New York and national officials joined hundreds of mourners at an emotional ceremony at Ground Zero Thursday honoring the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center.
Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker joined other dignitaries at the hallowed site in Lower Manhattan, where the thousands who died during the attacks were remembered.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and her New Jersey counterpart, Phil Murphy, were also in attendance, as were Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
NYC mayor Eric Adams, right, greets former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. AP
“America’s Mayor” Rudy Giuliani — who led the city in the aftermath of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people — appeared in a heavy body brace following his car crash last month, joined by his son.
FBI Director Kash Patel was also there — while JD Vance was forced to cancel his planned visit in order to fly to Utah after the assassination of Charlie Kirk — as President Trump and first lady Melania Trump paid separate respects at the Pentagon.
Former FDNY Commissioner Tom Von Essen was also in attendance at the heartfelt morning remembrance at Ground Zero as New Yorkers stopped to mourn the deadliest terror attack ever to strike US soil.
A firefighter pays his respects at the 9/11 Memorial. ZUMAPRESS.com
People pause in remembrance of the 24th anniversary of the September 11th attacks in New York City. Paul Martinka
An American flag recovered from Ground Zero is held during the first bell at the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Thursday. Paul Martinka
Zohran Mamdani (left) and New York City Mayor Eric Adams attend the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony. Getty Images
“It’s amazing how the grief comes to life every year. It bubbles up to the surface every September,” said Von Essen, who was fire commissioner on 9/11.
“Sept.11 was the worst. We lost 343 firefighters. They put out to save total strangers. It shows what remarkable men they were,” Von Essen said.
A total of 2,977 people were killed that fateful morning when al-Qaeda hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrives for the ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. REUTERS
President Donald Trump and U.S. first lady Melania Trump walk during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States at the Pentagon on Thursday. REUTERS
Roses were left on the bronze plaques that bear the names of the victims of the September 11 terror attacks. Getty Images
The twin towers were attacked by Islamist hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001. Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
Hundreds of people gathered in New York City for six moments of silence Thursday morning to solemnly commemorate the key times of the attacks, including when both World Trade Center towers were struck and fell, and the times of the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93.
Family members then read the names of the fallen loved ones, a somber yearly ritual.
Others in attendance included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Before the ceremony, Adams drew a connection between the hateful roots behind the terrorist attacks and Wednesday’s shocking assassination of Kirk — a conservative influencer who was shot dead at Utah Valley University.
“It’s the same hate that drove two planes into the World Trade Center,” the mayor told “Fox and Friends” before the ceremony.
“If we don’t turn down the rhetoric of hate speech it will be tragic for us all.”
The ceremony took place at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan Thursday. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
In the years since the unthinkable tragedy, the FDNY has lost more than 400 members to 9/11-related illnesses — more than the number killed during the terror attack rescue efforts itself — due to exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.
The number of total first responders and others diagnosed with 9/11-linked cancers has ballooned to 48,579 — a staggering 143% increase in five years, according to the latest data from the World Trade Center Health Program.
— Additional reporting by Patrick Reilly