UNLV preserves 9/11 memorial items left outside New York-New York on Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Thousands of shirts, flags, stuffed animals, and handwritten notes left outside the New York-New York Hotel and Casino after the Sept. 11 attacks are being preserved at UNLV as a lasting tribute to those lost and the people who mourned them.

The New York-New York Hotel and Casino 9-11 Heroes Tribute Collection is housed in UNLV’s Special Collections and Archives. It is made up of materials left at what the university describes as a spontaneous memorial that was erected outside the property in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, according to Kristian Taketomo, curator of gaming collections at UNLV’s Special Collections and Archives, who said caring for the items carries weight. “So it’s a huge responsibility to be in charge of these items,” he said. “I mean, they’re imbued with a lot of meaning.”

The collection includes shirts representing first responders from near and far. About 5,000 were left behind. “A lot of these t-shirts are red, white and blue,” Taketomo said.

Other items include flags, stuffed animals, and poems.

Taketomo said the personal notes can be especially moving. “I think mainly just being able to see the actual people, seeing the faces of the people that were lost, seeing notes from the people that loved them,” he said.

He also said the collection can help younger generations understand the emotions of that time. “We have a bunch of student workers here, and I don’t think any of them were alive when 911 happened,” Taketomo said. “And I think that in speaking with them, there’s a real desire to understand the way that people felt in the aftermath of the attacks.”

“I think that this collection in particular shows not just how Las Vegas came together, but how the world came together,” he said.

According to the university, shirts were on display at New York-New York Hotel and Casino until property renovations in 2013. MGM and UNLV’s gaming studies department worked together to preserve the collection, which can be explored online through UNLV’s Special Collections and Archives website.

The items are also accessible in person Monday through Thursday, with no appointment needed.