New York is commemorating one of the most tragic anniversaries in its history, as it marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the focus of the events will be, as it is every year, at Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers once stood.
The ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial will begin in the morning with the customary reading of the 2,,983 names of the victims of the 2001 attacks and the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center.
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During the ceremony, six one-minute moments of silence will be observed at the times when the planes struck the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, and the two Towers collapsed. For the first time this year, a seventh moment of silence will be added, in honor of those who later lost their lives to illnesses linked to September 11.
The events will continue in the afternoon with an interfaith memorial service at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas, next to Ground Zero, in the presence of Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, and a special concert by the New York Philharmonic together with the United States Army Field Band Choir, at the Ronald O. Perelman Center for the Performing Arts.
After sunset, the “Tribute in Light” will be lit once again, the iconic light display featuring two vertical beams of light symbolizing the Twin Towers, while buildings such as the Empire State Building, the One World Observatory, Rockefeller Center, the Intrepid Museum, and facilities at JFK and LaGuardia airports will be illuminated in blue.
There will be a significantly increased police presence in Lower Manhattan. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tis announced that the police presence around the World Trade Center will be larger than on previous anniversaries, although there is no specific or credible threat against the city.
The operation involves the New York City Police Department, intelligence agencies, and other federal and state agencies, including counterterrorism units, specialized teams, and capabilities to detect and counter unmanned aerial vehicles. A security perimeter will be established around the memorial, and extensive traffic restrictions will be in effect in Lower Manhattan starting at 6 a.m.
The ceremony will be attended by New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, while the Donald Trump administration in New York will be represented by Vice President Jay D. Vance.
U.S. President Donald Trump will not attend the ceremony at Ground Zero, but will travel to the Pentagon in Virginia for the memorial ceremony to be held there. The U.S. government will be represented at all three sites associated with the attacks: in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed.
This year’s anniversary is also marked by new revelations about the conditions that prevailed in Lower Manhattan after the collapse of the Towers. The Mamdani administration has released more than 170,000 pages of city records regarding air quality, dust, and environmental hazards following the attacks.
The data raises questions again about what city officials knew regarding the presence of asbestos and other hazardous pollutants, and how quickly workers, residents, and first responders about the dangers.
The Mamdani administration is presenting the release of the records as a move toward transparency and accountability, on an anniversary when the memory of the nearly 3,000 victims is increasingly linked to the long-term health effects of September 11 on thousands of people.
Source: KYPE
