A new documentary titled Top of the World tells the story of Windows on the World, the legendary restaurant atop the World Trade Center, through the eyes of its former employees. Windows on the World served guests for 25 years, until the morning of September 11, 2001, when attacks on the World Trade Center destroyed the North Tower in which the restaurant was located. Seventy-nine workers and 91 diners were killed.
We’re joined by Top of the World‘s co-directors, Julie Cohen and Betsy West, and by Sekou Siby, a former line cook at Windows on the World. Siby, who immigrated to the United States from the Ivory Coast in 1996, was originally scheduled to work on the morning of September 11, but a co-worker asked him to switch shifts. “He didn’t make it,” says Siby, who became an organizer and longtime leader at the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), an advocacy group founded by Windows on the World workers to support each other in the aftermath of the attack.
“The extraordinary immigrant workforce of Windows [of the World] and what they collectively created is just a reminder of the contributions of immigrant New Yorkers to the restaurant world and to the culture of the city,” says Cohen. “We want people to remember not just the tragedy, but the real beauty and the specific stories of what was lost on that day.”
Top of the World premieres on CNN Monday, September 7, 2026.
