New York marks 25 years since 9/11
New York is marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Friday, bringing families, survivors, first responders and political leaders together to remember an event that reshaped the United States and the wider world.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed when 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four passenger planes, crashing two into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and another into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Among those killed were 343 members of the New York City Fire Department.
A family legacy of service
For firefighter Scott Larsen, the anniversary carries a deeply personal meaning.
Larsen was four years old when his father, New York firefighter Scott Larsen Sr., died in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Now 29, he works at the same Queens firehouse where his father served.
Photographs of his father remain inside the station, while his name is displayed on a memorial plaque and painted on a fire truck.
“His memory comes up every day, honestly,” Larsen told Reuters.
His story reflects the thousands of families whose lives remain permanently connected to the attacks.
Names read at Ground Zero
Thousands are expected to gather at the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, where victims’ relatives will read aloud the names of those killed.
The ceremony will feature bells and moments of silence marking key moments of the attacks, without political speeches.
Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend alongside former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to commemorate the anniversary at the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77 struck the building.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is also expected at Ground Zero despite a campaign urging him not to attend. Critics have gathered more than 100,000 signatures opposing his presence, while supporters have condemned the campaign as targeting the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Security has been increased around the memorial, although police say there is no intelligence indicating a specific threat.
A tragedy whose effects continue
The consequences of Sept. 11 extended far beyond the destruction of the World Trade Center.
The attacks transformed US national security policy, contributed to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and brought sweeping changes to airport security and counterterrorism laws.
They also helped trigger wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, conflicts whose consequences continued for decades.
For survivors and first responders, however, the attacks remain a continuing health crisis.
Dust and debris from the collapsed towers spread across Lower Manhattan, exposing rescue workers, residents and others to toxic material for months.
The World Trade Center Health Program now provides medical care to more than 150,000 responders and survivors. By June 30, participants had received about 85,000 certifications for World Trade Center-related health conditions, including illnesses associated with toxic exposure and thousands of cancer cases.
More than 9,000 people tracked by the program have died since the attacks, although officials say it can be difficult to determine the extent to which Sept. 11 contributed to individual deaths.
Remembering as memory fades
A growing number of Americans have no personal memory of the attacks. About 100 million people in the United States were either not yet born or were too young to remember Sept. 11, according to estimates cited by Reuters.
That generational shift has made remembrance increasingly important for families and survivors.
Logan Miller, who lost an uncle in the attacks and later lost his grandfather to an illness connected to their aftermath, said younger people increasingly ask questions about what happened.
“I think the next generation just can't fathom what actually transpired,” he said.
2,977 lights for the victims
The anniversary has also transformed New York’s skyline into a memorial.
A display of 2,977 lights was projected into the sky over New York Harbor ahead of Friday’s ceremony, representing every person killed in the attacks.
Twenty-five years after the Twin Towers disappeared from the Manhattan skyline, the annual lights, the reading of the victims’ names and the stories of families such as the Larsens continue to connect the city’s present with one of the defining tragedies of modern American history.
Source:Euronews
