Staten Island honors local heroes lost in 9/11 attacks

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum held its annual ceremony on Wednesday, marking the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. As ABC reports, the event honored the 2,983 victims killed in the 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, aboard Flight 93, and those who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The ceremony, reserved for the families of victims, included the traditional reading of names by relatives, many of whom carried photographs of their loved ones. Flowers were placed by the engraved names on the memorial, and some took rubbings of the inscriptions.

Notably, many names were read by children who never met the victims but were passing on memories shared by their families.

Amid a national election campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump put politics aside for the somber occasion, joining President Joe Biden and other dignitaries. Their brief handshake became a fleeting focal point of the event, but the ceremony itself remained free from political speeches. Instead, the names of the victims were read aloud, punctuated by the tolling of bells to mark the moments the planes struck and when the towers fell.

The commemoration included six moments of silence, honoring the exact times the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Flight 93 occurred.

In New York, tributes continued throughout the day. On Staten Island, Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a memorial for residents from the borough who perished in the attacks. Nearly a quarter of the New York City firefighters killed on 9/11 hailed from Staten Island.

[Information sourced from ABC]