September 19, 2011

September 11, 2001 was a defining moment for America, its cities, and their residents. On the tenth anniversary of this event, cities across the nation remembered and paid tribute to the victims of the horrific terrorist attacks on the nation and recognized the resilience that the nation and its people over the last ten years. Tenth anniversary commemoration ceremonies and events were held in New York City, at the Pentagon, in Shanksville (PA), and in cities across the nation.

Nowhere was that remembrance and recognition more poignant than at the commemoration ceremony that took place at the World Trade Center. Members of the victims’ families read the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died in New York City, the Pentagon, and Shanksville on September 11, 2001, and the six victims of the world Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg began the day’s observance at the World Trade Center and across the nation when he introduced a moment of silence at 8:46 AM, the time when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower. He said, “We have returned to this sacred site to join our hearts together with the names of those we loved and lost. No other public tragedy has cut our city so deeply. No other place is as filled with our compassion, our love, and our solidarity. It is with the strength of these emotions as well as the concrete, glass and steel that is brought in day by day, that we will build on the footprints of the past the foundation of the future. At this time please join us and all New Yorkers in a moment of silence.”