.S. commercial airliners . All of the planes crashed , none of them in New Jersey ; however , two of them crashed into the two tallest towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , which collapsed within two hours ( and was seen from the Gold Coast in New Jersey ) , and Todd Beamer , of New Jersey , is thought to have played a role in bringing down Flight 93 short of the terrorists ' intended target . The destruction of the twin towers could be seen from New Jersey . The official count records 2,986 deaths in the attacks , including around 700 residents of New Jersey . Over 160,000 people were evacuated from the Manhattan area to New Jersey because the subways had been closed down and PATH station had been closed down and were eventually destroyed in the collapse
Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
New Jersey in the 21st century