9/11 Observances Held Around The Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Events and memorials were held around the Tri-State area Tuesday to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11th terror attacks.
After the morning ringing of the Bell of Hope, prayers for peace were offered Tuesday at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City.
The chapel across from the World Trade Center became a sanctuary for those seeking solace after 9/11. For eight months after the attack, it was home to a volunteer relief effort. London gave the Bell of Hope to New York City in 2002.
An interfaith service on Tuesday afternoon also honored Port Authority of New York and New Jersey workers who died on Sept. 11, 2001 and the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
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It was held at St. Peter's Church in Lower Manhattan.
In Central Park, the Peace of Heart Choir held a sing-along Tuesday afternoon at Merchant's Gate. Songs include "Let There Be Peace'' and "Peace, Salaam, Shalom.''
An evening ceremony was on Staten Island honoring the lives of 274 residents who were lost on 9/11.
Family members read the names during the event on Tuesday night at the September 11 Memorial, known as "Postcards.''
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Borough President James P. Molinaro and City Council Speaker Christine Quin participated.
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On Long Island, residents in Hempstead wrote messages and names of 9/11 victims on a 35-foot mural of the New York City skyline.
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano also ordered flags on county government buildings to be flown at half-staff on Tuesday to honor the victims of the Sept. 11th attacks.
"As we mark the eleventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks on America, a tragic day that has forever altered our American history, it is important to pause and remember the nearly 3,000 people we lost that day and the many more that have perished since then in the fight against terrorism," Mangano said in a statement.
In Westchester County, 9/11 family members took part in a twilight ceremony at The Rising memorial at the Kensico Dam in Valhalla.
Officials say 111 Westchester residents and 12 former residents lost their lives on 9/11.
In Yonkers, a new monument made with World Trade Center steel will be dedicated at a service Tuesday evening at Conor Park. The 38-foot beam arrived in Yonkers on Aug. 28 on a flatbed truck draped in an American flag.
On Sunday, the city unveiled a plaque along the waterfront, honoring the 24 Yonkers residents who died on 9/11.
In Connecticut, the state's annual observances took place Monday evening at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, where the names of 153 victims with state ties were read.
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Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman told family members their presence "has meaning far beyond words" in reminding the nation of their sacrifice.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who's in China on a trade mission, said in a statement it's a day to honor those who died, but also "a day to remember that we Americans are a strong and resolute people."
At the state Capitol, a replica of the Liberty Bell was rung eleven times Tuesday morning at 8:46 a.m., marking the time that the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center. A moment of silence followed at the ceremony conducted by the state Capitol police.
Events on Tuesday included an observance in Bridgeport where names of emergency workers who died were read.
Malloy also ordered state flags flown at half-staff on Tuesday.
In New Jersey, residents of Hoboken came together along the Hudson River for the annual Sept. 11th Interfaith Memorial Service.
The community honored and remembered the victims, their families and the 57 residents who lost their lives eleven years ago, with the New York City skyline serving as the backdrop.
The service took place at 6:30 p.m. on the southeast corner of Hoboken's Pier A Park.
In Newark, officials held a remembrance ceremony where the New York Giants will present a check to the Newark Fire Department as part of the team's ongoing Adopt A Firehouse Program.
In Jersey City, family members walked past the Empty Sky memorial in Liberty State Park Tuesday morning to board a special ferry to the 9/11 ceremony at ground zero.
The memorial, which was dedicated last year to the 749 New Jersey residents killed in the attacks, features two shining 30-foot-high walls stretching out in the direction of ground zero. The walls are each 208 feet 10 inches long, the exact length of the base of the Twin Towers.
Family members often visit the memorial to touch or sketch the names of the victims, which are etched in four-inch-high letters.
"It's been tough even after 11 years," said Jagdish Bhukhan, the father of a 9/11 victim. "It's not going to be something that's just going to stop, it'll be going on for years and years to come."
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Some New Jersey towns scaled back ceremonies on the eleventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Essex County community paid tribute at the Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange.
Marcee Smith Robertson came for her son Donald Junior.
"That day..he wasn't supposed to go to work," Robertson said.
While the ceremony is always peaceful, Robertson said she'll never find peace.
"For a mother to explain there aren't any words, the pain doesn't go away," Robertson said.
Middletown Township, which suffered New Jersey's largest loss, held a small, silent ceremony Tuesday. Town officials laid a wreath and dozens of people walked a brick path that's lined with 37 plaques dedicated to each resident who died that day.
Montclair, which lost nine residents, is moving the ceremony inside the City Council chambers instead of outside at the 9/11 memorial plaza.
A spokeswoman says the mayor feels the day should shift from one focused only on a ceremony to residents engaging in a day of service.
For the first time in 10 years, Glen Rock did not hold an organized public commemoration. The town lost 11 residents in the attacks.
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