At 14 minutes to 9 on Thursday morning, for thousands of people in New York City and across the region, time will stop and silence will descend, filled by memories of another balmy blue-sky morning two dozen years ago.
Then, on a memorial plaza near the bottom of Manhattan, survivors and relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11 attack will begin reading the names of the dead, as New York’s most somber annual event takes place for the 24th time.
The toll from the attack continues to grow: Deaths over the years from illnesses caused by the toxic materials in the air and in the rubble at ground zero have almost certainly surpassed those on Sept. 11 itself.
Tributes to the victims and their families took place across the city this week as law enforcement groups and organizations supporting survivors prepared to mark the anniversary.
On Wednesday afternoon, at a firehouse near the World Trade Center site, firefighters gathered in front of a memorial wall to call attention to cuts to federal health programs for Sept. 11 survivors and to honor the 409 members of the Fire Department who have died of 9/11-related diseases, including 39 in the last 12 months. In the initial attack, 343 firefighters lost their lives.
“As we stand in the shadows of this beautiful monument, sometimes I feel this monument overshadows the lingering effects of what occurred after that day,” Lt. James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers’ Association, said as he stood by the wall, which is engraved with the names of fallen firefighters.
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The post In Public and in Private, New York Prepares to Mark 9/11 Anniversary appeared first on New York Times.
