NEW YORK, NY — Communities across New York are preparing a wide range of memorials, ceremonies and service events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The programs stretch from lower Manhattan to western New York and include moments of silence, wreath layings, concerts, charity events and public tributes.
The anniversary arrives a quarter-century after the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, which killed about 3,000 people. Many of the events are centered on remembrance, while others are meant to turn the anniversary into a day of service, reflection and support for first responders and families.
Lower Manhattan will again be the center of the city’s remembrance
In New York City, the main commemoration at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza is set for Sept. 11 and will be reserved for families of the victims. The names of the 2,983 men, women and children killed in the 2001 attacks and in the Feb. 26, 1993, World Trade Center bombing will be read aloud, followed by seven moments of silence.
The ceremony is not open to the public, but it will be streamed live through 911memorial.org/live. Later in the day, the plaza will reopen so visitors can pay their respects in person.
Another well-known tribute, Tribute in Light, will return to the city sky on Sept. 11. Buildings and landmarks around New York are also invited to glow blue from dusk to dawn as part of the observance.
FDNY sites and downtown landmarks will host multiple Sept. 11 tributes
Several of the city’s most closely watched observances focus on the FDNY and the people who died while responding to the attacks. The Firefighters Memorial Ceremony will honor the 343 FDNY members who were killed on Sept. 11, while the FDNY Fire Museum will hold its annual wreath-laying ceremony at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 11 at 278 Spring Street in Manhattan.
At Ten House, the FDNY station across from the World Trade Center site, the public will be able to stop in throughout the day on Sept. 11 for a dawn-to-dusk remembrance. The station is at 124 Liberty Street.
The Father Mychal Judge Walk of Remembrance will take place Sept. 6 at the memorial for the FDNY chaplain at West 31st Street and Seventh Avenue. Judge died while ministering to firefighters at the World Trade Center, and the gathering is intended to honor that service.
Sports, music and comedy will be part of the citywide observance
Some of the anniversary programming is being folded into large public events. At Yankee Stadium, the Sept. 11 game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets will include a 6:30 p.m. ceremony with tributes to first responders and victims of the attacks. The three-game series runs Sept. 11 through Sept. 13.
Madison Square Garden will host two other major gatherings. On Sept. 10, the venue will hold NYC Still Rising, a comedy benefit for 9/11 charities featuring Aziz Ansari, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Ronny Chieng, Pete Davidson, Shane Gillis, Nikki Glaser, Josh Johnson, Cipha Sounds and Jon Stewart.
Then on Sept. 12, the NYPD Pipes & Drums 25th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Concert will take place at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden. Tickets for the benefit and concert are being sold separately through the organizations involved.
Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan neighborhoods are planning local remembrance events
Neighborhood observances are also set across the five boroughs. In Brooklyn, the Wall of Remembrance Candlelight Vigil will be held Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, honoring first responders who died on 9/11.
On Staten Island, the Staten Island Postcards Memorial will host a Sept. 11 ceremony for community members from the borough who died in the attacks. The memorial is one of the local sites keeping the anniversary personal for families and residents who lost neighbors and coworkers.
Elsewhere in Manhattan, the public can visit the FDNY Ten House and the 9/11 Memorial Plaza, while the city’s blue-light tradition and other tributes are expected to make Sept. 11 one of the most visible remembrance days of the year.
Upstate New York communities are mixing ceremonies with service projects
Outside the city, memorial events are spread across upstate New York. Hudson Falls will hold a 9/11 ceremony at American Legion Post 574 on Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. in the post’s pavilion at 72 Pearl Street. In Albany, the police department has announced a National Day of Service and Remembrance cleanup effort for Sept. 12, with volunteers asked to meet at the Albany Public Library at 8:30 a.m. and bring shovels, gloves and hand tools.
Rochester area events include a Sept. 11 remembrance at East Rochester Fire Department, Monroe Community College’s annual ceremony at its Brighton campus, and an Eastman School of Music Horn Choir concert that will include members of the U.S. Army Field Band. Rochester will also host a remembrance ride and concert on Sept. 12.
In Buffalo and Utica, tributes include commemorative pint glasses sold by the Buffalo Fire Department to support the Wall of Gratitude project, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation 5K in Cheektowaga, and the 12th annual CNY Memorial Stair Climb at the Utica State Office Building.
Statewide listings show how 9/11 remembrance still resonates 25 years later
State fairgoers in Syracuse were also able to take part in veterans and 9/11 memorials during the run of the Great New York State Fair from Aug. 26 through Sept. 7. Together, the events show how remembrance of Sept. 11 remains woven into civic life across New York.
Organizers have also asked residents to help identify additional observances so the statewide list can be expanded. That effort reflects the broad reach of the anniversary, which continues to draw ceremonies at firehouses, civic landmarks, museums, stadiums and neighborhood gathering places.
From solemn family-only readings in lower Manhattan to volunteer cleanups and benefit concerts upstate, New Yorkers are marking the 25th anniversary with a mix of grief, service and public memory.
